Cool Sites : Nanking Massacre
Wednesday, April 13, 2005 Posted: 06:17 PM JST
Anti-Japanese feelings are spreading in China. As the majority of the demonstrators are too young to have experienced the Second World War it looks like it is more about Chinese than Japanese nationalism. Still it is good to be well informed about some of the atrocities they claim to be upset about. One of them is the Nanking Massacre. The sites below show terrible events. It is important to realize that the Japan then is not the Japan now.
Alvin Coox, former director of San Diego State University's Japan Studies Institute, said this very eloquently before he died in 1999: "War itself is perhaps the greatest of all atrocities. At Nanking in 1937 the Japanese military, by all accounts, committed indefensible transgressions. But to hold the Japanese of the 1990s still legally responsible for the event of 1937 seems far-fetched and unfair. The implication is that another Nanking perpetrated by Japanese is a real and impending danger. The premise itself has never been accepted by reputable anthropologists or sociologists, even of the wartime school. Such a charge is also contradicted by the past half century of the no-war Japanese Constitution, and by Japan's much-criticized unwillingness to participate as an armed member of peacekeeping forces."
The truth should never be hidden, but we must always remember that now is the time for healing. Think of that when you read these accounts:
Basic Facts on The Nanking Massacre
Gives overview, chronology of the massacre, the Japanese version of it, the postwar trials and verdicts, plus confessions and recent denials. (ENG)
Nanjing Massacre
An archive of books, personal accounts, and news about the Rape of Nanking. (ENG)
The Nanking Atrocities
History of the Nanjing Massacre featuring interviews with leading historians, historical photographs, video clips and other documented materials. This online documentary by Japanese journalist Masato Kajimoto is probably one of the best sources on the masscre on the net. Highly recommended! (ENG)
The Rape of Nanking
Read the story of this massacre inflicted in the Chinese city by invading Japanese troops. Includes photographs and historical reviews. (ENG)
Waking Old Wonds
A rebuttal to several points in Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking", by a professor at San Diego State University. Higly recommended! (ENG)
Nanking Massacre
An archive of books, personal accounts, and news about the Rape of Nanking. (ENG)
Rediscovery of the Nanjing Massacre
(PDF file) Paper by Takashi Yoshida, a Ph.D. Candidate at Columbia University on the "Rediscovery of the Nanjing Massacre in the United States". Recommended. (ENG)
RNRC
The Rape of Nanking Redress Coalition was founded by Asian Americans. An inclusive non-profit organization, it is dedicated to bringing about appropriate redress from the Japanese government. (ENG)
Find more sites related to Japan at Japan Links.
Keywords: cool_sites war_apologies
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