A witness in a lawsuit over the Japanese military's involvement in ordering civilians to commit mass suicide during the Battle of Okinawa has told a court that residents wouldn't have taken such actions were it not for an order by a military commander.
The plaintiffs are trying to halt publication of a booklet written by Nobel Prize-winning author Kenzaburo Oe, which states that the mass suicide order was given by the military during the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of World War II.
The counsel for the plaintiffs, including a former military officer, tried to discredit witness Shigeaki Kinjo, 78, by saying that his statement was contradictory.
The question of the military's involvement in the mass suicides made headlines after the education ministry told publishers in March to rewrite phrases in high school history textbooks that had stated or suggested that soldiers ordered civilians to kill themselves.