In which editor James Ballard, working in the concrete-cancer riddled Tokyo of the near future, has a crisis over beating his Japanese mistress... To escape or resolve his confusion he rents a prostitute and heads to the hinterlands of Mount Fuji for a weekend of escapist sex, hippies and organic food amidst the remains of Aokigahara, the depleted floating "Sea of Trees". But unwelcome memories intrude, as do the consequences of the cancer wiping out the Japanese skyline. And Ballard has a letter waiting for him - someone very dangerous knows what he is doing to his mistress and he begins to realise the story he is currently editing, of a boy named "Spoil the Child" and his terrific vengeance, may be his own story, and his undoing...