Black Rain

Shigematsu visits the home of his resourceful neighbor, Kotaro. He arrives to discover that Kotaro has an unexpected visitor. Shigematsu excitedly thinks to himself that the visiting woman may be researching Yasuko as a potential “marriage prospect” (49), so he makes small talk with the woman's driver. He sits on a rock nearby and waits for the woman to leave. While he waits, he thinks about how much the local landscape has changed since his childhood. When the woman leaves, Shigematsu breaks from his reveries and goes to Kotaro's house. Kotaro seems “ashamed of himself” (50) for discussing Yasuko so intensely and tired, so Shigematsu leaves quickly. He pities Yasuko and the intrusions into her life. Returning home, he is determined to finish transcribing the diaries.

Shigematsu continues his account of the day of the bombing. He continues to walk home, pushing through the “dense stream” (51) of scared and injured people. He passes destroyed shrines, burning houses, and a station where the trains are not running. Though he feels thirsty, the water in the taps and pipes has been evaporated by the bomb. He finds a bucket of water beside a pump and drinks “ecstatically” (52), but he soon begins to feel weak.