Part IV. Historical Materials: Collection, Publication, and Research
The Japanese militarists who perpetrated the Nanjing Massacre, a great holocaust in human history, have done their utmost to conceal or obliterate it, dilute its impact, and divert people's attention. Where there is smoke there is fire, however, and news of this major human tragedy spread throughout China and around the world through a variety of channels. All major European countries, the United States, and Japan and China themselves have retained a great number of original documents and oral histories. These documents are the main evidence of the tragedy perpetrated by the Japanese militarists, and they are the primary source materials for conducting historical research on the Nanjing Massacre.
These precious primary materials were collected over the long term by historical archives, libraries, historical collections, or private individuals in each of the countries concerned, and include documents written in Chinese, Japanese, English, German, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish, and other languages. For various reasons, many of the materials have not been published. As early as the 1980s, to facilitate research on the history of the massacre, historians in the Nanjing area edited and published a portion of the original materials, including Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha shiliao (Historical materials on the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders), compiled by the Nanjing Massacre Historical Materials Editorial Committee and the Nanjing Library (Nanjing: Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985), and Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha dang'an (Archives of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders), compiled by the Second Historical Archives of China and the Nanjing Municipal Archives (Jiangsu Ancient Books Publishing House, 1987). In 1986, the Masses Press in Beijing republished Yuandong Guoji Junshi Fating panjueshu (Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East), translated by Zhang Xiaolin.(1) The publication of these materials, however, could hardly meet the needs of the research work.
From the late 1980s through the 1990s, various materials from the massacre continued to be published in Mainland China, such as Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha xingcunzhe zhengyan ji (Collected survivor testimonies from the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders), edited by Zhu Chengshan (Nanjing: Nanjing University Press, 1994). This collection pointed out that the Nanjing city-wide census and follow-up census taken between 1984 and 1990 found that 1,756 survivors of the Nanjing Massacre were still living in the city. Testimony from 642 of the survivors was selected, compiled into the collection, and made public by the Memorial Hall of Compatriots Killed in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Forces of Aggression (referred to in these pages as the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall).
During this period, relevant historical materials from the group of Westerners in Nanjing at the time were also published, including Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha waiji renshi zhengyan ji (Collected testimonies of foreign nationals in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders), edited by Zhu Chengshan (Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing, Ltd., 1998); Tianli nan rong: Meiguo chuanjiaoshi yanzhong de Nanjing Da Tusha 1937—1938 (Eyewitnesses to Massacre: American Missionaries Bear Witness to Japanese Atrocities in Nanjing 1937—1938), compiled and translated by Zhang Kaiyuan (Nanjing University Press, 1999);(2) Nanjing Da Tusha: Ying Mei renshi de muji baodao (They Were in Nanjing: The Nanjing Massacre Witnessed by American and British Nationals), compiled and translated by Lu Suping (Beijing: Red Flag Press, 1999);(3) Labei riji (Diary of John Rabe), a translation of the writings of John Rabe, the chairman of the International Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone (Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing, Ltd. and Jiangsu Education Press, 1997);(4) and Wei Telin riji (Diary of Minnie Vautrin), a translation of the writings of an American teacher at Jinling Women's College (Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing, Ltd., 2000).(5)
The Japanese soldiers themselves, as the perpetrators, were also important witnesses to the events. During the same period, the diary of Japanese veteran Azuma Shirō was translated into Chinese (Nanjing: Jiangsu Education Press, 1999), and Nankin-sen: tozasareta kioku wo tazunete, motoheishi 102-nin no shōgen (Memories in search of closure in the war in Nanjing: Testimonies of 102 original soldiers from the invading Japanese army), containing interviews conducted and edited by the Japanese activist Matsuoka Tamaki, was published (Tokyo: Shakai Hyoronsha, 2002), along with its Chinese translation (Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House, 2002).
