After Darkness: Chapter 14: Tokyo, 1936 Summary & Analysis

One day during Dr. Ibaraki’s second year at the laboratory, Shimada asks Ibaraki and his fellow senior colleagues to stay late to accept a shipment. They help the guards unload the boxes. After they unload the boxes, Dr. Ibaraki follows Shimada and Major Kimura down to the storeroom. Major Kimura pulls out one of the jars to reveal that it contains a severed head.

When his superiors permit him to leave around 1:30, Dr. Ibaraki walks home, trying not to think about the specimens. When he arrives home, he sees that Kayoko has not left any food for him. Though she has begun to leave out simpler food than before due to his late nights, it is the first time she hasn’t left anything out at all. When he goes to take a bath, he finds that the bathtub is empty and begins to wash himself with cold water. Kayoko finds him doing that and apologizes, saying she thought he was spending the night at work. He asks her to leave him alone.

One day, Lieutenant Colonel Ishii Shiro, the head of Dr. Ibaraki’s organization and a friend of Major Kimura, comes to visit the laboratory. Major Kimura announces that Ishii will give a lecture at the end of the week about his latest medical advancements. Many of Ibaraki’s colleagues are starstruck by Ishii’s visit due to his illustrious reputation. At the lecture, Ishii explains the facility that he runs in Manchuoko. Because the workers disguise the laboratory as a lumber mill, they call their human subjects logs. Ishii describes his extreme research methods, experimenting on human subjects, killing them, and using their bodies to isolate pathogens. Ishii is proud of his ability to prevent large-scale loss of life with this method. During the lecture, he circulates photographs of affected body parts that make Dr. Ibaraki feel sick.

After the lecture, Dr. Ibaraki attempts to leave work early. On the way out, he passes Shimada’s office, where Shimada, Ishii, Major Kimura, and Yamamoto are drinking together. Ibaraki tells them that he has a headache, but Ishii pressures him to go out with the group. Ishii leads them to an establishment in a neighborhood that Ibaraki has never been to before. At the establishment, Ishii demands that the host send them his favorite geishas, traditional Japanese women performers who entertain men. He tells the other men that he likes this particular establishment because they hire the geishas at a very young age. Ibaraki has the feeling that, as Ishii asks him questions about himself and his family, he is testing him. When the two geishas that Ishii requested arrive, they sit with the men until Ishii goes off to another room with one of them. Ibaraki takes this opportunity to slip out and go home.

When Dr. Ibaraki arrives home, he is surprised to smell food cooking even though it is around midnight. Kayoko has set the table for two and tells him she wants to spend time with him. Although Ibaraki wants to immediately wash off and go to bed, her gesture touches him. She has made his favorite dish. He is glad to see her in a happy mood, as she sometimes during their marriage has retreated into herself. He thinks of his elderly neighbors and wonders if he and Kayoko will end up like them. As they eat dinner, she tells him that she is pregnant. Dr. Ibaraki is shocked. Though he is happy, he thinks about the photos of children’s bodies that he saw in the lecture that day.

Two months after Lieutenant Colonel Ishii Shiro’s visit to the lab, the laboratory receives another shipment. Because the shipment is larger than the previous one, the Army Medical College sends two nurses to help and, unlike the last shipment, their superiors invite Yamamoto to help. The group unloads the shipment, which mostly contains specimens of smaller body parts but also includes one large metal container full of whole bodies. One of the nurses sees the body of a small child and turns away, unable to touch it. Dr. Ibaraki volunteers to move the body, as nobody else wants to.

After midnight, Dr. Ibaraki goes home. After his bath, Kayoko meets him in the hallway. She tells him that she knows why he bathes so intensely after work. Her eyes are full of love, and Ibaraki believes that she knows about the true nature of his work at the lab. He is relieved that she seems not to hate him for it. However, she then tells him that she knows that he has to go out drinking to bars with geishas for his career, and Ibaraki’s heart sinks at the realization that his work will have to remain a secret from his wife. She tells him that, though he is not doing anything wrong, she wants him to spend more time at home when the baby is born. Though Ibaraki wants to tell her the truth, he cannot do so due to his loyalty to Major Kimura and Shimada.

After the most recent shipment, Major Kimura plans a dissection demonstration for the Army Medical College. He asks Dr. Ibaraki to assist with the dissection, and though Ibaraki wants to spend more time at home, he is honored by the new responsibility. When he gets home around nine, he finds two extra people: a neighbor (who heard Kayoko crying) and the doctor she called. Ibaraki finds Kayoko in the bathroom, her lower half covered in blood. She asks him where he has been, and he says he was at work. To Ibaraki’s grief, the doctor tells him they lost the child. They discuss Kayoko’s condition, and the doctor turns to leave. Kayoko then shames Ibaraki in front of the doctor for going out drinking while his wife is pregnant. The neighbor comforts Ibaraki, telling him that time will heal the wound.

The next day, Kayoko’s mother, Mrs. Sasaki, comes to take care of her. Dr. Ibaraki allows them to have the bedroom together and often hears them whispering. At work the day after Mrs. Sasaki’s arrival, Shimada gives his condolences to Ibaraki and allows him to leave work early. When he arrives home, the table is set for one and Mrs. Sasaki serves him. He asks to see Kayoko and she says that it’s still too soon. She tells him that Kayoko is still angry at him for not being around much. In his anger, both at her and at the circumstances of his life, Ibaraki says that if she doesn’t want to see him now, then she won’t see him ever again. He leaves, and when he comes back the house is dark.

A few days later, Kayoko packs her bags to go live with her parents. Dr. Ibaraki apologizes for what he said, but she says that he has been cold and distant all year. She asks him why he stopped loving her and if there is another woman. He tells her there is not and begs her to stay, but she has already made up her mind. She leaves the house. After Kayoko leaves him, Dr. Ibaraki feels as though he is moving through his life in a trance. He spends the new year’s holiday by himself. When he returns to work, he keeps to himself and avoids socializing with his colleagues.

The next week, the demonstration is set to take place. Many people attend, including high-ranking military officials. Major Kimura gives an introduction, explaining the lab’s goal to use the bubonic plague as a biological weapon. They put the first specimen on the table, the body of a middle-aged man, and Dr. Ibaraki makes an incision while Shimada explains the intensity of the effects. However, when Shimada orders Ibaraki to perform the demonstration on the body of the baby, Ibaraki freezes, unable to perform the incision. Amidst the silence, Yamamoto steps in and makes the incision.

The next day, Major Kimura calls Dr. Ibaraki into his office. He scolds Ibaraki for his behavior, saying that, no matter what is going on with his family, it is his duty to put aside his feelings and serve his country. Kimura gives Ibaraki a termination letter, saying that he will receive 3 months of pay. Dr. Ibaraki begs him for another chance at the job, but Kimura tells him that there’s nothing else that he can do. Kimura also tells him that, if Ibaraki is a man of honor, he should never say anything to anybody about the work of the lab. Finally, Kimura tells him that Japan will rule over Greater East Asia in a few years, and that all of their suffering will be worth it.

After his termination, Dr. Ibaraki returns to his family home. His mother is happy to see him, and he spends time with his sister and his nephew and niece. Ibaraki becomes depressed, and his family worries about him. He tries to get in touch with Kayoko but is unable to reach her. When Ibaraki’s aunt comes to visit, she tells him about a job opportunity to run his own hospital in Broome, Australia. Though his mother advises him not to take the job, Ibaraki yearns for a fresh start and decides to take it.