A nonfiction account of meat-industry power broker Mitsuru Asada, examining his life and his ties to assimilation policy, organized crime, and political and bureaucratic circles. As a biographical report, it digs into the dark side of meat administration, including the BSE beef buyback scandal.

The book follows the entanglement of politics, administration, and violence behind a meat-industry fortune.

A nonfiction work about Yasuaki Shikano, who chose independent living while living with muscular dystrophy, and the students, homemakers, and others who supported him as volunteers. It portrays the relationship between care receiver and caregivers in all its conflict and uncertainty, conveying the feel of people living with one another.

From a late-night request for a banana, the realities of care and independence come vividly into view.