In addition, other Mainland Chinese entities also edited and published historical documents, including Riben diguozhuyi qinhua dang'an ziliao xuanbian: Nanjing Da Tusha (Selected archival materials from the Japanese imperialist occupation: The Nanjing Massacre), co-edited by the Central Archives, the Second Historical Archives of China, and the Jilin Academy of Social Sciences (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Co., 1995), and Nanjing Da Tusha tu zheng (The Nanjing Massacre: Photos & evidence), edited by the Central Archives (Changchun: Jilin People's Publishing House, 1995).
In 2000, Professor Zhang Xianwen, an expert committee member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Center for Research on Sino-Japanese History and the director of Nanjing University's History of the Republic of China Research Center, was asked by CASS to lead a massive academic effort to collect and organize historical documentation of the Nanjing Massacre. The purpose was to provide more first-hand materials for historical research and to facilitate the criticism of Japanese right-wing fallacies. To this end, Professor Zhang embarked on a joint historical data collection and translation effort involving more than 100 professors and researchers at over 20 universities, archives, and research institutions, including Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University, the Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, the Jiangsu Administration Institute, the Second Historical Archives of China, the Nanjing Municipal Archives, Central China Normal University, Southeast University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Ocean University, the Ca' Foscari University of Venice in Italy, and Moscow State University in Russia. Over the past decade, they have visited archives, libraries, and various historical collections in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Russia, Mainland China, and Taiwan, collecting about 50 million words of documents, historical archives, oral histories, and publications from the period, including original materials in Chinese, Japanese, English, German, French, Russian, Italian, and Spanish. After these historical materials were collated, translated, and edited, Jiangsu People's Publishing Ltd. published Nanjing Da Tusha shiliaoji (Nanjing Massacre historical collection) (referred to in these pages as the Historical Collection), a total of 72 volumes comprising nearly 40 million Chinese characters.
Around the same time, the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall organized the publication of the series, Nanjing Da Tusha shi yanjiu yu wenxian (Research and documentation of the history of the Nanjing Massacre), edited by Zhang Boxing (Nanjing: Nanjing Publishing House, 2007). This collection is of important academic value and includes “Nanjing Da Tusha xingcunzhe minglu” (List of Nanjing Massacre survivors), “Dong Shilang dui Riben junguozhuyi de pipan” (Azuma Shirō's criticism of Japanese militarism), and other important historical materials and writings.
The Historical Collection is the most important set of raw data for researching the history of the Nanjing Massacre. The editors worked in strict accordance with the basic principles of history scholarship, preserving the original appearance of historical materials without any alterations, allowing the user to analyze and determine their authenticity for themselves. For example, war criminal defense materials from the Tokyo Tribunal, and a variety of materials denying the Nanjing Massacre, were included intact in the historical collection for the analysis and reference of researchers.
The publication of the Historical Collection was a major contribution by more than 100 historians, archivists, and translators in China and other nations to clarify this important historical event and restore a true picture of history. The collection is divided into a number of topic areas, bringing together historical materials from all sides.(6)
The Historical Collection contains archival material on the continuous Japanese bombing of Nanjing and the tenacious battle of China's armed forces to defend the capital. Such materials on the Chinese side include operational plans, operational commands, and telegrams exchanged between General Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Shengzhi, the commander of the Chinese forces. There are also detailed reports and battle summaries from each of the fighting units.
The Historical Collection includes a great deal of material about the burial of large numbers of massacre victims' corpses, including relatively complete information concerning burials by various charity groups, civic groups, the International Committee of the Nanjing Safety Zone, and the puppet regime in Nanjing, as well as information about the disposal of victims' bodies by the Japanese.
The collection contains numerous diaries, letters, memoirs, and testimonies by Japanese officers and soldiers in the invading army. Between battles, Japanese soldiers often wrote diaries to record their personal battlefield experiences, actions, feelings, and observations, or revealed the same in letters to friends and relatives. As the perpetrators, they were direct participants in and witnesses to the attack on Nanjing and the crimes of the Nanjing Massacre. After the war, a series of such diaries and letters were disclosed or published and made available. These included the previously mentioned diary of General Hata Shunroku, who was commander of the Central China Expeditionary Army(7) in 1938; Okamura Yasuji taishō shiryo: Senjō kaisō hen (Sources of general Okamura Yasuji: Recollections of the battlefield) by the general in command of the China Expeditionary Army(8) during a latter period of the war; Matsui Iwane taishō no jinchū nisshi (War diary of general Matsui Iwane), by the commander of the Central China Area Army; and the diaries of Major General Iinuma Mamoru (Chief of Staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army), 16th Division commander Lieutenant General Nakajima Kesago, 16th Division 30th Infantry Regiment commander Major General Sasaki Toichi, and Ishii Itarō, at the time the head of the Bureau of Asiatic Affairs in Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These materials are a genuine record of the Japanese atrocities in Nanjing.
