In the waiting room he meets a gossipy, motormouth guy who starts telling him horror stories about how the doctors will never tell you if you have stomach cancer. Motormouth goes on and on about the symptoms of late stage stomach cancer, unwittingly terrifying Watanabe, who has all of the symptoms described. Sure enough, the doctors tell Watanabe that he's fine, and he leaves knowing that he has only six months to live. The first person he shares the news with is a stranger in a bar, a writer of pulp fiction. The writer is intrigued.
Some people die without ever once knowing what life is.
You're a fine man because you are fighting against death, and that is what impresses me. The writer takes Watanabe out on the town, initiating the middle section of Ikiru. First, with the writer, he devotes himself to simple pleasures, Pachinko and a carnival, jazz and striptease artists, drinking and music halls and women of pleasure. Their relationship is not sexual, but after a while Watanabe's constant attention because almost vampiric, and the girl pushes him away. At this point you might become frustrated with Watanabe.