Introduction

Imperial Japan: Then and Now

Curated By

Voice of the Proletariat

Offering Marxist-Leninist analysis and commentary on current events, international relations, geopolitics, industry studies, and more.

About this Collection

About this Collection

Japan is often described today as a technologically advanced country with a kawaii cultural aesthetic. This carefully crafted national brand circulates globally through the export of anime, manga, J-pop, and tourism. Behind this mask, however, lies its dark World Anti-Fascist War (WWII) history—which lives on in Japanese society to this day.

This collection compiles historical sources covering a mere portion of Japan's numerous war crimes during the World Anti-Fascist War, including the "comfort women" system and the biological experimentation operation known as Unit 731, as well as news detailing the LDP's neomilitarist push today. If you have ever questioned why many from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of the former USSR dislike Japan so strongly, start here.

Read this collection online: https://unlearn.capital/collections/imperial-japan-then-and-now

29 articles · 8 books · 1 podcast · 5 videos · 6 reports

This ebook is about 118 pages long.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1. The fascist history of Japan (part 4): Comfort Women

13 pages

https://amyyyang00.substack.com/p/the-fascist-history-of-japan-part-49b

Amy Yang

Publication Date: July 29, 2026

The Japanese state orchestrated a systematic sex-slavery apparatus to sustain imperial aggression, treating women as strategic resources while denying responsibility; archival research reveals over 200,000 victims across Asia.

2. Former member of Unit 731 fights nightmares, atrocity deniers

3 pages

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15964125

The Asahi Shimbun | Asia & Japan Watch

By Ryota Goto, Hideo Shimizu

Publication Date: August 13, 2025

A 95-year-old former member of Japan's Unit 731 confronts online deniers and Japanese government ambiguity about wartime human experiments, sharing his traumatic memories to counter historical revisionism.

3. New archives on notorious Unit 731 reveal Japanese military’s cover-up of biological warfare

3 pages

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202608/1368122.shtml

Global Times

Publication Date: August 13, 2026

Newly released archives from Unit 731's Hailar branch expose how Japanese military disguised biological warfare personnel as conventional infantry, concealing human experimentation and crimes against humanity.

4. Who killed 'Rape of Nanking' author Iris Chang?

4 pages

https://news.cgtn.com/news/32457a4e31637a6333566d54/index.html

CGTN

By Guojiren

Publication Date: December 13, 2017

Investigates the mysterious death of historian Iris Chang, exploring the circumstances surrounding her murder and its implications for the ongoing debate over Japan's wartime responsibilities in China.

5. The fascist history of Japan (part 3): Nanjing Massacre

13 pages

https://amyyyang00.substack.com/p/the-fascist-history-of-japan-part-c6c

Amy Yang

Publication Date: July 23, 2026

Details the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre, linking Japanese fascism to current struggles in Palestine while analyzing historical denial and international memory.

6. Nanjing Massacre in the Eyes of Germans

6 pages

https://www.19371213.com.cn/en/information/news/hotnews/202311/t20231113_4096579.html

The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders

Publication Date: December 26, 2022

Using meticulous records and humanitarian efforts, seven Germans-from John Rabe's safety zone rescuing 250,000 refugees to engineer Karl Guenther sheltering 20,000 at a cement plant-documented Japanese atrocities during the Nanjing Massacre.

7. Black Dragon Society: Japan’s Secret Imperialist Clique

7 pages

https://unseen-japan.com/black-dragon-society/

https://unseen-japan.com/

By Alyssa Pearl Fusek

Publication Date: August 5, 2020

The Kokuryukai, or Black Dragon Society, was a Japanese ultranationalist secret society founded in 1901 to promote imperial expansion, espionage, and Pan-Asianist ideology, influencing foreign policy and domestic politics until its dissolution after WWII.

8. Historical contribution of main Eastern battlefield in World Anti-Fascist War

4 pages

https://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0828/c90000-20358427.html

People's Daily Online

By Wu Minchao

Publication Date: August 28, 2025

China's 14-year resistance against Japanese aggression, from the 1931 September 18 Incident through the full-scale invasion in 1937, constituted the main Eastern battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War, tying down the bulk of Japan's military, killing over 1.5 million Japanese troops.

9. Keeping the spirit of war of resistance alive

3 pages

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202510/18/WS68f2e7d3a310f735438b5b71.html

China Daily

By Wang Yiwei

Publication Date: October 18, 2025

China's 14-year war of resistance was the longest in the World Anti-Fascist War; it inflicted the heaviest losses on Japan. British historian Rana Mitter argues this conflict overturned the notion that the countryside must bow to the city.

10. ‘Sanae Takaichi absolutely should apologize for her remarks’: Japanese peace activist

4 pages

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202511/1349135.shtml

Global Times

By GT reporters Wang Wenwen and Xing Xiaojing

Publication Date: November 26, 2025

A Japanese peace activist condemns Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan as interference in China's internal affairs, urging apology and warning against unconstitutional military expansion.

11. Column: Japan's dangerous return to militarism, and why we must remember its past

4 pages

https://english.news.cn/asiapacific/20260111/385d9c05d9924a3dab8c30dd3604f72e/c.html

Xinhua News Agency

By Zhang Yuebin, Xu Shijia

Publication Date: January 10, 2026

Japanese militarism, rooted in centuries of samurai rule and reinforced by selective adoption of Prussian models, drove imperial expansion and fascism through institutional military supremacy, aggressive education, and economic plunder.

12. 'Neo-militarism' will once again lead Japan toward abyss

4 pages

https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0112/c98649-20412872.html

People's Daily Online

By Zhong Sheng

Publication Date: January 12, 2026

Warns that Japan's right wing, via 'neo-militarism,' is repeating pre-WWII militarist tactics of deception and expansion, risking disaster again by expanding defense budgets and revising pacifist constraints.

13. The dangerous moves: Japan challenges the bottom line of peace

3 pages

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202604/1359559.shtml

Global Times

By Xiang Haoyu

Publication Date: April 22, 2026

Japan's revision of defense export limits, coupled with Yasukuni offerings, signals remilitarization and a dangerous challenge to the postwar peace order, risking regional stability and an arms race.

14. The Scrapping of Japan's Peace Constitution comes at the Cost of the Working People of Asia and the Pacific

4 pages

https://www.resistusledwarmovement.com/statements/japanarticle9

Resist U.S.-Led War Movement

Publication Date: May 26, 2026

The Resist US-Led War Movement condemns the Japanese government's attempted revision of Article 9 of its constitution, which would permit Japan to wage war. As a global network struggling for just peace against US military aggression, the movement warns that scrapping the peace constitution will harm working people across Asia and the Pacific.

