Nationalism is an almost incomprehensibly powerful tool, wielded by politicians and military leaders to enact all manner of despicable acts on innocent people, and in the specific case of Japan during World War II, some of the most shocking acts of human cruelty imaginable. But in Takahata’s film, focused on innocent victims and far removed from the theatre of battle, nationalism is a convenient justification for selfishness, used not by politicians and military leaders but by regular citizens desperate to survive, even at the expense of others