Tokyo
The Chinese called Waichi Okumura a devil. He says he was no more than an ant. He bayoneted a civilian to death as part of his training in the closing days of the second world war, then stayed on in Shanxi province to fight the communists and try to build a new Japanese empire.
More than 60 years later, he's one of the few still alive to recall those days. He so impressed Kaoru Ikeya with the anger that burns inside him still that the documentary-maker knew he had a compelling tale to tell.
'He is both angry and sad,' says Ikeya. 'He was sad to go back to the places where so many of his friends died and to meet the people whose lives they affected. He is angry because he believes the Japanese government is making up history. He is suing the government, but it's not about money. He just wants the lies to end. He feels dishonoured.'
The Ants: The Day I Became a Devil won the humanitarian award for outstanding documentary at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival and has been shown at cinemas in Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka for the past month. Known as Ari no Heitai in Japanese, it's scheduled to open in other cities in the next few weeks, including Okinawa and Sapporo. About 10,000 people have seen the movie, and it has taken US$132,000 at the box office.
Okumura, now a frail man of 80, attended a special day-long programme of screenings and discussions in Tokyo on August 15, the 61st anniversary of Japan's surrender at the end of the second world war, at which he told the audience that his war was not over, Ikeya says.