Even though Japan is consumed by war, this place somehow feels different, as if cut off from reality. Looking at the distant mountain peaks, it has become the season when the cherry blossom trees you said you loved are beginning to bloom here and there. Japan continues to advance without faltering, and we citizens are fighting together as one. As usual, I was staring at the rice, trying to make do with the meager rations, when I heard a knock at the door.* When I opened the door, there stood a soldier with his military cap pulled low, clutching what looked like a piece of paper. "Congratulations."