ABSTRACT
Nosaka Akiyuki is a writer, singer, lyricist, and former member of the House of Councillors. Nosaka early identified himself as a member of the yakeato yamiichi sedai (the generation brought up in the ruins and black markets of the post-war period). In his works Nosaka repeatedly depicts his first-hand experience of the fire-bombings of major metropolitan areas during the Greater East Asian conflict. This chapter examines two recent satirical works written in Nosaka’s distinctive narrative style before proceeding to a discussion of his seminal work Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies, 1967), which deserves to be remembered as ‘the most celebrated literary record of the yakeato generation’. Nosaka’s original story has been overshadowed by the animated film version written and directed by Takahata Isao for Studio Ghibli. This chapter describes and evaluates the unparalleled narrative style of Nosaka’s original story, which covers an emotional spectrum ranging from the lighthearted depiction of the happy play of childhood, to the overwhelmingly dark and sorrowful portrayal of two children (brother and sister) dying from malnutrition in the dislocated society of post-war Japan.
