One day, a mother is in her house in Japan when a man named Murayama arrives. Murayama explains that he was a soldier in the same battalion as the woman’s son, Yasushi, who has since gone missing. The mother feeds the soldier some noodles, and they speak about Yasushi, who went by the name Tanaka when he was fighting. The mother finds that odd, given that Tanaka was the name of a man they detested, and she begins to doubt Murayama’s intentions. Murayama pulls out a photo album and flips through pictures of war, through which he explains that they were forced to commit atrocities and endure torture whether they wanted to or not. He hints that Yasushi was unpredictable, and the mother decides to latch onto that characterization of her son so as not to deal with the fact that he is likely dead. When Murayama departs, he leaves behind a photo of Yasushi that shows him smiling but fearful in front of a line of prisoners he was ready to execute. The mother doesn’t know what to make of this photograph. She senses her husband coming home and readies herself for his presence.