Making of The Rape of Nanking: A Big Lie from World War ll English Edition | by M Kanzako and Akira Kashima | Jan 6, 2021
This book review is written by one of the authors and it also serves as an introduction to the book. In Canada, Canadians believe that Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking (November 1997) is true history, therefore, the author, a Japanese Canadian, was determined to publish this book in search of the true facts of history. The two authors kept in close contact with Kenichi Ara and other historians in Japan, who should be called the leading authority in the study of the Nanking Incident, to make sure that there were no errors in the description. Research into the Nanjing Massacre is progressing in Japan. It is now proven that the so-called Nanjing Incident, which was allegedly committed by the Japanese military in violation of the international law, never took place. In 2023, we learned that no historical documents have been found to substantiate the Nanjing Incident and the Japanese government made a cabinet decision stating that there was no evidence to substantiate the case.
Making of The Rape of Nanking: A Big Lie from World War ll
This book, co-authored by Kanzako Mikiko and Kashima Akira, examines in detail the distortions and fabrications of facts contained in Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking (November 1997). Several such rebuttals to Chang's book have already been published in Japanese, but this is probably the first such book to be published in English.
The publication of Chang’s book is of great significance, because it became a bestseller in North America and many people still believe in its claims.
There must have been Japanese people who felt guilty about having roots in Japan, the country that "sneaked in" at Pearl Harbor. And once again, Japanese Canadians and Japanese living in Canada must live forever with a sense of guilt and need of atonement[MM1] based on the lie that "300,000 civilians in Nanjing were massacred." This must not happen. That is why we need to learn history.
"Making of The Rape of Nanking: A Big Lie from World War II" has been published privately but can be purchased from Amazon. The book is concise and to the point, and the photographs at the end of the book give a first-hand look at what the city of Nanking was like at the time. This book is the first step in the reader's own process of thinking for themselves.
[MM1]Both words are good, but you can say it in this way: “sense of guilt and need of atonement (redemption)”.
Review :
Immediately after publishing 『Making of The Rape of Nanking: A Big Lie from World War ll』,I had my family member read the book for feedback. His first reaction after reading it was, "This is not for high school students!" That was his honest reaction to graphic descriptions directly quoted from the book and its unbearable depiction of barbaric acts. I also had my friend, Mr. N, a former high school history teacher, read the book, and he also said that it was not for high school students.
We would like to present here some of the descriptions from textbooks used in Ontario high schools.
Japanese leaders ordered intense bombings of civilian targets, causing millions of casualties. Brutality was just as common on the ground. The Chinese capital city of Nanjing endured a massacre that lasted six long weeks. During this time, Japanese soldiers raped and murdered as many as 300 000 Chinese soldiers and civilians. The Japanese also used chemical weapons during the war. These atrocities caused the United States and other Western countries to begin to harden their attitudes toward Japan.
( “Creating Canada: A History 1914 to the Present”, 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Ryerson 2014, Unit 3, pg. 278)
The basic outline of the incident in the above textbook passage, referring to six weeks of indiscriminate killing of Chinese soldiers , massacres of civilians, mass rape, 300,000 victims, matches Chan’s book.
"When I taught at high school, this kind of content wasn't in the curriculum," says Mr. N. He also seemed to find it hard to believe that such descriptions would appear in high school textbooks. I sincerely hope that by reading this book, Mr. N, a teacher of history, will become interested in the Nanking Incident and think about it for himself.
Besides high school students, the author's intended audience for “Making of The Rape of Nanking: A Big Lie from World War ll” was the Japanese Canadians who were not familiar with history. The ideal reader for this book happened to be the author's friend, Ms.M. Her parents are Japanese who immigrated to Canada from Japan, and Ms. M. was born in Canada. She was one of the people who supported the passage of the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day Bill, which was submitted to the Ontario Legislature in 2017. She must have believed in Japan's atrocities without a doubt. When I told her about this book, she was simply astonished, and asked, "Oh! The Nanjing Massacre was a lie?"
China's information warfare has spread beyond Asia to the rest of the world. Naturally, the United States and Canada are no exception. In Canada, the Ontario Legislature passed a motion to mark the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in 2017. This motion is not legally binding, and furthermore, barely over a dozen of the 124 provincial assembly members participated in the vote, which was a poor move. However, the fact that the “motion was passed” is a very effective weapon in information and history warfare. In 2018, the Nanjing Massacre Victims Monument was erected in a cemetery in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Since the monument was erected, a memorial service has been held there every December.
The idea for this book came from a previously published booklet about the comfort women. We launched the project to publish this book motivated by a strong desire to clarify the problems with the Chang book and to get as many people as possible to read it. We are too small to stand up to such a large-scale, long-term, and powerful propaganda, but we cannot help but do something to free ourselves from the spell of this cunning deception. There was no choice but to take action when good people like Ms. M and Mr. N, and the high school students who knew nothing, were being deceived.
The focus of this book is on Chang's fabrication because the book is well known among the general public in the English-speaking world and is highly regarded by historians and academics. This book is a short account, but it is designed to provide easy access to first-class sources such as Minnie Vautrin's diary and the records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials) for readers who want to know more about the details. I want people, especially young people, to understand how important it is to develop the ability to think for themselves and discern between fact and fiction.
We are very grateful to Jason M. Morgan, Associate Professor at Reitaku University, who is well-known for his search for true historical facts related to World War II, for his review of 『Making of The Rape of Nanking: A Big Lie from World War ll』*.
“There are no taboos, dogmas, or epithets in historical work. Truth is the only standard, and the only goal.”
There is no statute of limitations on the search for true historical facts. Ultimately, history should be written only by those who seek the truth and are willing to tell the truth.
The author believes that if Japan becomes vibrant, the world will become healthy and peaceful. Our hope is that Japan will be revived as a truly independent and sovereign nation. In the process, Japan's history should be reclaimed by the Japanese people without the interference from other countries. We have no use for political consideration or government-sponsored scholars.
* Jason Morgan, A Massacre in the Making: Separating Truth from Fiction about Nanking, Jul 26, 2023,