When towards the end of World War II Japan's major cities came under heavy American bombing, many city dwellers evacuated to villages to take refuge with their relatives and acquaintances. A Japanese woman wrote about what happened in her village.
The kinds of things that occurred in our village pained me. I became disillusioned with the disgraceful qualities in our people. One of the evacuees staying in the village temple told my brother, "Other families just bring leftover bits of vegetables for us children. It is only your mother who prepares good food for us."
On holidays, the local families did not share any of the dumplings they made with the evacuees. A child evacuee was knuckled on the head by his uncle, who said, "Don't take a bath before the family does. You're just a hanger-on."
第二次世界大戰末期，日本大城市遭美軍猛烈轟炸，不少城市居民避到鄉間，寄居親友門下。一個日本婦人記述她村裏的情況。
村中情況使我痛心，使我終於看到我們民族醜陋的一面。有些人寄居村中神殿，其中一人告訴我弟弟：「別的家庭，只把吃剩的蔬菜拿給我們做小孩子的吃；唯有你母親會煮些好東西給我們。」
假期間，村民煮餃子，也不和託庇村中者分嘗。一個來自城市的孩子，遭他伯父用指節敲頭，告訴他：「我們一家沐浴之後，才輪到你。你只是寄居我們籬下。」