The Bird People in China

Mr. Okamura is hospitalized for a hernia, forcing his company to seek a replacement. A young Japanese businessman named Mr. Wada is chosen to assess a jade vein in a remote village in Yunnan. He leaves Japan to oversee the assignment in Okamura's stead.

Wada travels to Yunnan, China, to assess a vein of jade in a remote village. His guide, Mr. Shen, cannot speak English well but can communicate in Japanese, which helps interaction. The mission sets the stage for a sequence of increasingly risky developments.

On the journey, a yakuza named Ujiie informs Wada that his company owes money and forces Wada to take him along to repay the debt with precious stones. This coercion binds Wada to a dangerous complicity from the start. The arrangement foreshadows the tension between tradition and exploitation.

They encounter a Japanese researcher who has found carvings of bird people throughout Japan and seeks to uncover more in Yunnan. The researcher believes Yunnan could be the origin of Japanese culture. This encounter deepens the mystery surrounding the village and its legends.

After losing their belongings and documents in a storm, the group struggles to continue toward the village. The storm tests their resourcefulness and sets back their plans. They must improvise with limited supplies as they press on.

They reach a remote village in Yunnan and meet a blue-eyed woman who runs a school for flying as bird people, based on diagrams left by her grandfather, a Royal Air Force pilot who crashed nearby. The woman’s teachings and the grandfather's notes hint at a lost link between myth and modern possibility. This environment blends folklore with the promise of progress.

The documents are an English translation of an ancient book found by the woman’s grandfather, written in an unusual dialect. Wada translates them from English into Japanese at Ujiie’s request, enabling the group to understand the text's significance. The translation deepens the intrigue surrounding the village’s past.

Mr. Wada finds jade, and the villagers are excited that this discovery could bring electricity and tourism to their village. They believe it could lift the community, but Ujiie fears how outsiders will change life there. The tension between opportunity and danger drives the group's decisions.

To prevent outsiders from exploiting the village, Ujiie kills tortoises used to pull their raft and then threatens to shoot Wada, Shen, and the ferryman. The act demonstrates his willingness to resort to violence to maintain control. The moment intensifies the conflict over the village’s future.

Wada convinces Ujiie to attempt flight using artificial wings from the village school, hoping to demonstrate progress without surrendering control. They climb into the air, but the wings fail and both crash. The crash marks a turning point in their relationship and the fate of the project.

In the following years, Ujiie becomes the village development advisor, overseeing development and trying to control the pace of modernization. His role reflects the ongoing tension between preserving the village's traditions and bringing in new opportunities. The village continues to navigate between heritage and progress.

Mr. Wada returns to Japan and raises a family. He leaves the village behind but carries the experience and memories of the jade quest with him. The narrative closes on his return and the life he builds back home.