Sinking Woman

Overview

The D.L. Chemical company is found guilty of poisoning people who ate fish caught in the bay which were affected by the toxic waste that flowed into Mikazuki Bay. It is ordered to pay damages for many people who have died and hundreds who have suffered various symptoms as a result of heavy metal toxemia. Representatives from D.L. Chemical ask Jack to assist in helping 300 patients urgently needing surgery. Jack and Pinoko stop at a Shinto shrine, which locals call the Mermaid Shrine. It based on the story of Jiro, a fisherman fell in love with Nagi, a mermaid. Nagi prayed the Lord of the Dragon Palace to change her tail into legs so she could be with Jiro, however when she dived back into the water to find a blue pearl demonstrate her love for Jiro, she drowned. Jack and Pinoko stay a Inn and hot springs where they meet Tsukiko, a young woman crippled by the Mikazuki syndrome who sells fish for a living even though the buyers don’t eat them. Jack visits Dr. Fox at the hospital to discuss to project, but rumors circulate of an unlicensed doctor on the team, and Jack declines to work on the project. Returning home, Jack sees Tsukiko who is no longer able to walk and he performs knee replacement surgery. However, Tsukiko misses the sea, and one night she returns to the bay and drowns. When carrying out the autopsy, blue pearls are found in her duodenum which Jack keeps as a possible key to curing the Mikazuki syndrome.