15. When will Japan apologize to its Asian victims? China's delegate confronts Japanese defense minister at Shangri-La Dialogue

2 pages

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1362369.shtml

Global Times

By Guo Yuandan, Su Yaxuan

Publication Date: May 31, 2026

At a security forum, a Chinese delegate challenged Japan's defense minister on the lack of apology for WWII atrocities, while Japan deflected by criticizing China's military buildup.

16. China Warns Japan: Nuclear Debate and Remilitarisation Threaten Regional Stability

3 pages

https://www.savageminds.co/p/china-warns-japan

Savage Minds

By Abdul Rahman

Publication Date: July 22, 2026

Amid Japan's rightward turn, China warns that Tokyo's push to revise its pacifist constitution and non-nuclear principles could violate international commitments and destabilize the region.

17. Japan's SDF Calls Itself 'Japan Navy,' Violates Pacifist Constitution

2 pages

https://voiceoftheproletariat.substack.com/p/jsdf-calls-itself-japan-navy

Voice of the Proletariat

By Park Jee-hoon

Publication Date: July 30, 2026

A Japanese maritime aircraft identified itself as the 'Japan Navy' during a radio exchange with Chinese forces, prompting warnings about constitutional violations and highlighting broader concerns regarding Japan's right-wing efforts to revise history and pursue remilitarization.

18. Mass Media as a Tool of Imperialist Manipulation: Analysis

4 pages

https://voiceoftheproletariat.substack.com/p/mass-media-as-a-tool-of-imperialist-manipulation

Voice of the Proletariat

By Park Jee-hoon

Publication Date: August 5, 2026

The culture industry today, operating through video games and animation, has evolved into a sophisticated imperialist tool that plants historical revisionism and remilitarization into popular consciousness, as shown by American franchises like GTA and Call of Duty that normalize hegemonic violence.

19. The return of the Japanese samurai is no innocent cartoon entertainment: China Daily editorial

3 pages

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/05/WS6a73367ea310986e2b469283.html

China Daily

Publication Date: August 5, 2026

Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper signals a dangerous turn toward neo-militarism, drawing lessons from Ukraine and elevating new warfare domains, while echoing pre-WWII expansionism and straining its postwar pacifist identity.

20. China vs Japan: the battle for the global microphone to reshape post-war identity

1 page

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3363175/china-vs-japan-battle-global-microphone-reshape-post-war-identity

South China Morning Post (SCMP)

By Carol Yang

Publication Date: August 7, 2026

China intensifies rhetorical campaign against Japan's shifting defence posture, aiming to counter Tokyo's narrative and win trust among Asian neighbours, while both nations compete to shape post-war historical memory.

21. Japan PM Takaichi avoids firm commitment to 3 non-nuclear principles

2 pages

https://english.cctv.com/2026/08/07/ARTIQgCGQsUNOXRinHajJFZo260807.shtml

CCTV.com English

By Suyue

Publication Date: August 7, 2026

Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi stopped short of pledging to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, fueling concerns over potential revision of Japan's nuclear policy.

22. Militarizing Japan calls for global vigilance: China Daily editorial

3 pages

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/09/WS6a787fdca310986e2b469c5b.html

China Daily

Publication Date: August 9, 2026

Japan's escalating military buildup, record defense budgets, and weapons exports raise concerns about neo-militarism and nuclear proliferation, threatening regional stability.

23. Hu Bo: The Philippines and Japan misjudge China-U.S. strategic competition

4 pages

https://www.yuzhehe.com/p/hu-bo-the-philippines-and-japan-misjudge

Yuzhe He

By Hu Bo

Publication Date: August 10, 2026

Hu Bo argues Manila exaggerates China-U.S.

24. Takaichi's ambiguity betrayal of history: China Daily editorial

3 pages

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/10/WS6a79baaca310986e2b469f8e.html

China Daily

Publication Date: August 10, 2026

Japanese PM Takaichi equivocates on the Three Non-Nuclear Principles at Hiroshima and Nagasaki memorials, revealing neo-militarist ambitions and endangering regional stability.

25. "Nanjing Massacre" Must Not Be Whitewashed as "Nanjing Incident"

3 pages

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/O_251451/16479025.html

China Military Online

By @zhejiangxuanchuan

Publication Date: August 12, 2026

Condemns the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum's proposal to rename the Nanjing Massacre a 'Nanjing Incident,' arguing this revisionist tactic by Japanese right-wing forces distorts historical truth and undermines the post-WWII international order.

26. Japanese militarists' numerous crimes against humanity constitute an ironclad historical record, allowing no denial or desecration

4 pages

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/O_251451/16479425.html

China Military Online

By Chu Xinyu, Cheng Zhaoqi

Publication Date: August 12, 2026

The Japanese military's systematic atrocities across Asia-including the Sook Ching Massacre, POW executions, and forced labor-form an undeniable historical record, and Japan must abandon revisionist attempts to whitewash its wartime crimes.

27. How can Japanese right-wing forces be allowed to overturn historical conclusions of Tokyo Trials?

3 pages

http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/O_251451/16479429.html

China Military Online

By Huan Yuping

Publication Date: August 14, 2026

Defends the Tokyo Trials' legal legitimacy against Japanese right-wing revisionism, arguing that denying its verdicts enables militarist revival and undermines post-war peace, urging Japan to uphold historical justice.

28. The unsettled ghost of Japan's 'Greater East Asia' lie

4 pages

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-08-13/The-unsettled-ghost-of-Japan-s-Greater-East-Asia-lie-1PzrnVooQiQ/p.html

CGTN

By Zhang Wan

Publication Date: August 13, 2026

Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper and cabinet rhetoric on Taiwan repeat the pre-WWII militarist narrative of manufacturing threats to justify expansion, masking historical atrocities like the Bataan Death March and colonial exploitation in Taiwan.

29. Taiwan groups warn of Taiwan Strait security risks due to Japan's neo-militarism

2 pages

https://english.news.cn/20260816/f2b9205de81d405bad1fae15c173be8e/c.html

Xinhua

By huaxia

Publication Date: August 16, 2026

Taiwan civil society groups warn that Japan's neo-militarism and remilitarization threaten peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, urging vigilance and remembrance of anti-Japanese resistance history.

Other Resources

Other Resources

This collection also includes other media types such as books, videos, podcasts, and more.

