Former New York Times Tokyo bureau chief Henry S. Stokes should have reason to celebrate. His latest book "Eikokujin Kisha Ga Mita Rengokoku Sensho Shikan no Kyomou" ("Falsehoods of the Allied Nations' Victorious View of History, as Seen by a British Journalist") has moved 100,000 copies in the five months since its December release, according to its publisher Shodensha.
The mashup of journalistic anecdotes from the front lines of Japan's modern history and hard-nosed arguments against its responsibility for World War II atrocities has made the 75-year-old Stokes a darling of the country's resurgent right wing. With the slim volume popping up on best-seller lists across the nation, its author has found himself in the brightest spotlight of his career.
There is just one problem — until a recent interview with Kyodo News, Stokes, a longtime resident of Tokyo, did not know what was written in his own book.