This essay exposes how a fabricated narrative published by the Okinawa Times became the foundation for Kenzaburō Ōe’s Okinawa Notes, and how Asahi Shimbun amplified it for political purposes. It examines the manipulation of the Okinawa issue by postwar intellectuals and media.

2016-04-02
What follows is a continuation of the previous chapter.
The guilt of Kenzaburō Ōe and Asahi Shimbun in politically exploiting the “Okinawa issue.”
There is even a sense that the injunction lawsuit against the publication of Okinawa Notes may end in Ōe’s defeat.
The Nobel Prize–winning author dislikes Japan.
When people of unclear background, such as Takako Doi or Tetsuya Chikushi, speak ill of Japan, one can imagine that at least half of it stems from jealousy.
However, in the case of someone like Kenzaburō Ōe, it is difficult to understand the mentality of a Japanese who takes pleasure in denigrating his own country.
He is said to be a man of letters.
He has even received the Nobel Prize.
Though he appears to be a respectable person, he goes out of his way to boast that he rejected the Japanese government’s attempt to honor his achievements because he dislikes Japan.
Perhaps he believes that displaying such hostility makes him appear progressive.
Or perhaps he knows that adopting such a posture pleases Asahi Shimbun, invites praise, and boosts book sales.
It may even be a calculated way to profit.
It is an unpleasant way of making a living, but that is his choice.
However, even for the sake of such posturing, lies are unacceptable.
He published a work titled Okinawa Notes through Iwanami Shoten.
In it, he wrote that on Tokashiki and the Kerama Islands, where U.S. forces landed, Japanese garrison commanders forced residents to commit mass suicide.
The basis of this narrative was “The Typhoon of Steel,” written by the Okinawa Times, an unreliable newspaper.
It claimed that as U.S. attacks intensified, evacuation shelters received suicide orders from Captain Akamatsu.
“All island residents are to commit suicide while praying for the glory of the Imperial Nation and Japan’s certain victory,” it said.
It also stated that on Zamami Island, on the day before the U.S. landing, Captain Umezawa gathered residents in front of the war memorial and ordered them to die honorably.
To state the conclusion in advance, this story was a complete fabrication from beginning to end.
To be continued.