This is one of the first novels written in Japan about a gay relationship. It includes the relationship between Toshio Oki's former mistress Otoko Ueno, and her apprentice, Keiko Sakami. Otoko explains that after her affair with Oki, she did not want to be with another man because he had caused her so much pain.
Their relationship occurred when Otoko was still in school, and only 15 years old. She became pregnant, and gave birth to a premature baby girl, who died only days later. This whole experience caused her a great deal of trauma, and we see how much Oki has negatively impacted her life. Oki thinks about what happened between them later in his life, feeling a pang of guilt: "Had not Otoko's mother, and even Oki himself, secretly hoped the child would never see the light of day? Otoko had given birth in a dingy little clinic on the outskirts of Tokyo. Oki felt a sharp pang at the thought that the baby's life might have been saved if it had been cared for in a good hospital."
This text is about pain, love and remembrance. Although Otoko seems to have moved on from Oki, it is clear that part of her will always love him: “Now that Otoko had heard about the night at Enoshima, that old love flared up ominously within her. Yet in those flames she could see a single white lotus blossom. Their love was a dreamlike flower that not even Keiko could stain.”
This is also a text about the extreme things people will do for love. Keiko is prepared to go to the extreme to get revenge for what Toshio Oki did to her partner. Although this can be seen as an act of loyalty and love, it can also be seen as an act of jealousy.
