Sato Toshio was one of the few Japanese citizens who was critical of the government's war policies in the 1940s. He was arrested in 1941 and, under relentless torture, died in prison on 14 May 1944, at the age of 34. His body was released without a stitch of clothing on it to his wife and four-year-old daughter.
As a "traitorous" family, Toshio's widow and daughter lived under observation by the police and suffered the cold stares of society. Working day and night during and after the war, Toshio's widow died exhausted.
After the war, the story was that the war was waged against the emperor's will. But those who "went against the emperor's will" and started the war were granted pensions, while those who died for their opposition to the war received no compensation.
一九四零年代，日本政府對外用兵，反對的國民不多，其一是佐藤利夫。他一九四一年被捕，受盡酷刑，一九四四年五月十四日死在獄中，年僅三十四歲。當局把利夫一絲不掛的屍體交還他妻子和四歲的女兒。
利夫的遺孀和女兒是「國賊」家人，起居遭警察監視，並受盡社會冷眼。他遺孀戰時戰後，都不能不晝夜工作，終於不堪勞累，撒手人寰。
戰後，當局說法是日皇其實反對戰爭。但那些「逆日皇意旨」發動戰爭者，都獲發退休金；而反戰殉身者，卻不獲任何賠償。