The Historical Collection includes writings by a number of Westerners about the Nanjing Massacre. As mentioned earlier, after the fall of Nanjing to the Japanese, out of humanitarian considerations, a number of news reporters, missionaries, professors, doctors, businessmen, and embassy personnel from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and other countries used their status as neutral parties to remain in the city and provide relief to the suffering citizens of Nanjing. Their diaries, letters, and a variety of written materials provide a detailed and genuine chronicle of the suffering of the people of Nanjing. News correspondents conscientiously and faithfully reported scenes from the Nanjing Massacre by the Japanese army, and many of their reports were published in the Chicago Daily News, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Times of Londan, and other well-known international newspapers. The historical documents from the personal experiences of these third parties are irrefutable evidence that cannot be overturned by the Japanese right wing.
The Historical Collection also contains the memoirs of a number of surviving Chinese soldiers and refugees. Using a variety of efforts, the compilers of the collection put together a name list and profiles of a large number of victims. These materials are of immense historical value.
Also gathered for the Historical Collection were data from the IMTFE and the NWCT, which include relevant legal documents from the war crimes trials. It was the first time that a large volume of relevant evidence recognized by the two tribunals was translated and published, including the interrogation records of Matsui Iwane and the interrogation records and written witness testimony of Muto Akira. Also included was a complete introduction to the process of the Tokyo trials, describing the cross-examination of witnesses by the prosecution and the defense. The collection also described the legal evidence used by the NWCT based on international law and Chinese criminal law, as well as the composition of the tribunal, rules for the trials, sentencing standards, and entire trial process.
The Historical Collection gathered a large volume of investigative data about the Nanjing Massacre collected by China's Nationalist Government after the war. After the Nationalist capital was returned to Nanjing, between the end of 1945 and early 1947, various institutions were established to address the crimes of the Japanese massacre, civilian casualties, and property losses. They conducted thorough investigations from different angles and left behind a great number of investigative records and materials. These are all precious historical materials concerning the massacre.
Historical excavation and collection is an arduous task, and the corroboration of historical materials is very important, especially for such a major event as the Nanjing Massacre. As a result of the international research effort led by Nanjing-based scholars, we now have a rich collection of historical data that meets the needs of the research work.
It should be acknowledged that research on the history of the Nanjing Massacre got off to a late start. As noted above, after the war, the Nationalist Government established a number of agencies that undertook numerous, thorough public investigations and also retained many important relevant historical materials. Between the end of the war and the 1950s, however, the history of the Nanjing Massacre essentially remained unexplored. At that time, historians were influenced by ideology, and the modern Chinese history system followed the ideas and framework of the history of the Chinese Communist Party. Much of the content explained how the Communist Party led the people in a revolutionary struggle. Not only were the major historical issues of the Nanjing Massacre, germ warfare, sexual violence, and forced labor not seen in major history textbooks, but students were also unfamiliar with many major campaigns of the War of Resistance against Japan, including the Battle of Wuhan and the Three Battles of Changsha. They only knew about the aspects of the War of Resistance against Japan behind enemy lines (where the Communists were most active), such as tunnel and mine warfare, military construction brigades, and railway guerrillas.
