These were the thoughts on which the tale was based. It caused major trauma to Japanese industry in general, which was heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East. Talk of the destruction of entire sectors of the Japanese economy was rife, and the Japanese economy did undergo negative growth for several years. And then almost exactly fifty years after the end of the war, Japan was rocked by the Great Hanshin Earthquake. But even in the midst of the burnt-out city landscape of Kobe, as the trees and grass begin to put out new shoots and the fauna begin to return, I think the Japanese people will again be reinvigorated by the images of a robust, vibrant natural world.
Nature is an old friend, a fellow traveler.
When society is threatened, we have a history of turning to old friends for encouragement and for banding together to seize the opportunity to rebuild. The shock of the landing had made him breathless. It had been a long journey from earth. There will be, he thought, the quiet villages beside their crystal streams amid the neatly cultivated fields. Only the birds twittering will disturb the music of the people enjoying their old dances and folk songs when the day's work is done.