Shigeaki Kaneshiro, a former president of Okinawa Christian Junior College, who survived the so-called "group self-determination" that occurred on Tokashiki Island in Okinawa Prefecture during the Battle of Okinawa, died on July 19 due to acute heart failure.
He was 93 years old.
Originally from Tokashiki Village, Mr. Kaneshiro survived the so-called "group self-determination" that occurred during the Battle of Okinawa 77 years ago, and after the war he served as the president of Okinawa Christian Junior College.
In a court case in which the former Japanese army garrison captain and others complained that "it was written as if they ordered self-determination, and their honor was hurt" over the book written by the writer Kenzaburo Oe about the group self-determination of the Battle of Okinawa. In September of the year, he stood in court as a witness on the defendant's side and said, "I also took the lives of my mother, sister, and younger brother along with my brother. I testified.
After that, in April 2011, the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of the former captains and others, and the ruling recognizing the military's involvement in the collective self-determination was finalized.
Mr. Kaneshiro also engaged in activities to tell children about his own experiences, and continued until the effects of the spread of the new corona infection.
According to his family, Mr. Kaneshiro died of acute heart failure at a hospital in Naha City on the 19th of this month.
He was 93 years old.