The following is from the final installment of Masayuki Takayama’s regular column in the weekly magazine Shinchō, released today.
This article also proves that he is the one and only person in the world to speak out after the war.
Long ago, an elderly professor from the Royal Ballet School of Monaco, highly respected by prima ballerinas worldwide, came to Japan.
At that time, she said the following about the significance of artists
‘Artists are important because they are the only ones who can shed light on hidden, concealed truths and express them.’
No one would argue with her words.
Masayuki Takayama is not only the one and only journalist in the post-war world, but it is not an exaggeration to say that he is also the only artist in the post-war world.
This thesis also beautifully proves the correctness of my statement that, in the current world, no one deserves the Nobel Prize in Literature more than Masayuki Takayama.
This thesis is a must-read, not only for the Japanese but also for people worldwide.

The Hannibal Directive
“The Chinese have been extremely cruel since ancient times,” Yamagata Aritomo instructed.
The East Hebei Autonomous Government security force, which switched sides to join Chiang Kai-shek’s army, was no exception.
They surrounded the city of Tongzhou, searched the homes of Japanese citizens one by one, raped the women, gouged out their breasts, and killed them by thrusting poles into their genitals.　
It was a significant incident that resulted in the massacre of 250 people and the definitive division of Japan and China.
Still, Iwanami Shoten Publishing Co. does not even include it in the Kōjien dictionary, saying that “the Chinese would be offended.”
Following this incident, tens of thousands of Chiang Kai-shek’s troops attacked the Japanese concession in Shanghai.
It was the Second Shanghai Incident.
When the Japanese troops became angry, Chiang Kai-shek’s troops ran away, abandoning Nanjing and fleeing to Jiujiang and Wuhan—another unit aimed to capture Wuhan from the north along the Yellow River.
In South China, the Battle of Guangdong was also being fought.
First, three army divisions landed at Baias Bay.
They captured Huizhou and advanced towards Guangdong.
“Our naval 97th Type Dive Bomber unit also took part in the battle,” said Captain Goto Yasuji of Japan Airlines, recalling the old days.　
While returning after bombing the bridge leading to Canton Castle, a problem occurred with a fellow aircraft.
The 97-type attack aircraft had fixed landing gear but was highly maneuverable and played a leading role in the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the early models had unstable engines.
The problem with the fellow aircraft was precisely that.
The engine stopped, and the aircraft plunged into the paddy fields below.　
There was a time when the American photo magazine ‘Life’ published a photograph of a Japanese pilot who had died after crashing into the ground with his arms folded.
The caption read, “The Japanese have a problem with their semicircular canals, and when they lose control of their plane, they give up immediately and wait for death with their arms folded,” but this was a malicious lie.
If they made an emergency landing, they would be tortured to death by the cruel Chinese.
Many pilots chose to die themselves rather than endure this fate.
It was thought that their comrades had followed their example, but a few days later, information arrived that they had been taken prisoner.
There was no anti-aircraft fire, and it was a peaceful paddy field area.
It is not easy to die in such a place.
In China, it was believed that the Japanese would commit suicide by biting their tongues.
So when they captured prisoners, they pulled out all their teeth with pliers.
They also cut off all the fingers on their hands to prevent them from escaping, and they gouged out their ears and pierced out their eyes.
Then, they stuffed them into wooden boxes with iron bars, making them a spectacle in the towns.
The spectators would enjoy throwing stones at them.　
The army was in the middle of a campaign to capture Canton, and they could not split up their forces for the sake of a single naval pilot.
It may already be too late.
At the very least, it didn’t seem like the fingers that held the control stick would be left.
How could they save their comrade?
They gathered information and found out where the wooden box was.
They also found out which train would take it to the next town.　
That day, all 97 of the aircraft took part in the bombing of the target train.
Each aircraft fired all of its anti-aircraft machine gun rounds at the freight car where their friends were probably being loaded.　
“It was the only way we could say goodbye to our friends,” said the old pilot.
Hamas prefers to take Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers hostage, according to the magazine ‘Miltos.’
Unlike the Chinese, Hamas does not hurt or kill hostages.　
The aim is to exchange prisoners, and according to the magazine, one IDF soldier is exchanged for 450 Hamas members.
It is a “one-sided exchange ratio” devised by the head of the PFLP and is called the Jibril deal after the head’s name.　
Israel, which values the lives of its people, has obediently complied with even what it considers to be unfair exchange ratios and has rescued many of its soldiers and officers in this way.
However, in the current Gaza conflict, which began with the massacre of 1,200 people by Hamas, Israel has stopped using the Jibril deal, and according to other sources, it has started to prioritize the destruction of Hamas, even if it means that the lives of the hostages are put at risk.
It is called the “Hannibal Directive,” and there are signs of it.
In the most recent case, Hamas released 105 hostages, but only 240 Hamas soldiers were released.
The exchange ratio has been reduced to 2 to 1.
The other day, when an IDF lieutenant was abducted, the Israelis bombed the place where he was being held.
The phrase “regardless of whether the hostage is alive or dead” was brought into sharp relief.
It is a natural response if the other side becomes Chinese.