Kubo Sakae's Land of Volcanic Ash (Kazanbaichi) is recognized as the major socialist realist drama of pre-war Japan. The play, which describes the struggles of a reform-minded intellectual in the Hokkaido countryside, is based on events surrounding the famine of 1934. It has been described "not only as Kubo Sakae's most representative work, but as the finest realist drama of the pre-war period."

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Land of Volcanic Ash makes a major contribution to our understanding of the nature and history of shingeki, its practitioners, major works and significance as an intellectual phenomenon.

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Kubo Sakae is among the most important modern Japanese playwrights, and Goodman has made him an open door for Western readers.