Organizers and judges of a controversial essay contest backed the contentious entry by former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami, saying Monday its contents "awoke the Japanese public."
Tamogami was sacked last month after his revisionist historical views came to light when his work took the contest's top prize. The general sought to justify Japan's wartime aggression under the competition's theme, "True Interpretation of Modern History."
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Toshio Motoya, head of hotel and condo developer Apa Group, the contest's organizer, said Tamogami's sacking "resulted in a huge frenzy and made the public aware of the essay and its contents. It turned into a historical event."