Yukio Mishima's novel The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea depicts the conflicts between pre-WWII Japan and post-WWII Japan world, the author constructs the novel with characters whose lives are pulled in contrasting directions that depict the evolving culture of Japan during that era. In the novel Fusako, Noboru's mother and Ryuji's girlfriend, is a woman involved in conflicts, which many post-World War II Japanese women would have had to face, which occur in her life and are the direct cause of her actions throughout the period. novel. The Fusako conflicts symbolize the problems faced by Japan after World War II. Fusako is a woman who needs intimacy but seeks these needs as if she were a man, she has to deal with the needs of her growing child, Noboru, who is currently fatherless, and also has the need to transform into a Westernized business woman as opposed to the depiction of a traditional Japanese woman. Mishima presents Fusako as a woman looking for a man due to her long years of abstinence after her husband's death. Like most single women, Fusako not only wants a man to take on the role of father to her offspring, but also wants to satisfy her in an intimate way. It is brought to our attention that Noboru observed his mother and discovered that numerous times throughout the story Fusako walked naked in her room before going to bed: "He found that it was her habit... to sit completely naked for a few minutes before going to bed….Usually he went to bed immediately after touching his flesh with scented water, but sometimes he sat at the dressing table and looked at his profile in the mirror for a few minutes” (Mishima 7), this symbolizes the greatness of loneliness of Fusako, and her desire to have a man who... middle of paper ...... the novel is a figurative war between pre-World War II Japan and post-World War II Japan and how the author portrays Fusako as a woman who was raised in the old ways of Japan, must now try to adapt to its new westernized ways and avoid those who oppose the new Japan where in the past women were not allowed to run business but now is, just as he eagerly seeks another partner because he is over thirty and single while trying to provide for and nurture his fatherless son Noboru.Works CitedFriedman, Seth. "The Changing Roles of Women in Japanese Society." The Changing Roles of Women in Japanese Society.NP, December 1992. Web. April 27, 2014. “Japanese Women.” - GHN: IEEE Global History Network. Np, nd Web. 02 May 2014.Mishima, Yukio and John Nathan. The sailor who fell out of favor with the sea. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970. Print.