For Japanese photographers operating in the mid-to-late 20th century, the image was rarely left to stand entirely alone. The "setting sun" writings by these artists provide an indispensable roadmap to their visual work. They show a collective group of creative minds grappling with a unique historical predicament: how to find meaning, identity, and beauty in a nation that was completely reinventing itself from the darkness of war into the blinding light of the modern age.