Books

Korean "Comfort Women": Military Brothels, Brutality, and the Redress Movement

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/korean-comfort-women/9781978814967

Resource Not Added

By Pyong Gap Min

This book documents the Japanese military's wartime sexual slavery of Asian women, the survivors' long silence, and the transnational redress movement that has sought justice and accountability.

Japan's Infamous Unit 731: Firsthand Accounts of Japan's Wartime Human Experimentations Program

https://www.tuttlepublishing.com/japan/japans-infamous-unit-731

Resource Not Added

By Hal Gold

The book documents Japan's Unit 731, a covert biological warfare unit that conducted human experimentation during World War II. Compiling firsthand accounts, it details the program's wartime activities, revealing the atrocities committed and underscoring the historical importance of acknowledging these crimes.

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/iris-chang/the-rape-of-nanking/9780465068364/

Resource Not Added

By Iris Chang

Iris Chang's definitive history recounts the 1937 Japanese massacre of over 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers in Nanking, examining the militaristic culture that enabled such brutality and the postwar efforts to suppress its memory, while also highlighting the Westerners who saved nearly 300.

Japan’s Holocaust: History of Imperial Japan’s Mass Murder and Rape During World War II

https://permutedpress.com/book/japans-holocaust-history-of-imperial-japans-mass-murder-and-rape-during-world-war-ii

Resource Not Added

By Bryan Mark Rigg

Japan's Holocaust comprehensively documents Imperial Japan's mass murder, rape, and economic exploitation across Asia and the Pacific from 1927 to 1945, arguing these atrocities were ordered by Emperor Hirohito and claiming at least thirty million deaths.

Japan's War Crimes: Past and Present

Resource Not Added

By Ri Jong Hyon

This work catalogues Japan's imperial war crimes from the Meiji Restoration through WWII, including aggression against Korea and Asia, forced treaties, plunder, and atrocities, arguing that Japan's failure to confront this history risks repeating it.

Japan's Occupation of Java in the Second World War: A Transnational History

Resource Not Added

By Ethan Mark

A transnational history of Japan's wartime occupation of Java, examining the encounter between Japanese "men of culture" and Indonesian nationalists within the contested ideology of Greater Asianism and its limits.

Problems of Strategy in Guerilla War Against Japan

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_08.htm

Marxists Internet Archive

By Mao Zedong

Mao examines why guerrilla warfare against Japan requires its own strategic framework, arguing that China's size, weakness, and the protracted war necessitate independent operations, base areas, and the gradual development of guerrilla forces into mobile warfare.

On Protracted War

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_09.htm

Marxists Internet Archive

By Mao Zedong

China's War of Resistance against Japan will be protracted and end in victory, refuting both defeatist and quick-victory theories. Mao Tse-tung outlines three stages-strategic defensive, stalemate, and counter-offensive-where China progresses while Japan declines, with guerrilla warfare crucial. This analysis shapes China's military strategy and political unity.

Podcast

80 Years Since the Victory Against Fascism in Asia

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/intlsolidarity/episodes/80-Years-Since-the-Victory-Against-Fascism-in-Asia-w-Qiao-Collective-e386ibp

Journal of International Solidarity

By Qiao Collective

Discusses China's underappreciated role in WWII, the Nanjing massacre, and current US-China relations through the lens of anti-imperialism.

Reports

Voices of the ”Comfort Women”: The Power Politics Surrounding the UNESCO Documentary Heritage

https://apjjf.org/2021/5/Shin

Resource Not Added

By Heisoo Shin

Heisoo Shin details how 14 NGOs fought to register comfort women documents with UNESCO, exposing Japan’s political lobbying that threatened the program’s integrity and risked a perpetrators’ veto over historical truth.

Unit 731 and the Japanese Imperial Army’s Biological Warfare Program

https://apjjf.org/tsuneishi-keiichi/2194/article

Resource Not Added

By Tsuneishi Keiichi

Tsuneishi Keiichi, Japan's leading specialist on biowarfare, explores the history and legacy of Japan's Unit 731 and biological warfare program.

The Rape of Nanking in Japanese High School Textbooks: History Texts as Closed Texts

Resource Not Added

This study analyzes the linguistic strategies used in Japanese high school history textbooks to obscure the perpetrators and severity of the 1937 Nanking Massacre, arguing that 'closed text' constructions prevent students from critically engaging with historical denial.

‘War Fantasy’ and Reality—‘War as Entertainment’ and Counter-narratives in Japanese Popular Culture

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10371390701268638

Resource Not Added

By Matthew Penney

The book examines Japanese popular works across media that use fictional narratives of the nation's wartime history as science fiction or 'what-if' entertainment. It argues that these 'war fantasy' narratives often present war as entertainment, potentially distorting historical realities, and identifies counter-narratives that challenge this trend.

War and Japan: The Non-Fiction Manga of Mizuki Shigeru

https://apjjf.org/matthew-penney/2905/article

Resource Not Added

By Matthew Penney

Matthew Penney explores the non-fiction work of mangaka (manga artist) and veteran Mizuki Shigeru, who seeks to reconcile images of Japanese as both victims of their own elites and victimizers of others.

Japan’s Red Purge: Lessons from a Saga of Suppression of Free Speech and Thought

https://apjjf.org/John-W-Dower/2462/article

Resource Not Added

By Hirata Tetsuo, John W. Dower, transl. Ben Middleton

Discusses a systematic anti-Communist purge during the US occupation of Japan that arbitrarily expelled thousands of labour activists and leftists from government and corporate employment to build an anti-Soviet state aligned with American interests.

Videos

Why do so many Asian countries have beef with Japan?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM9PynmhQ1E

Resource Not Added

By Li Jingjing

Argues that Japan's imperialist history and WWII atrocities, especially the Nanjing Massacre and comfort women coercion, fuel lasting resentment in Asia. It contrasts Japan's incomplete reckoning with Germany's accountability, points to unresolved territorial disputes like the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, and notes that avoiding full reparations bred economic resentment.

Japan Still Denies ‘Comfort Women’ Atrocities: Why Its Remilitarization Is a Global Threat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sElE9jIZA0g

BreakThrough News

Julie Tang discusses Japan's denial of comfort women atrocities and warns against its remilitarization as a global security threat.

Dead To Rights 南京照相馆 (Historical Film)

https://www.bilibili.tv/en/video/4797528100313088

Resource Not Added

By Shen Ao

A historical film centered on the Nanjing Massacre, depicting the atrocities and the resilience of the Chinese people through the lens of a photography studio, based on true events.

