Three provocative short stories. An American in Paris seduces a young man only to have the tables turned; a tourist recovering from an accident is alone but far from lonely; and an exchange student decides to intervene when he sees the woman in the opposite apartment being tied, gagged and beaten by her lover.

In 150 years, twice marked by total destruction —a terrible earthquake in 1923 and incendiary bombings in 1945— followed by a spectacular rebirth, Tokyo, the old city of Edo, has become the largest and most futuristic capital in the world in a transformation process fueled by the exceptional resilience of its inhabitants, and nourished by a unique phenomenon of cultural hybridization.