Sugiyama Seiichi walked alone down the stone-paved alley that branched off from the south exit of Ogikubo Station. September dusk. The air still dragged the lingering scent of summer, but the way the shadows stretched already spoke of autumn. The days had grown shorter. As he approached the main street of the shopping district, colorful flags caught his eye. ——Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Tokyo Games, Come Friends of the World—— Beside the hand-painted banner hung a printed poster of the sacred flame. From the speakers came the cheerful sound of brass instruments. In front of Matsuda's butcher shop, two neighborhood housewives laughed together: "It's finally here," "My child insists on going to see the sacred flame relay." Seiichi narrowed his eyes. (We won the war. Eighteen years have passed.) The peace treaty was signed in Geneva in February of Showa 21. The end of the Greater East Asia War. America had lost its Pacific Fleet, and the Manhattan Project remained incom