In the early 1960s, Professor Jiang Mengyin, the famous Nanjing University historian specializing in world history, suggested the Nanjing Massacre as a research topic, and began working with a group of professors of Japanese history—Gao Xingzu, Wu Shimin, Hu Yungong, and Zha Ruizhen. They led several students in conducting social surveys, and wrote a booklet on the Nanjing Massacre, which was to be published by the Jiangsu People's Publishing House (later called Jiangsu People's Publishing, Ltd.) in 1972. Just at that time, Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei made a visit to China and diplomatic relations were established, and the project was shelved. In the early 1980s, an editor of the Shanghai People's Publishing House wrote to Professor Zhang Xianwen, who taught modern Chinese history at Nanjing University, encouraging him to author a small volume about the Nanjing Massacre. Zhang turned the writing task over to his Japanese history colleague, Gao Xingzu. In 1985, the Shanghai People's Publishing House published Gao's Rijun qinhua baoxing: Nanjing Da Tusha (Japan's war atrocities in China: The Nanjing Massacre). Although this book was short in length, it was the debut work of China's domestic research into the history of the Nanjing Massacre and should be included in the academic study of the history of the event.
In 1982, Japan's right wing provoked a history textbook controversy.(9) In 1985, Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone Yasuhiro made his first visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. The Japanese government continued to approve revisions to history textbooks by right-wing groups concerning Japan's militarist aggression in China and Asia, giving Japanese youth an inaccurate history education. A focus of the textbook incidents was the Nanjing Massacre. The Japanese history textbooks issue quickly garnered the attention of the Chinese government. The Nanjing community, historians among them, held a number of seminars during this period. A few survivors of the massacre, such as Li Xiuying, angrily accused the Japanese army of atrocities in Nanjing.
Under the active promotion of then mayor Zhang Yaohua, the Nanjing Municipal Government established a committee to build a museum and document the history. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall was established in 1985 on the massacre site at Jiangdongmen. The committee published the two historical compilations mentioned above that laid the foundation for historical research on the Nanjing Massacre, and also wrote the Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha Shigao (A history of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders) (Jiangsu Ancient Books Press, 1987). This book, 170,000 characters in length, became a cornerstone work for research on the Nanjing Massacre. It laid out the basic outline of the massacre. On that foundation, Nanjing Da Tusha (The Nanjing Massacre), edited by Sun Zhaiwei (Beijing Press, 1997), deepened the level of historical research on the incident, with even richer historical materials and a more defined viewpoint. That book was soon translated and published in Japanese.
The late 1980s was a more active period for research into the history of the Nanjing Massacre. Scholars began to explore from all angles the issues related to the massacre by the Japanese army. In August 1991, the renowned Chinese-American historian Tong Tekong worked with Nanjing University and other entities to jointly organize a large international symposium in Nanjing on the Nanjing Massacre, planning to invite a large number of scholars from the United States, Japan, and Taiwan to attend but, for various reasons, the event did not take place. Progress in research on the massacre slowed during this period. Then, at the initiative of several scholars, the History of the Nanjing Massacre Research Association was established in 1995, and successively chaired by Gao Xingzu, Zhang Xianwen, Zhang Boxing, and Zhu Chengshan. In August 1997, the first International Symposium on the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders was held in Nanjing.
The symposium, along with the establishment of the research association, significantly promoted academic research on the history of the Nanjing Massacre. The study of that history entered a noteworthy period of development from the late 1990s into the early 2000s, featuring a number of academic conferences and closer academic exchanges between China, Japan, and the United States. The thriving academic research during this period was closely linked to changes in the domestic and international situation. As a result of continual controversies provoked by Japanese right-wing forces, Sino-Japanese relations were increasingly tense and deteriorating. As a historical issue between the two nations, the Nanjing Massacre became the main focus of debate on both sides and attracted even more attention. In January 1998, the Anhui University Press published Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha Guoji Xueshu Yantaohui Lunwenji (Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders), edited by Chen Anji. This collection of papers reflected the achievements of the research focused on the Nanjing Massacre during this period. The research topics included massacres, sexual violence, looting, and destruction by the Japanese army, the Safety Zone, and other aspects. They also featured in-depth discussions of the historical materials and the historic impact of the massacre. The History of the Nanjing Massacre Research Association and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall jointly held two symposia on the history of the Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing, to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the massacre in August 1999, along with the 55th anniversary of the victories in the War of Resistance and World War II, in August 2000. The two symposia exchanged the latest research of scholars in China and abroad. As a result of these meetings, in April 2001, Nanjing University Press published Qinhua Rijun Nanjing Da Tusha shi zuixin yanjiu chengguo jiaoliuhui lunwenji (Proceedings of the latest research exchanges on the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese invaders), edited by Zhu Chengshan. This research addressed the issues of Japanese massacre atrocities, sexual violence, the Safety Zone, the diary of Azuma Shirō, and historical revisionism by Japanese right-wing forces, providing new understandings and perspectives.