Genocide, oppression, Japan & the US fascist crimes in Luchu (Okinawa) | with Luchuan Rob Kajiwara

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nMwW78WUuo

Resource Not Added

By Rob Kajiwara

Rob Kajiwara's interview highlights Okinawan daily protests against the US-Japan occupation, ignored by the G7, and exposes historical and ongoing US-Japanese fascist crimes, including genocide and oppression, while the title's use of 'Luchu' asserts Okinawa's distinct identity separate from Japan, framing these struggles as part of a broader pattern of erasure.

Rare for Japanese TV: NHK revisits Unit 731. What does the documentary reveal?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm6w7WAfGuM

Resource Not Added

By CGTN Frontline

In a rare move for Japanese TV, NHK aired a documentary providing an unusually candid look at Unit 731, the Imperial Japanese Army's covert biological warfare unit. The film reveals evidence of Unit 731's wartime atrocities, including biological warfare experiments, breaking a long-standing taboo in Japan regarding discussion of the unit.

The fascist history of Japan (part 4): Comfort Women

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — The fascist history of Japan (part 4): Comfort Women

The fascist history of Japan (part 4): Comfort Women

Article 1 of 29

Amy Yang

Originally published at https://amyyyang00.substack.com/p/the-fascist-history-of-japan-part-49b

Publication Date: July 29, 2026

What do most people outside Southeast Asia associate with these two words “Japan” and “women”? Probably cute (kawaii) anime characters and Japanese women in traditional clothing (wafuku). Yet only few will think of the “comfort women” system and the sexual violence committed by fascist Japanese army during Japan’s imperialist wars against Korea, China, Indonesia, and other Asian countries.

Similar to other colonial or imperialist wars, sexual violence was an “essential” tool for imperialist Japan to conquer local people, break their will to resist, and erase their cultures and history. At least 200,000 women and girls suffered heavily from ruthless sexual violence by the fascist Japanese army during the World War II.

Yet, just as the Zionist state Israel tries to hide its crimes of raping and torturing Palestinian prisoners, the Japanese government not only refuses to officially apologize for the sexual abuses and provide compensation to the victims of the “comfort women” system; it even attempts to completely deny its responsibility for the sexual violence committed by its army in its fascist past.

Denying histories of fascist crimes is to continue these crimes. Until fascism and imperialism are fully defeated, we must never forget or forgive the crimes committed by all zionist and imperialist states. It is our responsibility as anti-imperialists to save these important histories from being buried in the dusts and raise public awareness about these historical lessons.

Thus, I would like to share an article on the history of “Comfort Women” and the story of a Chinese historian, Su Zhiliang (苏智良), who dedicated his entire academic career to this history in this week’s “the fascist history of Japan” series.

(Attention: the following article contains violent sexual scenes, please be mentally prepared if you decide to read or listen to it.)

The most agonizing research, for those “prisoners in hell”

最痛苦的研究，为了那些“地狱里的囚徒”

By Xiao Chunfei and Pan Xu (Xinhua Daily Telegraph)

The semester at Shanghai Normal University has not yet started, and it was quiet. The campus was full of lush grass and sparse forests, but when we came to the statue next to the Wenyuan Building, our hearts suddenly grew heavy:

This is a group of double statues of Chinese and Korean girls. They are sitting on chairs, with their collars pulled open, their hands clenched into fists, their expressions sad and angry, and there is an empty chair next to them.

The inscription on the statue is written in four languages: Chinese, English, Korean and Japanese:

“The ‘Comfort Women’ system specifically refers to the system in which the Japanese government equipped the Japanese army with military sex slaves from 1932 to 1945. As a result, hundreds of thousands of women in China, Korea and other places in Southeast Asia were forced to be Japanese military sex slaves and suffered cruel torture. Violence and death threats are the most painful memories for all women in the world over the past century. The “Comfort Women” Peace Girls Statues of China and South Korea were established to condemn these war crimes, pray for world peace, and comfort the victims who, despite having struggled heroically to seek justice and demand apology and compensation from the perpetrators, have not got justice yet.”

Today, 76 years have passed since the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, but the “war” against justice for the “Comfort Women” continues.

“Perhaps there is nothing crueller than digging up the history of humiliation of women of one’s own country.”

In 1993, in Shanghai in the midsummer, the asphalt roads were turned into a paste by the sun. A young scholar rode a bicycle from Shanghai Normal University in the southwest corner of Shanghai to Jungong Road in the northeast corner, looking for the secret histories of the Chinese “Comfort Women” abused by Japan that had been hidden for half a century. This field investigation lasted for four years, and a mysterious, terrifying and cruel history gradually became clear.

This scholar is Su Zhiliang (苏智良). In 1998, he published a paper “A Brief Discussion on the Comfort Women System of the Japanese Invaders of China” and in 1999 he published a monograph “Research on Comfort Women”, which aroused attention in the academic world and strong repercussions in Chinese society. He could have quit, but he didn’t. Nearly 30 years have passed, the young scholar in the past has turned gray-haired but is still obsessed with the study of “Comfort Women”.

“Studying the history of ‘Comfort Women’ is painful and the psychological pressure is very high. Perhaps there is nothing crueller in the world than digging up the history of humiliation of women in one’s own country.” Su Zhiliang described “comfort women” as “prisoners in hell.”

In 2000, Su Zhiliang took a victim of the “Comfort Women” system from Nanjing to Osaka to give a lecture. Behind a white cloth at the front desk, this old woman spoke slowly: “I was gang-raped by Japanese soldiers in Nanjing when I was eight years old and suffered inhuman abuse. From then until now, I have to use diapers every day.”

“When I heard this, I burst into tears and couldn’t hold back my tears,” Su Zhiliang said.

Over the past 30 years, this kind of psychological “torture” has occurred repeatedly. From Shanghai to Yunnan, from Northeast China to Hainan, and even overseas, Su Zhiliang searched for clues and collected witness testimonies. Sometimes he listened and cried with the witnesses.

In Su Zhiliang’s book “Research on the “Comfort Women” of the Japanese Army”, he recorded the suffering souls one after another, all of whom he interviewed in person. Opening this book, the testimonies are filled with blood and tears, making people angry and horrified at the same time:

“The Japanese army didn’t treat us as humans; they just treated us as tools to vent their sexual desires and abused us in every possible way. The brutal and continuous rape caused severe damage to my vagina, inflammation of the uterus, and my whole body seemed to be falling apart. I was bedridden. One of my companions was a girl named Chen Youhong. Several Japanese soldiers gang-raped her. She refused to obey, so she was severely beaten and raped. As a result, her uterus ruptured and her blood flowed profusely. She was dying. She passed away tragically due to her injuries two days later...” - Huang Youliang’s autobiography in Lingshui County, Hainan. She was raped by the Japanese army at the age of 15 and forced to become a “comfort woman” at the age of 16.

