Takeichi Nishi: Difference between revisions

In the 2006 film ''[[Letters from Iwo Jima]]'', Baron Nishi was played by [[Koreans in Japan|Korean-Japanese]] actor [[Tsuyoshi Ihara]]. The film portrays Nishi as being close friends with [[Tadamichi Kuribayashi|General Tadamichi Kuribayashi]], but in reality, the two had some disagreements. Nishi ignored Kuribayashi's prohibition on using precious water to wash tanks, as well as the general's orders to punish soldiers who did so. Regardless, the popularity (mainly in Japan) of both men as defenders of Iwo Jima grew. An anecdote repeated by Kakehashi Kumiko in the February 2006 issue of ''[[Bungei Shunju]]'' magazine is that in the final days of the battle, as the number of commanding officers who refused to put their men in caves increased, Nishi agreed that they should go out and fight together. In the 2006 movie, Nishi uses some of the scarce medical supplies on a wounded US Marine he is questioning. Ōno Kaoru's biography of Nishi gives credence to this as an actual event. The film also portrays Nishi as having taken his own life after being wounded and blinded during the battle. He is the inspiration for the character Kinuyo Nishi in the anime series Girls und Panzer.