Makoto Oda

[1] Oda was born in Osaka in 1932 and graduated from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Letters program, majoring in classical Greek philosophy and literature.

[2] His travels through Europe and Asia on a budget of a dollar a day formed the basis of his 1961 bestseller Nandemo Mite yaro ("I'll go and see everything").

It was written about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki not only in Japan but on the Hopi Indians and Americans who lived near the testing sites.

It was about Japanese forces on a South Pacific island facing an American invasion at the end of World War II.

[2] His memorial service was held on August 4, 2007 at the Aoyama Sogisho funeral hall in Tokyo and was attended by about 800 people, including well-known persons in the political, literary and activist fields in Japan.