Shinichi Gibo survived the Battle of Okinawa in 1945 at the age of 6, but he has lived with a persistent trauma ever since.
As a war orphan, he felt a deep sense of loneliness and inferiority. "There are no dreams, no hopes. Why is life so painful?" the now 86-year-old recalls thinking while growing up.
When Gibo was 3, his father died of illness, and his mother left him behind to work far from home. He was raised by his aunt and uncle, and together, they fled through the fierce battleground in southern Okinawa, stepping over corpses as they ran.
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