In December 1998, Nanjing Normal University established the Center of Nanjing Massacre Studies to support in-depth study into the history of the massacre. In 2005, the Publicity Departments of the Jiangsu Provincial and Nanjing Municipal Communist Party Committees, along with Nanjing University, jointly established the Research Institute of the History of the Nanjing Massacre. To cultivate research talent concerning the history of the Nanjing Massacre, Nanjing University and Nanjing Normal University each enrolled master's and doctoral students in this field.
In the early 2000s, based on the availability of increasingly rich historical materials, the Modern Chinese History Association of Jiangsu Province embarked on a study of the history of the Nanjing Massacre. In November 2007, the association compiled Nanjing Da Tusha yanjiu xin lun (New theories in research on the Nanjing Massacre). Based on newly published historical data, a group of scholars offered new analyses and discussions of the issues of the burial of corpses in the Nanjing Massacre, the number of victims and the Nanjing population, reasons for the Japanese army committing the massacre, and whether or not citizens resisted during the massacre.
During this period scholars undertook in-depth research from different perspectives on issues related to the Nanjing Massacre, extended the research horizon, expanded the areas of research, published numerous papers of high academic value, and published a number of new scholarly works. The diary of Azuma Shirō has attracted widespread public attention in both China and Japan. The committee in Beijing that compiled The Nanjing Massacre: Photos & Evidence also produced Dong Shilang susong'an yu Nanjing Da Tusha zhenxiang (The Azuma Shirō lawsuit and the truth of the Nanjing Massacre), a book published in 1998 by the People's Publishing House in Beijing. Zhu Chengshan compiled and edited Qiannian zhijiao de jiaoliang: Kangyi Daban fanhua jihui yu Riben Zuigao Fayuan dui Dong Shilang an bu gongzheng panjue wenji [Contest of the millennium: The Osaka anti-China protest rallies and unjust Japanese Supreme Court verdict in the Azuma Shirō case], published by Xinhua Publishing House, Beijing, in 2000. The Center of Nanjing Massacre Studies at Nanjing Normal University published a series of research works on the Nanjing Massacre and, based on its translation of the diary of Minnie Vautrin, produced Wei Telin zhuan (Biography of Minnie Vautrin), published by the Nanjing Publishing House in 2001. Professor Cheng Zhaoqi of Shanghai Jiaotong University, engaged in longtime historical research on the Nanjing Massacre, obtained a large volume of data during a stay in Japan and provided an in-depth, critical analysis of the Japanese right-wing fallacies. In 2002, the Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House published his book, Nanjing Da Tusha yanjiu: Riben xugoupai pipan (Researching the Nanjing Massacre: A criticism of the Japanese fabrication faction). In May 2011, Shanghai Jiaotong University established a Tokyo Trials Research Center. The establishment of this institution to promote the study of the Tokyo Tribunal is of great significance in refuting the Japanese right-wing fallacy of denying those trials.
In 2005, Jiangsu People's Publishing, Ltd. of Nanjing published the culmination of years of historical research on the Nanjing Massacre by Sun Zhaiwei of the Institute of History at the Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, Chengqing lishi: Nanjing Da Tusha yanjiu yu sikao (Clarifying history: Research and thought concerning the Nanjing Massacre). Also in 2005, Professor Jing Shenghong's book Nanjing lunxian banian shi (An eight-year history of the occupation of Nanjing) was published in two volumes by the Social Sciences Academic Press in Beijing; it addressed the history of the Battle of Nanjing and the Nanjing Massacre. Afterward, a series of his monographs were published, including Wushi dao xia de Nanjing (Samurai sword over Nanjing), Zhanshi Riben xinwen chuanmei yu Nanjing Da Tusha (Wartime Japanese news media and the Nanjing Massacre) (two volumes), Xifang xinwen meiti shiye zhong de Nanjing Da Tusha (The Nanjing Massacre in the eyes of the Western news media) (two volumes), and Zhanshi Zhongguo xinwen chuanmei yu Nanjing Da Tusha (Wartime Chinese news media and the Nanjing Massacre) (two volumes). These works were thorough, comprehensive studies of domestic and foreign news media reports about the Nanjing Massacre.