“I was pregnant when I was first arrested, and the Japanese officers didn’t care if you had a baby in your belly. Only two months after giving birth, I was often taken away by the Japanese soldiers. At that time, I had a lot of milk, so these soldiers would suck my milk dry every time, and then rape.” - the self-report of Zhu Qiaomei, a victim in Chongming, Shanghai. In 1938, she, her mother-in-law, and her mother-in-law’s sister were forced to become “Comfort Women” at the same time.

Many Chinese “Comfort Women” have passed away. Some of the “Comfort Women” were tortured to death, and some committed suicide due to the humiliation. Once they became pregnant, they also died. The book “Research on the “Comfort Women” of the Japanese Army” writes: “Li Yaqian, a girl from the Li ethnic group in Baoting County, Hainan, was captured by the Japanese army and taken to the Nanlin military base to serve as a ‘Comfort Woman’. The Japanese army at this military base had no contraceptive measures. Li Yaqian became pregnant soon after. The Japanese army tied the innocent girl on the slope of Qingxun Village and brutally caesarean her, resulting in the death of both mother and child.”

Although it is painful, the research still has to continue. As Su Zhiliang said,

“this is the responsibility of a historian. The ‘Comfort Women’ system is a great shame in the history of human civilization. I have the responsibility to thoroughly expose the atrocities committed by the Japanese army, to seek justice for the dead and humiliated victims, and to work with people with a sense of humanity from all over the world to conduct a comprehensive settlement of the historical debts that the evil imperialism and militarism owe to the entire humankind!”

The “Comfort Women” system is Japan’s national crime during its imperialist war

Who is the originator of the “comfort women” system? Japanese number one war criminal, Okamura Neji (冈村宁次).

When the January 28th Incident broke out in 1932, the number of Japanese troops in Shanghai reached 30,000. There were many incidents of rape of women in the field by the Japanese army, which aroused severe condemnation from the public in China and other countries.

In order to prevent large-scale rape incidents by the Japanese army from affecting military discipline and combat effectiveness, and to offset external public opinion’s accusations of the brutality of the Japanese army, Okamura Neji, then deputy chief of staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, decided to set up some military prostitutes exclusively for the use of the Japanese army with the approval of the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, Shirakawa Yoshinori.

The specific person in charge was Naosaburo Okabe, a senior staff officer of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force. The latter recorded in his diary on March 14: “At this time, there were various rumours about soldiers doing everything possible to search for women and being morally corrupt. In order to solve the sexual problems of the soldiers, we started to actively build such prostitute facilities.” After submitting the report, Okamura Neiji approved and immediately called the governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, quickly recruited prostitutes, organized a “Comfort Women” group, and established a comfort station in the Japanese-occupied area of ​​​​Hongkou, Shanghai. During the four months that Okamura Neiji was in Shanghai, the Japanese army established the first batch of comfort stations in Wusong, Baoshan, Miaohang and Zhenru.

In February 1949, when Okamura Neiji was interviewed by reporters on the ship returning to Japan, he admitted: “I was the originator of the extremely shameless comfort women system. During the Shanghai Incident in the seventh year of Showa (1932), As the deputy chief of staff of the dispatched troops, I followed the Navy’s long-established practice of recruiting prostitutes for the comfort troops and applied to the governor of Nagasaki Prefecture to recruit a group of comfort women to provide sexual services for the Japanese army in China.”

Su Zhiliang commented:

“The ‘Comfort Women’ group organized by Okamura Neiji was jointly planned and completed by the upper levels of the Japanese military and the Japanese local government. This is a ‘pioneering project’, in which the fascist war machine insults and tramples on humanity. Of course, this was only the beginning of the subsequent large-scale promotion of ‘Comfort Women’ by the Japanese army.”

After Japan’s all-out war of aggression against China began in 1937, the number of prostitutes in the country was not enough to meet the demand. Japan therefore captured a large number of Korean and Chinese women to serve as “Comfort Women” for the Japanese army, and deployed “Comfort Women” in the Japanese army in a planned and proportional manner.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan expanded its recruitment of “Comfort Women” to Southeast Asia. Regarding the nationality of the “Comfort Women”, in addition to Japan, they were mainly from Korea, mainland China and Taiwan province, and there were also some women from Southeast Asia and other places, such as Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, indigenous residents, and a small number of women from Russia, the Netherlands and other countries.

As Su Zhiliang points out,

“the ‘Comfort Women’ system is implemented by the Japanese state and its military in order to successfully implement and complete the war of aggression in Asia. It is a collective crime of the military and a national crime of Japan during the war. The victimized women were completely deprived of their mental and physical freedom, suffered sexual violence and abuse all day long, and served as sex slaves of the military. This is a great insult to human dignity and a great violation of human rights.”

“Why is it said that the ‘Comfort Women’ system is essentially a wartime national crime? Because the Japanese government departments, including the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Navy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the police, colonial authorities, and local Japanese governments in various prefectures and counties, were involved in the forced recruitment of women and the establishment of comfort stations. They spared no effort to implement this plan.”

The Japanese army forcibly recruited “Comfort Women” not to reduce rape, but because they were worried that the sexually transmitted diseases caused by a large number of rapes would weaken their combat effectiveness.

During the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, the Japanese army began to rape crazily. Gonorrhea, syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases quickly spread among the Japanese army, weakening its combat effectiveness. At the same time, the Japanese army’s brutal behavior has also been strongly condemned by the international community. In this way, the issue of sex has almost become the primary issue of whether the war of aggression could continue. In view of this, Japanese high-level officials were considering the need to quickly and comprehensively implement the “comfort women” system.

As the commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, Matsui Iwane was most worried about not massacres and rapes, but the order of the army and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. In order to solve the sexual problems of Japanese officers and soldiers and prevent the loss of combat effectiveness due to sexually transmitted diseases, Matsui Iwane decided to imitate Okamura Neji’s plan to recruit “comfort women” during the January 28th Incident.

After the war, Iwane Matsui was hanged as a war criminal, but Neji Okamura escaped legal punishment.

According to Su Zhiliang,

“the root of the Japanese military’s ‘Comfort Women’ system was the Japanese government’s naked militaristic policy starting from the Meiji era, and it was a predatory strategy that exploited the entire country. It made Japanese people proud of their imperialist war and the brutality of the Japanese military. This fascism was the national background that enabled the Japanese military to implement the sexual slavery system that shocked the whole world.”

