War Documentary Causes Controversy, Angers Protagonist

Last month, I blogged about Yasukuni, a powerful documentary about war memory by Chinese director Li Ying. It's a heated, opinionated look at the controversy surrounding ex-prime minister Koizumi's visit to the shrine that holds the ashes of WW2 criminals. It caused a stir when several Japanese movie theaters refused to air it, and again made headlines when several other Japanese movie theaters agreed to air it. Now, one of the main subjects in the film is demanding that he be taken out of the footage completely.

90-year old Naoji Kariya, who makes multiple appearances in the film as a talented sword maker who made WW2 weapons, feels he was deceived by Li and misrepresented in the movie. Kariya told Mainichi:

I was told that the film was a documentary about sword making. I cannot trust director Li Ying any more. I want my scenes deleted from the film.

Li says:

I gained Kariya's approval. If I cut his scenes, the film will be undercut and cannot be screened.

The jury's still out as to whether Li really tricked Kariya into being interviewed, and whether the film will be edited or removed entirely from theaters. One thing's for sure though—all this controversy has put Li on the map.