Several works by Professor Meng Guoxiang of Nanjing Medical University addressed the cultural destruction and plunder by the Japanese in Nanjing during the war and the resulting losses to the Chinese people, including Zhongguo Kangzhan sunshi yu zhanhou suopei shimo (The story of China's losses in the War of Resistance and its post-war claims) (Hefei: Anhui People's Publishing House, 1995); Da jienan: Riben qinhua dui Zhongguo wenhua de pohuai (A great catastrophe: The destruction of Chinese culture by the Japanese invaders) (Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2005); Nanjing wenhua de jienan: 1937—1945 (Cultural catastrophe in Nanjing: 1937—1945) (Nanjing: Nanjing Press, 2007); and Kangzhan shiqi Zhongguo wenhua sunshi (Chinese cultural losses during the War of Resistance) (Beijing: Chinese Communist History Press, 2010). Based on an in-depth study of the life of John Rabe, author Huang Huiying compiled Labei zhuan (Biography of John Rabe), published by the Baijia Publishing House in Shanghai. Tang Daoluan, curator of Nanjing University's John Rabe and International Safety Zone Memorial Hall, edited Heiyeli de zhuguang: Labei yu Nanjing Anquanqu guoji jiuyuan yanjiu (A candle in the dark night: John Rabe and international relief in the Nanjing Safety Zone), published by Nanjing University Press in 2010.
To further promote the study of the history of the Nanjing Massacre, the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall and the History of the Nanjing Massacre Research Association have co-sponsored a magazine, Nanjing Da Tusha shi yanjiu (Historical research on the Nanjing Massacre). After years of effort by Zhang Lianhong, Zhang Sheng, Ma Zhendu, Wang Weixing, Cao Dachen, and Jiang Liangqin in guiding graduate students, a number of valuable doctoral dissertations and master's theses have been produced. In 2012, the collection Nanjing Da Tusha shi yanjiu (Historical research on the Nanjing Massacre), by Zhang Sheng and others, was published by the Phoenix Publishing House in Nanjing.
The Nanjing Massacre was a massive tragedy that shocked the world. A large number of historical documents have been retained in many countries and have attracted the attention of scholars for use in academic research. Scholars are researching the history of the Nanjing Massacre particularly in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. In 1991, historian Tong Tekong initiated the establishment of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Association in the United States, in the hope of conducting joint research on the Nanjing Massacre with scholars in the United States and elsewhere. A number of overseas Chinese, scholars, and community members in the United States are concerned about the history of the Nanjing Massacre, including Professor Tam Yue-him of Macalester College in Minnesota, the late historian Wu Tianwei (a professor at Southern Illinois State University), Associate Professor Yang Daqing of George Washington University, and Associate Professor Lu Suping at the University of Nebraska. US-based organizations, including the Association for Research on the History of the Japanese Invasion of China, the Society of Oral History on Modern China, and the Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WW II in Asia, have all organized seminars and exhibitions addressing the history of the Nanjing Massacre and related issues. Tam Yue-him and Lu Suping have published translations of historical materials about the Nanjing Massacre. As mentioned above, in 1999, Lu Suping translated and published The Nanjing Massacre: Eyewitness Reports from Britons and Americans, making available a number of materials of significant historical value. A Chinese-American woman writer, Iris Chang, wrote The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II (New York: Basic Books, 1997), which created shock waves in both the United States and China. A number of scholars in Taiwan have also concerned themselves with the study of the Nanjing Massacre. Lee En-han of the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, has published research works that include Zhanshi Riben fandu yu “Sanguang Zuozhan” yanjiu (Japanese wartime drug trafficking and the “Three-All Policy”) (Nanjing: Jiangsu People's Publishing, Ltd., 1999). To promote research and exchanges between China and Japan on the Second Sino-Japanese War and many other historical issues, the two governments agreed to establish a China-Japan Joint History Research Committee. Chinese and Japanese scholars on the committee exchanged their basic understandings of the Nanjing Massacre.
