Макото Фукамати

The protagonist and narrator of the story, Fukamachi is a 40 year old mountaineering photographer and climber. In 1993, he lost one of his companions in an Everest expedition and considered quitting mountain climbing after that. Shortly after, he found George Mallory's Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak camera in a shop in Kathmandu and started trailing the mystery behind it. At first the quest was just an excuse to escape from his personal struggles, but he was soon strongly compelled by Jouji Habu's life whom he met when he first found the camera and decided to chase after him. He had a lover named Kayoko Segawa but his mountaineering companion Noriaki Kakura started seeing her, too. Kakura died after being struck by an avalanche in the mountains and so Fukamachi feels adrift in his heart.