17th-century 17th-century-japan 1950s acceptance action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-rush adventure aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare air-combat air-force aircraft ambiguity ambition american-literature apostasy atmospheric autobiography aviation aviators belief bereavement betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie catholicism character-driven christian-fiction christianity christianity-in-japan colonialism combat coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict conversion coping courage cultural-assimilation cultural-clash cultural-conflict cultural-identity cultural-imperialism culture-clash danger death destiny determination doubt drama duty east-meets-west emotional emotional-journey emotions endurance exhilarating existentialism exploration faith faith-crisis family fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots flying forgiveness friendship grief grief-journey grief-memoir grief-process grieving-process gripping guilt healing heroism hidden-christians historical-fiction honor hope human-nature hunters identity illness inner-conflict inner-struggle intense intensity introspection isolation james japan japanese-culture japanese-literature japans-hidden-christians jesuit jesuit-missionaries jesuit-priests jesuits journey korean-war life literary-fiction literature loss love love-affairs love-triangle loyalty marriage martyrdom masculinity memoir memoir-writing memoirist memoirs memories memory mental-health military military-fiction mission missionaries missionary missionary-work moral-dilemma morality mortality mourning nagasaki non-fiction nonfiction novel obsession passion persecution perseverance personal-growth personal-narrative personal-tragedy pilots psychological psychology pursuit redemption reflection relationship relationships religion religious-conflict religious-conversion religious-identity religious-intolerance religious-persecution resilience risk risk-taking rivalry romance sacrifice salter samurai self-discovery self-reflection shusaku-endo silence silence-of-god sin sorrow spiritual-crisis spiritual-journey spirituality storytelling struggle suffering survival suspense suspenseful tension the-hunters thrill thrilling tragedy trauma triumph victory vietnam vietnam-war war widowhood world-war-ii writing