After the violent death of Sadanori Shimoyama, president of the Japanese National Railways, journalist Hayami, who works for the fictitious newspaper "K", is entrusted with the task of managing the coverage of the case.
While rivaling newspapers advocate a murder theory, Hayami, who resents sensationalism, interprets the evidence and unofficial statements by police officers as suicide, for which he faces criticism by superiors and readers.
During the investigations, Hayami thinks back to the death of his young wife Harumi 16 years ago, who committed suicide with another man, leaving behind no explanatory letter but only a short message telling him that she loves him.
He also has repeated meetings with his former art teacher Usan, who wants him to help publish a book on ancient cloth colouring techniques.
[3] Kuroi Ushio is regarded as one of Inoue's best-known works,[4] which "encouraged the vogue of novelistic treatment of contemporary social and political events".