In 1942, Hideki Tojo was interviewed by American journalist Joseph Douglas. The reporter asked about the Japanese army forcing local women to serve as prostitutes with the army in the occupied areas. Tojo replied: “Women are strategic materials with unique nutrition that are indispensable for victory.”

Yes, in the eyes of the Japanese army, “Comfort Women” were not humans, but strategic materials.

Su Zhiliang stated cleary,

“If we want to give the simplest definition of ‘Comfort Women’, they are Japanese military sex slaves. This shows the irrefutable responsibility of the Japanese government and the Japanese military for the “Comfort Women” issue.”

At present, research on Japan’s crime of forcibly recruiting “Comfort Women” from various countries during its imperialist war is still in its infancy. In the past, there was almost no mention of this. Even the world-recognized works on Japan’s crimes during World War II only stated that “as for Japan, its war crimes lie in the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war.”, while failing to mention the crimes of the “Comfort Women” system.

As stated clearly by Su Zhiliang,

“crimes of the ‘Comfort Women’ system implemented by the Japanese government were huge and heinous, much more serious than being stated by these international works. It is important to conduct an in-depth analysis of the crimes of Japan’s ‘Comfort Women’ system, which will also enrich the international understanding on war crimes and human rights violations.”

How many “comfort women” were there?

How many “comfort women” were there in the Japanese army during World War II?

This is still controversial. Su Zhiliang believes that the number of “Comfort Women” is far more than 100,000 or 200,000. According to him, the scale of the Japanese army’s “Comfort Women” system far exceeds people’s estimates. From the main force to the garrison, small units, and even comfort stations were set up in bunkers on the front line. In addition, previous studies on “Comfort Women” have ignored the issue of “Comfort Women” in China, while only focusing on Korean “Comfort Women”. In fact, China is the country where the Japanese army has stationed for the longest time and deployed the largest number of soliders. Comfort stations were spread across most of China. However, there are no official records of these Chinese “Comfort Women” who were forcibly recruited by the Japanese army.

In fact, the number of victims in China is huge. Everywhere the Japanese army went, they abducted a large number of local women. For example, at the end of 1937, the Japanese army abducted more than 2,000 women in Suzhou, more than 3,000 women were taken away in Wuxi, 20,000 women were abducted in Hangzhou, and 7 comfort stations were abducted in a city in Nanjing. There are 92 comfort stations on Hainan Island, 172 comfort stations in Shanghai, 182 comfort stations in Zhejiang, 208 comfort stations in Shandong, and 295 comfort stations in Hubei. In these six places alone, the number of “comfort women” reaches tens of thousands or tens of thousands.

Judging from the mortality rate of “Comfort Women”, Su Zhiliang pointed out that,

“due to extremely poor living conditions and inhuman torture every day, most of the ‘Comfort Women’ were either tortured and killed by Japanese soldiers, or died of disease and poverty, and some committed suicide because they could not bear the abuse. The mortality rate of ‘Comfort Women’ is quite high.”

The book “Research on the “Comfort Women” of the Japanese Army” lists a large number of examples about high mortality rates of “Comfort Women”: In the summer of 1941, more than 50 Chinese women at the Boao Comfort Station in Hainan refused to receive the Japanese soldiers, so they were pulled to the Tayang Bridge by the Japanese army and killed; in May 1944, the Japanese army captured more than 10 women in Zhuzhou, Hunan. A comfort station was set up, and 8 of them died later; there were more than 300 “comfort women” in the Shilu Comfort Station in Hainan, and after four years of torture, more than 200 people died. When Japan surrendered, only more than 10 survived; the Huangliu Japanese Airport Comfort Station originally had 21 women from Guangzhou, and in the end only 4 women including Huang Huirong were left.

“However, the number of ‘Comfort Women’ did not decrease despite such a high mortality rate, because the Japanese army continued to capture women from various places and countries to replenish,” Su Zhiliang said. He believed that the replacement rate of “Comfort Women” should be between 1:3.5 and 1:4.0. Therefore, after comprehensively studying various historical materials, Su Zhiliang concluded that the total number of “comfort women” is approximately 360,000 to 410,000. The calculation process is: 3000000÷29×3.5=362068 people, 3000000÷29×4.0=413793 people.

According to Su Zhiliang’s research, there are four forms of “Comfort Women” in China: one is the “Comfort Women” officially requisitioned by the Japanese army, who either travelled with the army or stationed in the Japanese army and were managed by the Japanese army. When the army moved, the comfort stations did not move. Secondly, the Japanese army abducted a large number of local women every time they occupied a place. After a short period of time of raping them, they would be killed by the Japanese army completely.

The third type is the short-term “comfort women” requisitioned by the Japanese army. For example, with the cooperation of traitors, the Tianjin Japanese Defense Command once implemented a short-term rotation system of “Comfort Women”. Each batch of 20 to 30 people were forcibly recruited and sent to the comfort station to “work” for about 3 weeks, and then they were released and requisitioned for the second batch. In one year, 350 to 520 Tianjin women were rotated.

Fourthly, when the Japanese military garrison conducted raids across China, they forced Chinese women to accompany them and took them to Japanese military strongholds or bases for long-term rape. Chinese women were reduced to “Comfort Women” for as short as a few weeks or as long as seven years. The Japanese army set up tens of thousands of comfort stations in mainland China. Some of these comfort stations lasted as long as 14 years, and some only lasted a few weeks. The number of “Comfort Women” in a comfort station varied from 1 to 300 - 500. “According to the most conservative estimates, the total number of ‘Comfort Women’ in China is more than 200,000.” Su Zhiliang said.

“The evidence of the crime is irrefutable—Japan cannot deny it!”

Starting from 2016, China, South Korea, and other nations submitted materials to UNESCO, seeking to include the “Voices of ‘Comfort Women’” project in the Memory of the World Register. On October 22 of that year, a “Statue of Peace” honoring Chinese and South Korean “Comfort Women” was unveiled at Shanghai Normal University.

On the same day, the Museum of Chinese “Comfort Women” History also opened at Shanghai Normal University. The museum houses a collection of artifacts gathered by researchers over decades from the sites of former Imperial Japanese Army “comfort stations,” as well as items donated by researchers—such as wartime condoms and “Hoshimikou” (a contraceptive ointment) used by Japanese soldiers, passports used by survivors when traveling to Japan to file lawsuits, and documents and legal complaints related to their overseas testimony and claims for compensation.

“Apologize! Compensate!” These are the anguished cries of Chinese “Comfort Women” survivors—yet, there has been no response.

