Hagiwara writes in the preface: "The author's past life was that of a disconsolate iceberg that drifts and flows in the extreme regions of the northern seas. Looking at the phantom-like auroras from various spots of the iceberg, he yearned, suffered, rejoiced, sorrowed, at times getting angry with himself, as he wandered on vainly with the tides.... Above his heart were always the disconsolate clouded skies of the extreme regions, the soul-ripping...