NHK WORLD PRIME: 5x25

Finding Mr. Kondo: Tracing the Life of a Wartime Illustrator

In the waning days of World War II, Japan and the US fought a fierce battle on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. In the aftermath, an American soldier picked up a Japanese soldier’s message book. It was a memento, full of words of encouragement and drawings by the soldier’s friends. However, it contained only his last name, Kondo, making it impossible to tell who it belonged to. Now, by using clues found within the book, we attempt to learn who Kondo was.