Without conducting any field research, a grave accusation was constructed from a biased source. This section questions the credibility of such a narrative and the standards of verification behind it.

2016-04-10

During the war, the garrison commander on Tokashiki Island, Captain Akamatsu, is said to have forced civilians who were a burden to commit mass suicide.
He was portrayed as a demon, a symbol of the inhuman cruelty of the Japanese military.
It was therefore written that, like Adolf Eichmann, he should be brought to Okinawa and executed.
He wrote this without conducting a single interview or investigation.
Using the Okinawa Times’ The Storm of Steel (Tetsu no Bōfū), a work known for its bias, as his source, Ōe freely dramatized the story through his own Japan-hating perspective, which he used to make a living.
But can this newspaper company truly be trusted enough to accept its account at face value?
To be continued.