The man whose life inspired the 2014 animated film "Giovanni's Island" has described the two years he shared with friends from the former Soviet Union and the impact of its occupation of his hometown following World War II.
Hiroshi Tokuno, now 81, recalled how on the morning of Sept. 1, 1945, he was walking with his younger brother on a coastal road to school on Shikotan when he saw two Soviet battleships enter Shakotan Bay on the northern shore of the small island off Hokkaido.
Rushing to their school of some 50 students, they later gathered for math lessons when Toshi Suzuki, their 23-year-old teacher, said to the class, "Soviet troops may come here, but you will be all right if you concentrate on your study as usual," Tokuno said.