Set in the late 1960s, this novel follows two brothers who return to their ancestral village in the Shikoku forest. One is a troubled translator marked by family tragedy, the other a restless, charismatic figure who stirs the villagers into action. Through their relationship, Ōe examines inherited memory, local history, guilt and the pull of violence. The book is among his most admired novels, combining a rural setting with modern anxieties about Japan's postwar identity.