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Month: November 2025

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Japanese : https://i-rich.org/?p=2450

ARA Kenichi
Advisor, International Research Institute of Controversial Histories

When the description of the Nanjing incident began to appear in school textbooks in 1982, following the influence from neighboring countries clause, supposedly it was due to the “don’t-rock-the board” mentality toward China on the part of the Japanese Government. Now, however, the Nanjing incident is being used as the due cause for the Chinese people to attack Japanese people in China as well as the vital weapon in the intelligence warfare prior to the looming Taiwan emergency.

On December 13 last year, while Japanese schools in China were either closed or classes were held online, the Chinese Embassy in Japan called on people to remember the Nanjing incident victims, causing us Japanese to worry about Japanese children in China. The film Dead to Rights, whose screening in China began on July 25 this year, became a box office hit. The film showed scenes such as a baby being violently hit or a crucified Chinese soldier being stabbed with a bayonet, causing an acute rise of the Chinese hatred against the Japanese and further increase of worries among Japanese.

On December 13 last year, the Ryukyu Shimpo Newspaper posted a military diary of a soldier engaged in the battle of Nanjing on its front and second pages. Young people from Okinawa Prefecture were mobilized as the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out and deployed in the battle of Nanjing. The soldier’s military diary described well-known facts, but it was reported as if the soldier himself had witnessed the alleged massacre and the editorial of the Ryukyu Shimpo read that a massacre incident may happen again at any time, further asserting, “Think of the present situation. The allied U.S.-Japan military drills openly use commercial harbors, ports, airports and public roads. Urging the preparation for ‘emergency,’ the Self Defense Forces bases are being enlarged,” citing opposition to the military drills. On the TBS radio program “Ogiue Chiki Session,” aired on September 26 this year, journalist Aoki Osamu, touching the issues of “the battle of Okinawa and the Nanjing incident,” said that in the Nanjing incident the Japanese Army killed Chinese for the country and in the battle of Okinawa the Japanese Army brutally killed its own people for the just cause of protecting its own people.” Clearly, Okinawa is being made a target.

These cases show that the Chinese intelligence warfare using the Nanjing incident has deeply permeated public discourse, overwhelming Japan. These are not isolated incidents: on September 17, the Chinese Embassy in Japan invited one hundred and fifty guests to the preview of the film Dead to Rights. Some of the invited guests talked about the Japanese atrocities proving that the Chinese intelligence warfare in Tokyo has been openly staged. Dead to Rights is shown in the United States, Canada and many other countries in the world. Americans shed tears and generations unfamiliar with the Rape of Nanking hold the prejudice that the Japanese people are extremely cruel and such phenomena are seen elsewhere across the world.

In the prewar years, propaganda war or intelligence warfare in today’s terms was reported almost every month as extremely important in general magazines. After Japan’s defeat, the topic of armament became a taboo, and the propaganda war itself was forgotten. Under such circumstances, Japan is left totally vulnerable to operations of disruption.

While examining the Japanese Government’s actions over the recent years regarding the Nanjing incident, we can see that on April 3, 2023, at the House of Councilors’ Committee on Audit, Councilor Wada Masamune said, “Are there any documents kept within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which provide the grounds for the incident?” Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa answered, “’War History Series Sino Japanese War Japanese Army Operation (1)’ made by the governmental organization carries the relevant article.” Councilor Wada strongly refuted the statement, saying, “I have read all the related papers, but there was no specific description that the Japanese military intentionally killed Chinese.” He questioned the Minister again on April 24 to confirm it.

While the Foreign Minister kept making excuses, on January 26, 2024, Councilor Kamiya Sohei submitted a written question to the cabinet, asking, “If the War History Series Sino-Japanese War, Army Operation (1) is the basis, the Ministry’s website lacks the ground.” The Government answered that it did not solely depend on the war history series but made an overall decision. Councilor Kamiya submitted another written question to the cabinet on February 28. On May 13, 2025, Councilor Hamada Satoshi submitted a written question to the cabinet, asking, “Is there any official document to verify that the Japanese Army directed murder of noncombatants or acts of plunder?” The government did not answer. On June 17, he submitted another written question to the cabinet, but the government evaded the answer, saying, “Since it is not specifically clear what you mean, it is difficult to answer your question.”

