is a 1998 novel, written by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese author

Kaoru Ohno Kaoru Ohno (大野芳 ''Ōno Kaoru'', born 10 August 1941) is a Japanese non-fiction writer. Biography Ohno was born in Aichi Prefecture and graduated from the Meiji University Meiji University#Law school, School of Law. He worked for a pub ...

about a group of

Japanese holdouts Japanese holdouts ( ja, 残留日本兵, translit=Zanryū nipponhei, lit=remaining Japanese soldiers) were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific Theatre of World War II who continued fighting World Wa ...

on the island of

Anatahan Anatahan is an island in the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and has one of the most active volcanoes of the archipelago. Although formerly inhabited, the island is currently uninhabited due to the constant danger of volcanic er ...

in the Pacific Ocean. The Anatahan holdouts had also inspired a 1953 film, ''Anatahan''.

Plot

During the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, after three Japanese supply ships are sunk off the shore of Anatahan, the survivors are taken in by Kikuichiro Higa and Kuzuko, his live-in wife, who have a small coconut plantation on the island.

Commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

, Sgt. Junzo Itami, tries to maintain discipline, but as the group endures U.S.

airstrikes An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offici ...

and food shortages order begins to break down. Soon the men become obsessed with Kazuko, the lone woman on the island, and a vicious dynamic sets in among the survivors.

Characters

* Kikuichiro Higa – the

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

n owner of a small coconut plantation on the island. * Kazuko Higa – Kikuichiro's

common-law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

wife. * Junzo Itami – an

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

who becomes the group's commanding officer after they are shipwrecked on the island. * James B. Johnson – a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

captain tasked with coaxing the surviving Japanese on Anatahan out of hiding.

Reception

The novel received a favorable review from Tim Hornyak in ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

''.

English-language editions

* Kaoru Ohno, ''Cage on the Sea'' (''Zekkai Misshitsu''), translated by Giles Murray, 1st hardback ed., Austin, TX : Bento Books, Inc., 1998, 420 p.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Review
by ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' 1998 novels Japanese-language novels Northern Mariana Islands culture Novels set in Oceania