Spy of Red and Blue

XVIII

As per Randolph's advice, he and Sofia spent the next day researching tours of the demilitarized zone. Conveniently, the concierge had already seen many foreigners and was ready with brochures and a multitude of agencies ready to guide them. And so, the day after they arrived, the two of them walked to the train station, where a guide was waiting for them in the square outside amongst the stone and a few people walking hurriedly. She was a young Japanese woman, wearing the latest curly hair and dresses that seemed to be everywhere on the magazines sold from newspaper stands.

"Good morning! I assume that you are Ms. Krueger? And Mr. Szabo?"

She spoke English well; clearly, she had experience with Americans. Sofia nodded and introduced themselves. The guide smiled and nodded happily.

"I am Sachiko. It is a pleasure to be your guide today! Have you been to Japan before?"

"No. First time."

"Oh, really?" she asked curiously as they strolled into the terminal. "How are you enjoying it so far?"

"It is very nice," Sofia said simply. "It is incredible to see how far it has come since the war."

"Oh, yes. There has been much construction, especially in the last four years. We have worked hard to prepare for the Olympics. Did you watch it on television?"

"We did. I remember that Japan did very well."

"I am very happy that we were successful."

They reached the gate and showed their tickets before walking onto the platform, where smoke and noise and the release of pneumatics almost drowned out their voices and the trains arrayed along the many tracks below roofs of tile and brick, each bound for some destination across fields and mountains down south or up north, near or far, urban or rural.

"Do you see the locomotive over there?" Sachiko pointed to a rocket-shaped train that had just pulled into the station, its rounded lamps dimmed to a faint yellow. "It is the new 'Shinkansen' bullet train that began running last year. It's top speed is over 200 kilometers per hour."

"That is very impressive."

"Unfortunately, it only runs between Tokyo and Osaka for now. We must take a different train up north to the demilitarized zone."

"Are they planning to extend the line?"

She looked at the carriages pensively. "Perhaps. We must see if there is money. In the future, I hope we will extend it to Hokkaido, after the country is reunified. Please, after you."

As their carriage (pulled by a typical locomotive) pulled out of the station, Sachiko regaled them with the history of the division between North and South Japan. Of course, both Hans and Sofia knew most of it already, but it would have been unnecessary to interrupt the guide.

"...and as the troops moved towards the Kanto Plain, the two victorious powers chose to divide Japan into north and south. The Soviet Union controlled Northern Japan and the Americans controlled Southern Japan."

Sachiko gestured to the mountains and sporadic flatlands moving out beyond the window. "This is close to where the Americans invaded in the spring of 1946. Operation Coronet was the name."

Looking at it now, Hans could not see any vestiges of the violence from twenty years prior remaining. It was peaceful, a scene of farmers working in the rice paddies and cooking in the doorway of huts, of trucks parked along the side of the road and people carrying their produce in woven baskets. In another seat, an infant began crying. Sachiko raised her voice slightly to overpower the noise, but otherwise continued as if nothing had happened.