ABSTRACT
Like boys rushing home from a victorious game, Hidetaka’s band had spent the day hurrying along the wood-lined Sumitani valley. The group was noisy and boisterous and some of the younger soldiers had run and roughhoused until quite late in the afternoon. At the midday stop, Yoshiro, a pikeman on the right flank, had amused the entire party when he offered to share his rice ball with the severed head he had carried since morning on the blade of his naginata. The officers made no attempt to stop any of this because they knew the men were elated and relieved.