In the first place, the neighboring countries clause was not made on the grounds of the Nanjing incident. Therefore, like a textbook made by Jiyu-sha, textbooks came to pass the authorization procedure without the description of the Nanjing incident. It is now clear that the post on the MOFA website was baseless. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan would not delete the article in question on the website but keeps admitting to the existence of the Nanjing incident.

When information came out related to the making of the film Dead to Rights, the story of negatives of photos taken by the Japanese Army being carried out by Nanjing citizens, it was understood that the film is based on the sixteen photographs submitted to the Nanjing military court held in 1947. The negatives of sixteen photos were supposed to have been carried out by Nanjing citizens and submitted to the Nanjing military court, and the court recognized them as valid evidence. However, some were totally unrealistic as photos taken during the rigorously cold winter in Nanjing. Since there was no record showing that photos were taken by the Japanese Army, clearly it was a fake story. Seventy years later, when China tried to register the 16 photos as UNESCO World Heritage, they were denied. At the time when the film was to be shown in China, doubts were pointed out on the Internet and “Sunday Sound Argument” column of the Sankei Newspaper dated August 6 shed light on the dubiousness of the film. And yet, the Japan’s Foreign Ministry would not do anything about it.

It was more than forty years ago when the Foreign Ministry forcibly spotlighted Nanjing incident. The Nanjing incident is not misjudgment like the removal of the sanctions against the Tiananmen incident or Emperor’s visit to China, but it is a case where Japan recognized as a fact at China’s insistence a questionable event without any ground. None of those concerned at the time are alive today. Japanese ministry’s Asian Bureau was changed to Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau. The Foreign Minister does not need to adhere to the past. The Ministry must protect the Japanese nationals in China and cope with the intelligence warfare staged by China. Based on the conclusive facts, Japan should immediately change its policy toward the Nanjing incident. There is no time to hesitate.

Published on

October 1, 2025
People’s Campaign for the Truth of Nanjing, President Ara Kenichi
International Research Institute of Controversial Histories, President Sugihara Seishiro

On July 25 this year, a film titled Dead to Rights was shown in China. Later, on July 31, the People’s Republic of China’s Embassy in Japan posted on X that Dead to Rights immediately became a box-office hit and a day after the opening of the movie, the box-office revenue exceeded 100 million renminbi. A video was also posted on the X, showing children forced to see the film shedding tears with their parents or showing violent hostility against Japan. On the same day, July 31, a Japanese mother and her child were attacked, and the mother was beaten in Suzhou City. Certain X posts reported that the incident was influenced by the film.

Dead to Rights tells the story of seven Nanjing citizens stealing photographs of massacre shot by the Japanese Army at the time of the surrender of Nanjing. However, there was no unit in the Japanese Army assigned to film the battleground scenes and the sixteen photos are far from mid-winter scenes of Nanjing at the time of the war, which rudimentarily leads to the conclusion that those photos have nothing to do with the battle of Nanjing.

In addition, on September 18 this year, another film titled 731, featuring the Japanese Kwantung Army’s Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department (a.k.a. Unit 731), was shown to the public. According to the production website, the film is intended to reveal the atrocities committed by the Japanese Army invading China, adapting several pieces of historical facts. One horrendous scene after another is said to be shown so that children under 18 need to be given special care after seeing the film.

Reportedly, another anti-Japanese film called Dongji Rescue was made and released in China.

Regarding Dead to Rights, the following must be pointed out. It is true that in 1937, a battle of Nanjing did take place, and it must be admitted that at that time certain imprudent Japanese soldiers committed unlawful acts such as killing, injuring or plundering noncombatants. Sadly, however, such illegal acts against noncombatants of the enemy are commonplace practice in every battleground in the world. So, it is not fair to single out and blame the case of the battle of Nanjing.

