This volume contains two unrelated stories. Poppoya: Satou Otomatsu is a lonely station master of a small station in Hokkaido, situated at the end of the line in a small village with an aging population. The station is due to close in the coming spring, and he will retire with it. One night in his last winter manning the station, an encounter with a young girl marks the beginning of the events that will see him reflect on his working life - performing his duty as a railroad man, whilst enduring the pain of its cost to his personal life. Love Letter: Goro just got out from jail, but a police officer wants to talk to him right away. He announces to him that Goro's wife is dead and that he has to go to Chiba and take her body. Goro has no recollection of having a wife, but then he remembers he married a Chinese woman a long time ago. He married her for her money, and had she married him because she needed a Japanese visa to work. In fact, she's a prostitute who came to Japan hoping