During World War II, Pramoedya supported the occupying forces of Imperial Japan at first. He believed the Japanese to be bad but better than the Dutch. He worked as a typist for a Japanese newspaper in Jakarta. However as the war went on, Indonesians opposed harsh treatment by the Japanese military and wartime rationing. The Nationalist forces loyal to Sukarno switched their support to the incoming Allies against Japan. Pramoedya did as well.