Kaikisen

Ch. 1
Yosuke is a young man who spends most of his time at the beach with his dog, Fujimura, and the two stare out at the ocean. One day, after gathering some ocean water, Yosuke does a quick prayer and returns to the Hiratsu Shrine. He goes into a shed, dumps the ocean water into a box and talks to something in the box. Then Fujimura begins to bark outside and Yosuke notices his father is with a TV crew. Yosuke's father, Yozo, orders him to hand over the shed key, but Yosuke refuses at first, but his father takes the key and leads the crew to the shed.



Yosuke's father then shows the TV crew a 'mermaid egg' and tells them about the legend of the mermaid. Many years ago, one of Yosuke's ancestors found the 'mermaid egg' and saw a mermaid, wanting her egg back. The ancestor made a promise to her, that with every generation, his family will pay tribute to the sea and look after the egg for sixty years. The mermaid agreed and since then, the ocean had been calm and there has been abundant fishing. Suddenly, just before the TV interviewer could touch the egg, Yosuke's grandfather, Yuji arrives and orders the crew to leave and takes his son and grandson inside the temple.

Both Yuji and Yozo begin to argue about the mermaid egg; Yuji fears that with the exposure of the egg, the public will endanger it and the balance of nature will be disrupted, but Yozo is tired of the ancient customs and desires change in the commune. Yosuke desides to leave them and a crowd of people talk to him about his grandfather and the mermaid egg. Yosuke's friend, Tetsu, arrives and they take a walk along a country road.