The Nanjing Incident, which did not happen but nonetheless is claimed to have happened, refers to the alleged mass-murdering of noncombatant common citizens, with the difference of intentionally, in a planned manner, systematically or negligently without a system. However, it is academically completely proved that in the battle of Nanjing, such an incident of unlawful mass murder of common citizens did not occur.

Besides the academic level, at a political level, in 2012, the then Mayor of Nagoya City Kawamura Takashi said, “There was a battle of Nanjing, but there was no Nanjing Incident.” City of Nanjing, the then sister city of Nagoya, protested Kawamura’s statement and so did the Chinese Government. Mayor Kawamura did not withdraw his statement, but neither Nanjing City or the Chinese Government could deny it and as a result, this issue has been settled politically.

Regarding the film of 731, the following must be pointed out. Although piece-meal historical facts are somewhat reflected in the depicted content of the film, eighty years after the war ended, it is politically impermissible to make a film representing history in a horrific way and to show the film publicly. From the perspective of Japan, for example, in 1937, an incident took place in which a Chinese unit formed under the Japanese Army started a rebellion and killed common Japanese citizens. If a film is made depicting atrocious scenes based on historical facts and is shown to the public, even in Japan, where freedom of expression is granted, the Japanese Government will try to prevent the film from being shown to the public, considering the atrocity and the anti-Chinese effect. Even if such a film is made, there will be no prospect of making profit out of the film. Consequently, no such attempt will be made.

As seen so far, in coping with any attempt to make and show a film which unilaterally incites anti-Japanese or anti-Chinese sentiment, the Government is responsible to prevent it. This is the responsibility of any state and government in the world in the 21st century for the sake of world peace and happiness of humankind.

However, in China, it seems that no attempt is made to restrict the making and showing of such a violent film. We must say that China’s action is against the 21st century’s world peace and human happiness.

In China, the rule of the Chinese Communist Party over the Chinese people is not based on any due process to obtain the people’s consignment, so the Party lacks the lawful grounds for governing the Chinese people. Therefore, domestically, the Party needs to oppress people beyond the necessary limit and internationally it is obliged to overly incite hostility and imbue people with hostility.

Regarding the personnel promotional management, the Chinese Communist Party should either take a people’s ballot or remotely near exercise of voting within the Party so that the reform may guarantee the legitimacy of the Chinese Party’s ruling of the Chinese people.

On the other hand, the Japanese Government must strongly protest the fact that such a film is made and is shown publicly. Why is it that the Japanese Government has not yet taken any action against it?  It is irresponsible lack of action, damaging world peace and human happiness.

On top of that, the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the non-existent “Nanjing Incident,” has been posting since 2007 that “The Japanese Government thinks it cannot be denied that after the Japanese Army entered the walled City of Nanjing in 1937, killing of noncombatants and acts of plunder took place. However, as to the number of victims, there are various accounts, and the Japanese Government thinks it difficult to acknowledge which is the correct number.” We simply wonder how this inaction can be justified.

In the battle of Nanjing, despite the differences as to whether the Japanese Army acted intentionally or in a planned manner, or systematically or non-systematically, the Nanjing incident in which allegedly noncombatant Nanjing citizens were mass-murdered unlawfully did not happen, which is proved perfectly academically. Nevertheless, the misleading depiction as if the Nanjing Incident had happened is left unchanged on the official website. Under such circumstances, Japan may lose the grounds for duly protesting films such as Dead to Rights.

On April 3, 2023, at the House of Councilors’ Committee on Audit, in response to the then Councilor Wada Masamune’s question, the Government replied to the effect that regarding the battle of Nanjing, there were no historical sources found to prove the existence of the “Nanjing Incident.” If so, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should immediately either correct or delete the description related to the battle of Nanjing.

We, the People’s Campaign for the Truth of Nanjing and the International Research Institute of Controversial Histories, in unison, send this statement to the Chinese and the Japanese Governments.