The Scourge Within : Nakano Shigeharu in Goshaku no Sake (Thoughts over Half a Glass of Sake) and "The Humanity of Criticism"

Abstract

There is an ambiguity in Nakano Shigeharu's angry voice in his writing immediately following the Defeat of the World War II. Nakano regretted the situations of the defeated Japan, described by the headmaster as "faltering of the spirit" in Goshaku no Sake. At the same time, refusing to remain lamenting, he drove himself to writing. The unanswered questions of Goshaku no Sake. which appear to be a monologue of the headmaster expressing his pity and indignation in his letters, still constitute a dialogue between Nakano and his internal scourge.