The Setting Sun

This work depicts the decline of the Japanese nobility after World War II. It focuses on Kazuko and her brother Naoji, and their elderly mother. The story shows a family in decline and crisis, like many other families during this period of transition between traditional Japan and a more advanced, industrial society. Many families needed to leave their old lives behind and start anew. Through the character Naoji, the author brings up a number of social and philosophical problems of that time.