Though it is classified as a work of historical military fiction (軍記物語), because of the time in which it was written, it is entirely possible that the author is relating a first person account of the conflagration. Though its author is unknown, their beliefs and philosophies are apparent throughout the text, as they relate the apparent futility of the war and the destruction it wrought on the capital. It remains an important work in part due to its departure from somewhat cut-and-dried depictions of the numerous battles, instead adding accounts of how the Onin War affected the city and its citizens: