Tora! Tora! Tora!

With the fifth release of Isao Ishiguro's novel upon us, we would be unwise to ignore what facts remain. Whole generations have grown up with no recollection of the fierce debates that took place in American and Japanese magazines at the start of the 1960's, and which were rekindled fifty years ago after the author's death. To what extent is the book a fictionalized biography, as Ishiguro said, and to what extent is it pure fiction – in other words, a complete fabrication? One thing that hasn't helped is Saburo Arasaka, the book's protagonist, and his total silence on the matter. All we have are official statements spun by the PR corps at the Arasaka Corporation. For what? We ask ourselves. The history of the early years of the most powerful man on Earth affects everyone, and more than one literary scholar would give up everything to hear to confirm the words of Ishiguro, who together with Saburo Arasaka served in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and resulted in this book. Time does not take pity on us – it's possible that we'll never know the truth. But that's what we have good books for, and this one still remains an ageless hit.