Japanese literature volcanic island, close to Kagoshima, on the southern tip of the Kyushu island. Osamu Dazai's novel "The Setting Sun" tells of a soldier returning from Manchukuo. Shōhei Ōoka won the Yomiuri Prize for his novel "Fires on the Plain" about a Japanese deserter going mad in the Philippine jungle. Yukio Mishima, well known for both his nihilistic writing and his controversial suicide by seppuku, began writing in the post-war period. Nobuo Kojima's short story "The American School" portrays a group of Japanese teachers of English who, in the immediate aftermath of the war, deal with the American occupation in varying
Japanese nationalism itself contained a mix of political Western practices and traditional Japanese political ideas, government philosophy increasingly centered on promoting social harmony and a sense of the uniqueness of the Japanese people "(kokutai)". The extreme disparity in economic and military power between Japan and the Western colonial powers was a great cause for concern for the early Meiji leadership. The motto "Fukoku kyōhei" (enrich the country and strengthen the military) symbolized Meiji period nationalistic policies to provide government support to strengthen strategic industries. Only with a strong economic base could Japan afford to build a strong, modern military along Western lines,