Kenzo Okuzaki
Encyclopedia
Kenzo Okuzaki was a veteran of Japan's Second World War campaign in New Guinea
. Okuzaki was the subject of the documentary film The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
, directed by Kazuo Hara
. The documentary follows the veteran Okuzaki's attempt to uncover the circumstances behind the deaths of two of his wartime comrades-in-arms, Jinpei Nomura and Private Yoshizawa. Okuzaki had been captured in the jungles of New Guinea in 1944; of the 1,000 troops in his unit only 30 survived, ten of whom appear in the films. Okuzaki uses the occasion of the filmmaking to doggedly pursue the truth behind the deaths of his friends, who were executed by a firing squad composed of his own unit, after the end of the war. Okuzaki confronts the survivors of his unit with persistent questioning, and when they stonewall he literally beats the story out of them.
Okuzaki died on June 16, 2005 in Kobe
, Japan
. Shizumi, Kenzo Okuzaki's wife, accompanies her husband on Kenzo's missions. She died in 1986.
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. Okuzaki was the subject of the documentary film The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
is an award-winning 1987 documentary by director Kazuo Hara. The documentary centers on 62-year-old veteran of Japan's Second World War campaign in New Guinea, Kenzo Okuzaki, and follows him around as he searches out those responsible for the unexplained deaths of two soldiers in his old unit...
, directed by Kazuo Hara
Kazuo Hara
is a Japanese documentary film director. He won the award for Best Director at the 12th Hochi Film Award and at the 9th Yokohama Film Festival for The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On...
. The documentary follows the veteran Okuzaki's attempt to uncover the circumstances behind the deaths of two of his wartime comrades-in-arms, Jinpei Nomura and Private Yoshizawa. Okuzaki had been captured in the jungles of New Guinea in 1944; of the 1,000 troops in his unit only 30 survived, ten of whom appear in the films. Okuzaki uses the occasion of the filmmaking to doggedly pursue the truth behind the deaths of his friends, who were executed by a firing squad composed of his own unit, after the end of the war. Okuzaki confronts the survivors of his unit with persistent questioning, and when they stonewall he literally beats the story out of them.
Okuzaki died on June 16, 2005 in Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Shizumi, Kenzo Okuzaki's wife, accompanies her husband on Kenzo's missions. She died in 1986.
External links
- http://www.loft-prj.co.jp/kamisama/
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3EALg22uMY
- http://www.japanaddicted.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1994