Noboru Kojima, an award-winning author of books on World War II, died of a stroke Tuesday at a hospital in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, his family said. He was 74.
Kojima, a graduate of the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law and a former foreign correspondent of Kyodo News, is known for his writings on the 1946-1948 International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo, which handled crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He heard proceedings at the Tokyo tribunal while a student.
Kojima also wrote about Japan's emperors and Manchuria, which was the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo before and during the war.
He received a prestigious literary award named after the late author Kan Kikuchi in 1990 and was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon -- a national honor awarded to artists and performers -- in 1993.
He also served as a member of the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, an advisory body to the Japan Sumo Association.
His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday at Rakan Kaikan hall in Tokyo's Meguro Ward. His wife, Hiroko, will be the chief mourner.