In the novel, Black Rain, by Masuji Ibuse, the bamboo spears symbolize the situation that the Japanese were in during the Hiroshima bombing. The Japanese have many traditions and just because their country is at war, does not mean that they should stop these traditions and give up all of their symbols of honor, pride, and dignity. During the war, one such symbol of honor or active duty was the bamboo spears.

These bamboo spears that the village headman speaks of while giving an official send-off to the Young Men's Association are as he says, "those symbols of your invincible determination to fight on to the bitter end - your bamboo spears" (13). He explains to these young men