Kenzō Okuzaki

was a former Imperial Japanese Army soldier, writer, actor, anti-monarchist and anarchist. He was known for an attempted assault on Emperor Shōwa, and his starring role in the documentary The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On.

Biography Kenzō Okuzaki was born on 1 February 1920 in Akashi, Hyōgo Prefecture to and . His family was affected by the Great Depression, and Okuzaki, after graduating elementary school in 1930, began working odd jobs at age 10. During this time, he became interested in Christianity.

Military service In March 1941, Okuzaki was drafted into the Engineering Corps in Okayama, and was sent to Jiujiang in China for construction duties as well as occasional combat against Chinese troops. In January 1943, Okuzaki was transferred to 2nd Company, 36th Independent Engineering Regiment, and in the following month he was shipped to the naval base in Hansa Bay, in the Japanese-occupied Territory of New Guinea.

Okuzaki arrived at Hansa in April 1943, and his regiment was assigned to build an airfield at Alexishafen. Construction was completed within the following months, but the Japanese troops suffered from malaria and Allied bombing. In December, the troops abandoned the Alexishafen airfield and were ordered to retreat to Wewak, then further to Hollandia. During the retreat, which was described as a "long and desperate struggle for survival", Japanese troops were attacked by Allied forces, who were gaining foothold in the area.

Okuzaki was injured during the retreat and became greatly weakened. He became increasingly isolated from his fellow soldiers, both physically (Okuzaki was part of a reconnaissance patrol) and mentally, as he was noted to have "temperamental" and anti-authoritarian behavior. He reached Hollandia after 10 months, and decided to expose himself to the enemy so he could be killed, but he was captured by Allied troops instead. Okuzaki was one of the six survivors from his 1,200-men regiment to survive the retreat. Okuzaki and another man were the sole survivors of their 350-men company.

After his capture, Okuzaki spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war in Australia. His final rank was private first class.

Post-war After returning to Japan, Okuzaki continued to work in a series of odd jobs including as a coal miner and a factory worker. Eventually, Okuzaki found success selling car batteries, and in 1951 he opened a shop in Kobe where he sold car batteries and second-hand cars. In 1956, Okuzaki attacked and accidentally killed , for which he was once again arrested and imprisoned for one year and two months at the Tokyo Detention House.

In 1981, Okuzaki was arrested for plotting to kill then-former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, but he was later released without a charge.

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On

Okuzaki was introduced to documentary filmmaker Kazuo Hara through director Shōhei Imamura. Between 1982 and 1983, Okuzaki starred in the documentary film The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On by Hara, where he investigated the fate of two of his fallen comrades during the New Guinea campaign. By the end of the film, it was implied that they were executed by officers because they refused to participate in group cannibalism.

In March 1983, After several days on the run, Okuzaki turned himself to the police. After his arrest, Okuzaki confessed that he was thinking of killing four more people, His wife had died in 1986 during his imprisonment,

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