Since Japan was a party to the Nanjing Massacre, it is not surprising that different perceptions and voices exist in domestic Japanese academic circles. Right-wing historians insist on a militarist historical outlook, denying the war of aggression and the Nanjing Massacre. Their representive works include the previously mentioned books by Suzuki Akira, Tanaka Masaaki, and Higashinakano Osamichi, as well as Nankin Jiken no sōkatsu (Summary of the Nanjing Incident) by Tanaka Masaaki (Tokyo: Kenkosha, 1987); Matsumura Toshio, “Nankin Gyakusatsu” e no daigimon (Serious doubts about the “Nanjing Massacre”) (Tokyo: Tentensha, 1998); Unemoto Masaki, Shinsō Nankin Jiken :
Rābe nikki o kenshō shite (True Nanjing Incident: Evidence from the diary of John Rabe) (Bunkyosha, 1998); Fujioka Nobukatsu and Higashinakano Osamichi, Za reipu obu Nankin no kenkyū (Research on the “Rape of Nanjing”) (Tokyo: Shodensha, 1999); Takemoto Tadao and Ohara Yasuo, Saishin “Nankin daigyakusatsu”: Sekai ni uttaeru Nihon no enzai (The alleged “Nanjing Massacre”: Japan's rebuttal to China's forged claims) (Tokyo: Meiseisha, 2000); Kitamura Minoru, “Nankin Jiken” no tankyū: sono jitsuzō o motomete (An enquiry into the Nanjing Incident: The search for the true picture) (Bungeishunju, 2001); Tomizawa Shigenobu, Nankin Jiken no kakushin (Core of the Nanjing incident) (Tokyo: Tendensha, 2003); and Higashinakano Osamichi, “Nankin Gyakusatsu” kenkyū no saizensen (The forefront of “Nanjing Massacre” research: Annual reports of the Japan Association for Nanjing Studies) (first published in 2005).(10) Right-wing Japanese scholars have used a number of publications to spread their fallacies denying the war of aggression and the Nanjing Massacre. In October 2000, such scholars established the Association for Nanjing Studies to communicate and exchange the right-wing point of view, expanding its social impact.
There are also a number of Japanese scholars who have a strong sense of justice, respect historical facts, and uphold the truth. They possess a wealth of historical materials and have conducted long-term, in-depth research on the Nanjing Massacre. They have also traveled to the United States, Europe, and China to access relevant information and have made reasonable, accurate judgments about the Nanjing Massacre based on a large number of historical facts. They do not fear the threat of Japanese right-wing forces; they uphold academic truth, insist on learning from history, and use their research to promote friendship between China and Japan.
Those Japanese scholars confirming and recognizing the Nanjing Massacre were represented early on by Hora Tomio, Fujiwara Akira, and Eguchi Keiichi. More recently, active researchers include Kasahara Tokushi, Yoshida Yutaka, and Inoue Hisashi. Their research works include: Hora Tomio, Nankin Jiken (The Nanjing Incident) (Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha, 1972) and Nankin Daigyakusatsu no shōmei (Proof of the Nanjing Massacre) (Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 1986); Honda Katsuichi, Chūgoku no tabi (Travels in China) (Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 1972) and Nankin Daigyakusatsu (The Nanjing Massacre) (Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun, 1997), revised and published in English in 1999 as The Nanjing Massacre: A Japanese Journalist Confronts Japan's National Shame (Armonk, N.Y.: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.); Fujiwara Akira, Nankin Daigyakusatsu (The Nanjing Massacre) (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1985) and Nankin no Nihon gun (The Japanese army in Nanjing) (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1997); Yoshida Yutaka, Tennō no guntai to Nankin jiken: mō hitotsu no Nit-Chū sensō-shi (The emperor's army and the Nanjing Incident) (Tokyo: Aoki Shoten, 1986); Tsuda Michio, Nankin Daigyakusatsu to Nihonjin no seishin kōzō (The Nanjing Massacre and Japanese spiritual structure) (Tokyo: Shakai Hyoronsha, 1995); and the Nanjing Incident Investigation Committee, Nankin Daigyakusatsu hiteiron 13 no uso (The 13 lies of Nanjing Massacre denial) (Tokyo: Kashiwashobo, 1999).
