Japan Press Weekly

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2008 October 29 - November 4 [HISTORY]

High court rejects charge that denies compulsory mass suicide during WWII

A high court upheld a lower court ruling that rejected a former Japanese military officer’s charge that Oe Kenzaburo brought disgrace on him by describing in his “Notes on Okinawa” that the military ordered Okinawans to kill themselves in during the Battle of Okinawa in the final stages of World War II.

The former chief of garrison stationed in Okinawa’s Zamami Island at the time, Umezawa Hiroshi had demanded a court injunction against the “Notes on Okinawa” by the Nobel Prize writer Oe Kenzaburo and his publisher, Iwanami Shoten, on the grounds that the book impugned on his honor.

In his ruling at the Osaka High Court on October 31, Presiding Judge Oda Koji said that the military’s deep involvement in “mass suicides” in Okinawa is undeniable and that it “by no means can affirm the assertion by the former garrison chief that the military “ordered residents not to kill themselves.”

The judge said that ‘a resident’s testimony’ brought to court by the plaintiff, Umezawa to support his assertion that the military told residents not to commit suicide is “a lie.” He went on to say, “As far as the allegation that the military officers directly ordered residents to kill themselves, it does not provide proof of it. However, it is impossible to conclude that it has been proven to be untrue.”

Pointing out that the writings in question, including Oe’s “Notes on Okinawa,” relate to the Japanese military’s actions that involves considerable public interests, the judge said, “If a person who claims that his honor was damaged can file a lawsuit every time new evidence has been discovered, it will discourage people from even discussing the issue.”

The high court concluded, “At the time of its publication, the book was recognized as providing historical facts and its continued publication cannot be regarded as illegal.”

Oe Kenzaburo published the following comment on the Osaka High Court ruling:

I am glad that our position has been accepted.

“Notes on Okinawa,” which I wrote 38 years ago, was intended to recognize the fact that Okinawans were forced to pay the cost in many ways in the course of Japan’s modernization and to point to the government responsibility for it.

In Tokashiki and Zamami, 700 islanders committed suicides during the Battle of Okinawa, with the military being involved (I believe that the military involvement was mostly for the purpose of coercing them to commit mass suiicide). These suicides are typical of how Okinawans paid for the ultimate cost of the Battle of Okinawa.

The plaintiff has made clear that he brought the case to court for a political purpose, which is to falsely depict this tragic event as “martyrdom dedicated to the nation,” and “beautiful deaths with dignity,” apparently with the aim of helping to increase nationalistic sentiments. I will devote the rest of my life to the struggle against it and make it a main task as a writer.”