Digging through the lost and found bin at an airport, an American World War II veteran named Fenton discovers an old samurai sword. A young Japanese American named Arthur Takamori walks in, searching for his lost luggage. Fenton is initially unfriendly, but after finding out that Arthur is looking for his lost sword, he invites him to sit down and have a coffee in the airport’s lost and found area. Fenton makes a joke about the mismatch between Arthur’s name and his ethnicity, but when it becomes clear that he did not mean to offend, Arthur reveals that he changed his name from Taro. Fenton tells Arthur that the sword belonged to a Japanese soldier he had killed in the war 20 years earlier and has been trying to get rid of it ever since.
When Fenton goes to get more coffee, Arthur takes hold of the sword and is surprised to find that he can understand the inscription on it, which reads “The sword will avenge me”. Despite his initial reservations, Arthur starts to feel the sword’s power and begins to confront Fenton about his racially charged comments. The two men have a heated argument, but eventually calm down and start to talk about their experiences during the war. Fenton recounts how he killed the Japanese soldier, while Arthur shares his experience of growing up during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
As the conversation continues, Fenton becomes increasingly upset and reveals that he is struggling with his past actions and is feeling lonely. Meanwhile, the sword begins to exert a stronger influence on Arthur, causing him to accuse Fenton of being a murderer. In a sudden moment of anger, Arthur tries to kill Fenton with the sword, but Fenton manages to overpower him. As Arthur pulls on the sword, it becomes wedged in the table and Fenton is fatally impaled. In a moment of rage, Arthur picks up the sword, screams “Banzai!”, and runs out of the airport, never to be seen again.
