A movie documenting the lives of three Japanese who were taken hostage by an armed group in Iraq in 2004 during the Iraq War and were later released started playing on Feb. 8 in Cinemaskhole, a movie theater in Nagoya.

Their situation largely differed from other hostage cases in that they returned home from their ordeal only to find themselves harshly blamed for having been kidnapped in the first place.

A central theme in the national debate at the time was "jiko sekinin," or self-responsibility.