Japan is a constitutional monarchy located in East Asia and occupies an important position in the international community today. Since the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan has been widely regarded as the first Asian nation to achieve successful modernization.
As a major economic power and a member of the Group of Seven (G7), Japan is not only an advanced industrial economy but also a country that has demonstrated leadership across numerous fields. Yet Japan’s strength and remarkable achievements extend far beyond economics. In culture and the arts, the country has also produced a wealth of exceptional accomplishments.
Japanese cinema is a prominent example. Kenji Mizoguchi, the director of Ugetsu (1953), immediately comes to mind. So does Akira Kurosawa. A towering figure in Japanese cinema, Kurosawa is widely regarded as a pioneer who elevated Japanese and Asian filmmaking to international prominence. His films and directorial techniques have profoundly influenced Western filmmakers, particularly those in Hollywood.
Consider Kurosawa’s film Kagemusha (1980), which shared the Palme d’Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. The Japanese term kagemusha (影武者), literally meaning “shadow warrior,” refers to a body double who impersonates a feudal lord. In medieval Japan, such doubles were employed to protect powerful lords, including the daimyō, and to confuse would-be assassins.
Takeda Shingen was a celebrated warlord of Japan’s Sengoku period, or Warring States era. The film Kagemusha is built around the premise that Shingen had a double during the final years of his life. Shingen’s younger brother, Nobukado, discovers a thief who bears an extraordinary resemblance to Shingen at an execution ground. He brings the thief before Shingen and recommends that he serve as the warlord’s double.
Initially, the thief is nothing more than a substitute, a mere shadow of the real Takeda Shingen. Gradually, however, he becomes increasingly absorbed in the identity of the man he is impersonating and develops a deep emotional attachment to the Takeda clan.
His identification with Shingen and the clan becomes so profound that, when he witnesses the devastating defeat of the Takeda army at the Battle of Nagashino, he is overwhelmed by rage and despair. Unable to restrain himself, he rushes onto the battlefield. Struck by gunfire, he struggles toward the Takeda battle standard drifting in the river, only to meet his end in the water.
By that point, the film leaves us with a haunting question: Was this man merely a kagemusha, or had he psychologically, perhaps even spiritually, become Takeda Shingen himself? Had he, in some profound sense, been possessed by the spirit of the real Takeda Shingen?
There have also been numerous rumors surrounding Kim Jong Un and his alleged kagemusha. Speculation about Kim’s death and the possible use of body doubles has circulated for years. The body-double theory is hardly new, and among the various rumors concerning his death, particularly emphatic claims have surfaced again in relatively recent times.
Where is Kim Jong Un? Is he alive or dead? Has he already departed this world, as intuition and rumor might suggest? If he has departed, where has he gone? Has he gone to that place where scorching flames await?
The figure who has appeared in recent times and whom some suspect of being his kagemusha does not seem to possess the distinctive murderous aura of Kim Jong Un, a man whom we regard as a serial killer. Nor does he appear to carry the stench of blood associated with the regime’s brutal purges.
Here lies the essence of our observation. Whereas Takeda Shingen’s kagemusha gradually became one with the man he impersonated, ultimately meeting a tragic end, the figure currently rumored to be Kim Jong Un’s double seems devoid of the murderous aura of the original.
Such an aura cannot possibly be replicated through cosmetic surgery or other alterations of physical appearance. It emanates from the very essence and darkest depths of a dictator’s being. It is an aura that no mere kagemusha could ever reproduce. That chilling atmosphere of menace belongs exclusively to the original Kim Jong Un. It cannot be duplicated. It is a presence that defies imitation.
The Korean language has a word, geumeum, referring to the final day of a lunar month. The word evokes the eerie atmosphere of a night enveloped in pitch-black darkness, when even the moonlight has faded away. There is also the Korean expression geumeumdal, meaning the waning crescent moon visible during the last few days of the lunar month. This faint crescent is said to hang low in the eastern sky in the early morning hours, shortly before sunrise.
If that North Korean dictator is still alive, we would like to extend to him an invitation. At 2 a.m., on the first night of this month’s waning crescent moon, we invite him to participate in a disco dance competition at the cemetery nearest to Panmunjom, close to the Military Demarcation Line separating North and South Korea.
Amid the mournful cries of an owl perched somewhere above the cemetery, let us determine who deserves to be crowned the King of Disco. It will be a spectacular contest under the cover of night, with every participant giving his utmost, yielding not a single inch to his rivals.
Should he wish to attend but find himself unable to accept our invitation because of unavoidable circumstances, we would, of course, be more than willing to understand. Even if he cannot make it to the disco dance competition, however, a game of Go-Stop will be taking place down in the underworld.
Kim Jong Un, Jang Song Thaek, a man killed by anti-aircraft gunfire, and another man mauled to death by starving dogs—a total of four participants—will, we presume, have gathered around the table for a game of Go-Stop, the traditional Korean card game.
One of the four will already have sold his gwang, or bright cards, and withdrawn to the sidelines as a spectator. The remaining three will be engaged in a fiercely contested game, each determined to prevail over the others. Who, in the end, will emerge victorious and sweep the entire pot?
That supernatural game of Go-Stop will undoubtedly be filled with fascinating elements of entertainment.
—The Editorial Board, The American Newspaper.
www.americannewspaper.org
Written: November 5, 2026, Thursday (11/05/2026) at 9:15 A.M.
Edited (again)/Finished (finally): November 5, 2026, Thursday (11/05/2026) at 3:35 P.M.
Published (in public/officially): November 5, 2026, Thursday (11/05/2026) at 5:02 P.M.
[Editorial Note]
This article was written and produced by the editor. It was NOT written and produced by any AIs. Written/authored entirely by the editor.
[Source/Notes]
1. The final version was reviewed for structure, sourcing, clarity, and analytical coherence by the editor. This article was produced with AI-assisted(ChatGPT, not Gemini) translation, but it was NOT any AI’s editorial direction. Images were made/produced using ChatGPT. The model used is GPT-5.6 Thinking.
2. ChatGPT and Gemini were partially used to a limited extent for information research, fact-checking, and final proofreading. However, their use was primarily intended to ensure factual accuracy and editorial refinement/quality. It should also be noted that certain expressions or phrases identified/encountered during the research process were minimally incorporated/adopted on a very limited basis to improve/enhance the coherence and the natural flow of the text.
(The End).
