I lived in Miyakonojo for like a year, it's a rather small city and reminds me of the city I grew up in. Spent some time in Kagoshima and Miyazaki as well. I passed through Tokyo and Osaka. There's a criticism to have of Japan, but based on a bunch of people I talked to, including a woman to whom I was the first American she saw since the occupation, the war wasn't particularly popular and the living standard was horrid. There's a reason that there was a major communist movement after the Imperial government was overthrown, only to then have to realize that the Americans they thought were their friends and stood for democracy were also the enemy of the working class.