Keyword Summary Execution

Two short stories set in Edo during the Shogun era. 1 - During a time when Christians are persecuted vehemently, Iori falls in love with young Christian girl. When she and her family are captured during a raid, his sadistic master takes her as his personal slave to torment Iori, and tries breaking her spirit by means of rape, torture and pure sadism. After Iori refuses to participate any longer he is exiled, but vows to get her back no matter what it takes. 2 - When Sutezo is forced to serve the barbarous master of a brothel in order to repay his debts, he becomes friends with a young girl named Sato in process. Together, they both escape and try to get by on scams and petty theft.

During the Paris Commune, a boy runs across trouble at the barricade.

A condemned man manages to avoid being hanged from a bridge over a river when the rope breaks. He falls into the water and his escape attempt ensues.

A man takes the law into his own hands when his wife's rapists are released from prison on a technicality, only to be possessed by the spirits of the criminals.

A major political, historical, human and economic fact of the 20th century, the Gulag, the extremely punitive Soviet concentration camp system, remains largely unknown.