White Tower (Part II)

Author: (Japanese) Yasuzo Yamazaki
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-23
Features: A classic masterpiece by the master of Japanese social novels, a bestseller for 40 years. A dramatic play intertwining light and darkness, an epic symphony of fate. White symbolizes the purity of medicine, and Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, emphasized this in his famous oath. The Tower refers to the setting of the story—a place that carries the of saving lives and nurturing the next generation of medical professionals—a hospital. Within this Tower, people must face not just the simple distinction between good and evil, but the profound contradictions and conflicts inherent in human nature. The White Tower is a Tower of desires. In the wheel of life, anyone who stakes everything on desire will not be the winner. At that moment, the weight of life also changes.
Taro Tsukami, who aspires to rise to prominence, faces the deceased and their families due to his misdiagnosis. On one hand, he is consumed by inner terror and unease; on the other, he maintains a stubborn exterior as he mobilizes all his strength to win the lawsuit. After the initial trial, Tsukami wins, but the family insists on appealing. With the assistance of the upright lawyer Seiji Sogo and the doctor Shigeharu Satomi, they ultimately achieve victory. Although Tsukami wins another election—the election for membership in the Academic Conference—he collapses under the dual blows of the lawsuit's defeat and his own illness.
A man who should have become a politician or a businessman, Tsukami is instead a doctor. He forgets that "medicine is a divine prayer. Although doctors are not gods, their duties are sacred and must not be defiled." The ambitious Tsukami ultimately loses himself in his naive and blunt desires.
"I pledge to be pure in my own heart and in my practice of medicine. I will keep my promises, for I am bound by them. I will respect my teachers as I would my parents. I will impart my medical knowledge to my children, the children of my teachers, and my disciples. I will do all in my power to maintain the honor and the standard of my profession. I will be loyal to my profession and will keep secret all that I learn in the practice of my calling. With purity and with integrity I will pass my life; I will not take a bribe, I will not accept gifts, I will not commit any offense, I will not falsify my diagnosis or my prognosis, I will not use my knowledge for malicious purposes, and I will not cause any harm to any human being. I will keep my eyes clean, and will not use my knowledge for the purpose of harming others. I will respect my profession as a sacred calling." —Hippocratic Oath
Taro Tsukami, who aspires to rise to prominence, faces the deceased and their families due to his misdiagnosis. On one hand, he is consumed by inner terror and unease; on the other, he maintains a stubborn exterior as he mobilizes all his strength to win the lawsuit. After the initial trial, Tsukami wins, but the family insists on appealing. With the assistance of the upright lawyer Seiji Sogo and the doctor Shigeharu Satomi, they ultimately achieve victory. Although Tsukami wins another election—the election for membership in the Academic Conference—he collapses under the dual blows of the lawsuit's defeat and his own illness.
A man who should have become a politician or a businessman, Tsukami is instead a doctor. He forgets that "medicine is a divine prayer. Although doctors are not gods, their duties are sacred and must not be defiled." The ambitious Tsukami ultimately loses himself in his naive and blunt desires.