A newly revised edition of Saburo Shiroyama's literary work, "The End of the Great Cause." The End of the Great Cause is an impulsive husk—the youth and struggles of a former militaristic youth. In the final days of the Pacific War, Kakimi, a militaristic youth burning with ideals. The future of the young man tossed about by the turbulent times... A key work by Saburo Shiroyama, depicting the youth and struggles of a young man who lived through a time when societal values and ideologies were rapidly changing. [Commentary] Shiroyama wrote "The End of the Great Cause" as if to take revenge on the young man he had believed in, or to dissect his own youth, which had been scarred by mental trauma. For Shiroyama, this was a work he couldn't help but write. It is, literally, the origin and most important novel of Shiroyama's literature. This work begins with Kakimi, who can be seen as Shiroyama's alter ego, entering the military believing in "The Great Cause" written by Lieutenant Colonel Goro Sugimoto, and breaking his front teeth. Kakimi, about to fall while holding a gun, instinctively protected the gun and hit his face on a rock. He thought he shouldn't damage "the Emperor's gun." However, his superior officer lightly dismissed it, saying, "Well, that's the Army." Returning from the military, which was filled with such absurdities, Kakimi could not adapt well to the post-war era. And it wasn't just Kakimi who couldn't adapt. His hometown comrade, Tanemura, died, but the temple's head priest's mother rang the bell as many times as her son had been alive, who never returned. She rang it 19 times every day at 5 and 10 o'clock. There was also a classmate named Kojima who hanged himself after returning. The following lament of Kakimi must be the same as Shiroyama's lament, who was 17 years old when the war ended. "Is it okay to be alive? Don't you feel guilty? Before the war ended, being alive was a debt. But now, after Tanemura died and Kojima died, there was a new smell of sin in being alive. Trying to live seemed like a wanton act. No matter how well I lived for the rest of my life, I felt I couldn't compare to Tanemura and Kojima, who had died. And, in fact, I had no way to live. In an infinite vacation, both my body and mind became dazed, and eventually, I would fade away into the distant sky." "Oh, you're with Kakimi again?" ~