Kasahara Tokushi has written seven relevant books, including Ajia no naka no Nihongun (The Japanese army in Asia) (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1994), Nankin nanminku no hyakunichi (A hundred days in the Nanjing refugee zone) (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1995), Nankin jiken (The Nanjing Incident) (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1997), Nankin Jiken to sankō sakusen (The Nanjing Incident and the Three-All Policy) (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1999), Nankin Jiken to Nihonjin (The Nanjing Incident and the Japanese) (Tokyo: Kashiwashobo, 2002), Taiken-sha 27-nin ga kataru Nankin Jiken: Gyakusatsu no “sono toki” to sono ato no jinsei (Oral histories of 27 witnesses to the Nanjing Incident: Life during and after the massacre) (Tokyo: Kobunsha, 2007), and Nankin Jiken ronsō-shi: Nihonjin ha shijitsu o dō ninshiki shite kita ka (History of the Nanjing Incident controversy) (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 2007).(11)
Although Japanese scholars of the Nanjing Massacre such as Hora Tomio, Fujiwara Akira, and Kasahara Tokushi have some academic differences with Chinese scholars in terms of analysis and conclusions, we believe that this is a normal phenomenon in scholarly research work. They have certainly reached a broad consensus with Chinese scholars in terms of the general facts of the Nanjing Massacre. Chinese and Japanese scholars together have deepened the study of the history of the Nanjing Massacre, revealing to the world the truth of this major historical event and improving an accurate understanding among the peoples of the two nations about the event. They have made a contribution to promoting Sino-Japanese friendship for generations, and to maintaining peace in Asia and the world.
(1) The IMTFE materials can be found in English in R. John Pritchard and Sonia Zaide Pritchard, eds., The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: Complete Transcripts of the Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal of the Far East (London: Garland, 1981).—Trans.
(2) Published in English in 2001 by M. E. Sharpe, Inc. of Armonk, N.Y.—Trans.
(3) Published in English in 2004 by the Hong Kong University Press.—Trans.
(4) Rabe's diary was published in English as The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe, ed. Erwin Wickert, trans. John E. Wood (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1998).—Trans.
(5) Based on the diaries and letters of Minnie Vautrin, Hu Hua-ling wrote American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2000), and Lu Suping edited Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937—38 (Urbana: University of Chicago Press, 2008).—Trans.
(6) For a description of the content of the materials included in the Historical Collection, see Zhang, “Overview”.
(7) Japan's Central China Expeditionary Army was formed after the fall of Nanjing.—Trans.
(8) Japan's China Expeditionary Army was created by merging the Central China Expeditionary Army and the Northern China Area Army in 1939.—Trans.
(9) It was reported in the Japanese and international press that Japan's Ministry of Education wanted to change the term “invaded” to “advanced” in a textbook discussing Japan's wartime actions in China, but the ministry later backed down under international pressure. For English-language resources on the Japan textbook issue, see the bibliography section of the web site of the Memory & Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific research program at the George Washington University (http://www.gwu.edu/~memory/).—Trans.
(10) See Zhang Lianhong, “Zhong Ri liang guo Nanjing Da Tusha yanjiu de huigu yu sikao” (Review and reflection on research by China and Japan concerning the Nanjing Massacre), in Journal of Nanjing University, no. 1 (2007).
(11) See Zhang Lianhong, “Zhong Ri liang guo Nanjing Da Tusha yanjiu de huigu yu sikao” (Review and reflection on research by China and Japan concerning the Nanjing Massacre), in Journal of Nanjing University, no. 1 (2007).