NHK announced on Friday that it will air an anime special based on Shigeru Mizuki’s manga “Shiroi Hata” (White Flag) as part of its NHK Special documentary program. Titled “Iwo Jima no Shiroi Hata” (The White Flag at Iwo Jima), the special is scheduled to broadcast on Sunday, August 16.
A Story of Surrender and Sacrifice
Mizuki’s original manga follows Nishiōeda, a lieutenant in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. After brutal fighting at the Battle of Iwo Jima, Nishiōeda raises a white flag of surrender in a bid to save the lives of the soldiers under his command — an act that directly defied the army’s orders to fight to the death. He was subsequently executed for treason.
In an afterword to the story, Mizuki noted that the manga was inspired by a tale he heard about a friend of his older brother, who had served as an Imperial Japanese Navy officer. The account has never been historically verified.
Publication History
The character of Nishiōeda first appeared in Mizuki’s “Futari no Chūi” (Two Lieutenants), published in Hinomaru Bunko’s Hinomaru magazine in 1964. Mizuki later reworked the story into “Shiroi Hata,” which ran in Seirindō’s Garo magazine in 1968. The character ultimately appeared across three separate manga stories. In 2010, Kodansha compiled four of Mizuki’s World War II manga — including “White Flag” — into a collected volume also titled White Flag.
Documentary Context
Alongside the anime adaptation, the NHK Special broadcast will feature research drawing on both American and Japanese records relating to reports of a raised white flag and a surrender at Iwo Jima.
The Battle of Iwo Jima took place in the final stages of World War II, with U.S. forces landing in February 1945. Fighting raged for roughly a month, with sporadic clashes continuing for months afterward. Notably, it was the first amphibious assault in the Pacific campaign in which American casualties exceeded Japanese casualties, despite the U.S. holding a significant numerical advantage. Photographer Joe Rosenthal captured his iconic image “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima,” showing six U.S. Marines hoisting the American flag atop Mount Suribachi.
About Shigeru Mizuki
Born in Osaka in 1922 and raised in Tottori Prefecture, Shigeru Mizuki was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, during which he lost his left arm. His wartime experiences informed several manga works, including Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths and Watashi no Hibi.
Mizuki was equally celebrated for his manga featuring yōkai — supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore — and his extensive research into the subject is widely credited with driving the enduring popularity of yōkai stories in Japan and beyond. He passed away on November 30, 2015.
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