The Lies of Nanjing

The Nanjing Massacre was seen as one of the most catastrophic events in Chinese history, resulting in over 300 thousand deaths according to Chinese officials. (200,000 according to International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo). The event was internationally regarded as one of the most graphic massacres in human history, featuring beheadings, rapings, and torturous treatment of Chinese civilians by Japanese troops. Its psychological effects were no less significant, as demonstrated by the suicide of Chinese-American journalist Iris Chang in her attempt to document her account of the event. Chang's death in 2004 brought international attention to the event once again. In spite of the international consensus on its occurrence, two opposing groups rose up to defend their perspective and alter our historical understanding of the event - the Chinese government and Japanese negationists.

The Chinese government has been notoriously known for its unfactual propaganda techniques. However, in the case of the Nanjing Massacre, the world is on their side. As mentioned previously, they estimated that the death toll was 300 thousand (or more). To clarify, the scholarly consensus was between 40 thousand to 300 thousand, so they were falsifying the numbers by stating that the casualties were well above the upper bound. It is normal for them to exaggerate because they were the victims, but what about Japanese negationists? What arguments do they have to refute our firm understanding of this catastrophe?

There are different levels in which Japanese people deny the casualties of the Nanjing Massacre. The event is not featured in the public school history curriculum. In fact, even decades after World War II, Japan refused to append World War II at all in its curriculum. In recent years, Japanese people have become more accepting when it comes to the war. In fact, according to several interviews from American journalists directly after the war, survivors in the military discussed the war with their children. Thus, even though events such as the Nanjing Massacre were not as widespread in Japan, many people definitely knew about it and some were even inclined to tell about it as the war fades into the past. Now, most Japanese people in urban and suburban regions know about events such as the Nanjing Massacre and do not strongly deny its occurrence. In fact, most would regard it as brutal and horrifying.

Most negationists reside in rural regions, as one would expect due to the lack of assimilation of modern culture. Their primary argument is that while the Nanjing Massacre did happen, Japanese occupation of Nanjing only covered a region of a few square kilometers, containing a smaller population of 200,000 - 250,000. The Tokyo War Crime Tribunal defined the period of the massacre to the six weeks after the end of the Battle of Nanking on December 13, which became the universal historical understanding of the event. This allowed few denialists to claim that the Japanese only participated in the battle, and that the massacre simply did not happen. Many of these extreme denialists claimed that the Chinese fabricated the ensuing massacre as a massive propaganda to attract international attention and support while fueling the rage of its own people against the Japanese. Japanese ultra-nationalists went on further to claim that the event was an international attempt "to demonize and Japanese race, culture, history, and nation."

While denialists still argued against the occurrence of the event throughout Japan, affirmationists who encourage accepting the validity of the tribunals and the past have been spreading their message all across the country. The Japanese public has made progressive improvements in accepting the war crime in which their country had committed, which is an impressive feat against their nationalist attitude. Meanwhile, the Chinese continue to spread propaganda and patriotic messages condemning the Japanese for their brutality. My uncle, who lived in China for over two decades, even claimed that he will never set foot on Japanese soil or be in a friendly relationship with Japanese people, stating that all Japanese people are scums. If the criminals are willing to accept their crime, it is up to the victims, the Chinese, to accept the truth and attempt to eliminate all biases.