Some men and women turned to traditional short verse forms to express their feelings upon learning of their countrymen’s atrocities. A poetry magazine published after the Tokyo tribunal ended included this evocation of popular responses: Vividly, the traces of the Japanese Army’s atrocities are shown. Suddenly, a sharp gasp. A village poetry magazine published this waka in early 1947: The crimes of Japanese soldiers who committed unspeakable atrocities in Nanking and Manila must be atoned for. Saeki Jinzaburō, a poet of some repute, wrote two poems on the subject. One dealt with his
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