A Youth Depiction in The Wind Rises
The Wind Rises describes a story of the tragic fate of two young individuals in prewar
Japan. It depicts the history of Taisho and Showa Japan in the economic crises of the 1920s to the
rise of militarism in the 1930s. Instead of directly tackling such historical events, the subject of
war and violence is portrayed indirectly by sprinkling elements of it across the scenes. The two
main protagonists are Horikoshi Jiro, the aircraft engineer for the Zero fighter plane, and Naoko,
his lover. The film depicts the complicated feelings of pre-WWII and how life often puts us in
difficult situations where the outcomes don’t always align with our desires. Thus, the film serves
to explore the idea of how we can live life in such circumstances, especially for the Japanese
youth at that time.
Early on in the film, the town is struck by the Kanto Earthquake and fire (1923), which