According to research by the Center for the Study of Chinese Comfort Women at Shanghai Normal University, only 14 victims of the “comfort women” system remain alive in mainland China today, and they are in the twilight of their lives. After they have all passed away, will this history cease to exist?

The answer is no; Su Zhiliang is not fighting alone. The research team he leads has travelled across the country to conduct investigations, compiling research archives through field visits, listening to the oral testimonies of victims, and consulting local chronicles. The centre also helped establish and manage a “Comfort Women Research and Assistance” fund, continuously providing financial support for victims to cover their living expenses, medical care expenses, and funeral costs, while simultaneously advancing academic research.

“We must bear in mind that without justice, human civilization can never progress,” Su Zhiliang says firmly. He is currently having his students compile archives province by province, and asserting, “The evidence of the crime is irrefutable—Japan can not deny it!”

Former member of Unit 731 fights nightmares, atrocity deniers

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Former member of Unit 731 fights nightmares, atrocity deniers

Former member of Unit 731 fights nightmares, atrocity deniers

Article 2 of 29

The Asahi Shimbun | Asia & Japan Watch

By Ryota Goto, Hideo Shimizu

Originally published at https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15964125

Publication Date: August 13, 2025

Chinese media representatives swarmed around a small-statured man as he apologized before a memorial monument on the outskirts of the northeastern city of Harbin last August.

“I did something reckless and caused trouble to others,” Hideo Shimizu, 95, said.

The scene was repeatedly aired on Chinese news broadcasts and featured on the front pages of newspapers the following day under such headlines as: “Former Unit 731 member testifies to its crimes.”

But in Japan on social media, Shimizu’s apology immediately sparked outrage. Posters labeled him as “senile old man” and “elderly public nuisance.”

A resident of Miyata village in Nagano Prefecture, Shimizu has been subjected to such slander and abuse countless times over the past decade.

Unit 731 was the Imperial Japanese Army’s biological warfare unit established in the suburbs of Harbin in 1936.

It conducted human experiments, such as infecting Chinese and Russian prisoners of war with bacteria, resulting in numerous deaths.

Shimizu is one of the few surviving members of the unit. He served as a “child member,” a civilian attached to the military.

Before he graduated from the advanced course of a national elementary school in Nagano Prefecture, a teacher told him there was a job in Manchuria, the present-day northeastern China.

Without even knowing his destination, he arrived in Harbin in March 1945. He was 14 years old.

He was with Unit 731 for about six months until Japan’s surrender in World War II. But he is still haunted by a scene he witnessed in the headquarters building in July that year.

The shelves of the “specimen room” were lined with glass jars containing human internal organs, limbs and heads floating in formalin.

A superior officer told him that they were dissected from “maruta,” a covert term for the prisoners used as experimental subjects.

A pregnant woman was in a large jar, with a fetus with hair visible from her flayed side.

It was the first time Shimizu had seen a human corpse. He could not stop crying and had nightmares for several nights.

He kept silent about what he had seen and heard.

After the war, he obtained a license as an architect and was blessed with children and grandchildren. But he hid everything about his war past, even from his family.

The existence of Unit 731 was buried in history for some time.

However, Seiichi Morimura’s nonfiction work “Akuma no Hoshoku” (The Devil’s Gluttony) published in 1981 shed light on the clandestine unit.

Subsequently, U.S. military investigation records, which had been preserved in the United States, and Soviet documents on war crimes trials were discovered.

The U.S. military had interrogated senior members of the unit, including its leader, Shiro Ishii, immediately after the war.

A report dated Dec. 12, 1947, listed bacteria used in biological warfare research, such as botulinum, plague and typhoid, and referred to experimental data provided by senior unit members as well as “about 500 human specimens.”

Testimonies from former unit members accumulated, and the picture of vivisections and other atrocities committed emerged.

In a lawsuit on textbook screening over descriptions of Unit 731, the Supreme Court stated in 1997 that “the broad outline that (the unit) killed many Chinese and others through live human experiments has become an established academic consensus.”

Shimizu broke his silence in 2015, 70 years after the end of the war.

While out one day, he came across an exhibition on Unit 731 and confessed to his wife, who was beside him, that he had been a member of the unit. He began accepting invitations to give lectures and responding to media interviews.

He felt as if the burden on his heart was lifted a little by speaking of the memories he had long locked away.

At the same time, he learned that he was being attacked online.

A friend taught him how to use a computer, and he found such posts saying the “human experiments are fabricated.” Some messages were directed at him: “Old man, you are lying.”

Anger welled up inside him.

His name is listed on the roster of 3,607 unit members disclosed by the National Archives of Japan in 2018.

He had finally found the courage to share his memories after decades of nightmares, and he could not stand being called a liar so easily.

While acknowledging the existence of Unit 731, the government has neither confirmed nor denied its activities, such as human experimentation, citing lack of documentation.

In March, when the unit’s atrocities were raised in the Diet, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, “The means (to verify the facts) have been lost with history.”

The previous month, Shimizu gave a lecture at a school in Tokyo.

The slander that began last summer had subsided somewhat, but relatives told him not to “stir things up anymore.”

“If you say something did not happen 100 times, it becomes as if it really never did. That is frightening,” he said on his way home from the lecture.

“I am getting tired these days. This might be the last time,” he said, with his back hunched, as he boarded an express bus bound for Nagano.

New archives on notorious Unit 731 reveal Japanese military’s cover-up of biological warfare

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — New archives on notorious Unit 731 reveal Japanese military’s cover-up of biological warfare

New archives on notorious Unit 731 reveal Japanese military’s cover-up of biological warfare

Article 3 of 29

Global Times

Originally published at https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202608/1368122.shtml

Publication Date: August 13, 2026

New archives on notorious Unit 731 reveal Japanese military’s cover-up of biological warfare

Newly released wartime records from the Hailar branch of Japan's notorious Unit 731. Photo: Xinhua

Newly released wartime records from the Hailar branch of Japan's notorious Unit 731 reveal how the Japanese military disguised biological warfare personnel as conventional infantry troops to conceal secret operations, including human experimentation. 

The Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army released on Wednesday a 185-page archive of "personal background declaration" from the Hailar branch of Unit 731, also known as "Manchuria Unit 543". The documents show that the Japanese military concealed its biological warfare operations under the guise of conventional infantry units and shed new light on the Soviet Union's continued efforts after World War II to investigate and prosecute Japanese biological warfare crimes. 

Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during WWII. At least 3,000 people were used in human experiments conducted by Unit 731, and more than 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Japanese Kwantung Army established five branches of Unit 731 in Northeast China - in Hailar, Sunwu, Mudanjiang, Linkou and Dalian. Located in the northeastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, near China's borders with Mongolia and the Soviet Union, the Hailar branch served as a frontline base of the Japanese imperialist army for potential biological warfare operations against the Soviet Union.

The newly released 185-page archive contains key information on 156 members of the Hailar branch of Unit 731, including their names, military ranks, dates of enlistment, duties, transfers and postwar whereabouts. Researchers said the documents constitute first-hand official records for studying the branch's personnel structure and operations. 

Jin Shicheng, a researcher at the Exhibition Hall, said the study produced two major findings. First, the documents reveal that the Japanese military recruited personnel under the cover of ordinary infantry units to conceal biological warfare activities. Some personnel, for example, were recruited under the names of conventional units such as Manchuria Unit 97, Unit 177 and Unit 201. They were then sent to Unit 731 headquarters for three months of training before being assigned to the Hailar branch. The deceptive recruitment system was intended to conceal the crimes committed by Unit 731, including human experimentation.

Moreover, the archive provides evidence of continued postwar investigations into Japanese biological warfare crimes. Of the 156 personnel listed in the documents, 145 were captured by Soviet forces after the war and detained in the Soviet Union. Four were tried in Khabarovsk between April and September 1950. The researcher said the records show that Soviet investigations and judicial efforts concerning Japanese biological warfare crimes continued after the trial held in 1949.

A photo published by Xinhua showed a record on medic Tanizaki Hitoshi in the "personal background declaration" records of Unit 731's Hailar branch. Photo: Xinhua

A photo published by Xinhua showed a record on medic Tanizaki Hitoshi in the "personal background declaration" records of Unit 731's Hailar branch. Tanizaki, originally named Ozaki Hitoshi, is documented in historical records that, together with his oral testimony, form a chain of evidence further substantiating the crimes committed by Unit 731.

Experts said the new revelation of the Hailar branch deepens research into Unit 731 and, together with previously obtained oral testimony from former members, form a broader chain of evidence. The official records exposed the efforts by the Japanese military to disguise their crimes against humanity and provided further evidence of the state-organized system behind Japan's biological warfare program, while adding important material to research on Unit 731 and postwar prosecutions.

Global Times 

Who killed 'Rape of Nanking' author Iris Chang?

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Who killed 'Rape of Nanking' author Iris Chang?

Who killed 'Rape of Nanking' author Iris Chang?

Article 4 of 29

CGTN

By Guojiren

Originally published at https://news.cgtn.com/news/32457a4e31637a6333566d54/index.html

Publication Date: December 13, 2017

Iris Chang, author of "The Rape of Nanking", ended her life with a pistol on November 9, 2004. She was 36. She had suffered from years of depression and constant sleep deprivation since her bestseller – full title "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Two" – was published in 1997. It may be true that Iris Chang committed suicide. But I still have to ask: Who killed Iris Chang?

The daughter of two professors, Iris loved writing and telling stories from an early age and began to pen articles in her college years. She would have lived a peaceful life or become a renowned writer if she didn’t start work on her book on the atrocities committed by Japanese troops in 1937 in the city of Nanjing, where over 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed. 

Iris Chang poses with her book, "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Two". /CCTV Photo

Iris Chang poses with her book, "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Two". /CCTV Photo

In three years of collecting materials, interviewing witnesses and doing research from archives, she was horrified by what she discovered. Crimes and cruelty such as beheading, bayoneting, burying alive, burning to death, drowning, disemboweling, killing contests and rape haunted her from then on. She was outraged at what the Japanese troops had done to the city and its people.

Chang was even more outraged that there was not only no official apology from Japan, but also the attempt by the country to try to deny the facts and to wipe out that dark chapter of history. Not only have right-wing politicians and people in Japan tried to cover it up, but also the Japanese government is trying to brush aside the atrocities in its invasion of China and other Asian countries. 

Iris Chang once confronted the Japanese ambassador to the United States in a television show after they accused her of a "very wrong description". Of course, she received frequent harassment and threats from some Japanese after her book was published.

Cuiping Ni, 75, shows off her scar as Iris Chang (R), author of "The Rape of Nanking," looks on during the opening of the conference, "50 Years of Denial: Japan and Its Wartime Responsibilities," in San Francisco, Sept. 7, 2001. /AP Photo

Cuiping Ni, 75, shows off her scar as Iris Chang (R), author of "The Rape of Nanking," looks on during the opening of the conference, "50 Years of Denial: Japan and Its Wartime Responsibilities," in San Francisco, Sept. 7, 2001. /AP Photo

These threats and the denials of the Japanese officials must have left Chang infuriated. Why would people want to deny the facts, and how could they do that? Why after so many years, was justice not done? It's like a man who has killed a neighbor and was caught red handed. But the killer denies all the crimes he has committed. Not only that, he constantly harasses and threatens the families and neighbors of the victim as if justice is in the hands of the killer. And his neighbors don’t know when the killer might kill again.

As a writer, Iris Chang was a loner trying to unveil the truth to the world. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t let the whole world know about the atrocities. The Nanjing Massacre remains unknown to most people, especially people outside East Asia. Chang might have thought that once she published her book, the crimes of war would be immediately known to the whole world and that the Japanese government would change its attitude.

The memorial service for Iris Chang on Nov. 9, 2014 at the Gate of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Los Altos, California. /People’s Daily Photo

The memorial service for Iris Chang on Nov. 9, 2014 at the Gate of Heaven Catholic Cemetery in Los Altos, California. /People’s Daily Photo

But to her disappointment, the Nanjing Massacre remains forgotten by most people, especially in the West, unlike the Nazi holocaust which has had ubiquitous promotion. Meanwhile, the Japanese government and some Japanese members of the public are stepping up their efforts to cover up the Nanjing Massacre. 

At the grave of Iris Chang, a stone was carved with the words "The Power of One". It stands as a testament of how much an individual has done to seek truth in history. I am sad to say that I think the power of one person is very limited. Chang must have felt helpless that she could not single-handedly change perceptions.

For a young lady, Iris Chang shouldered a heavy burden of telling the truth to the whole world. As a conscientious writer, she felt a duty to reveal facts and correct lies. As a sensitive woman, she couldn't shake off the haunting images of the atrocities by the Japanese soldiers. She also felt so immersed in the grievances of the Chinese that justice can’t be done. She was very much depressed, couldn’t sleep and relied heavily on pills. And in the end, she picked up a pistol.

Iris Chang with her books. /CCTV Photo

Iris Chang with her books. /CCTV Photo

So, did she kill herself? Or was she killed by the horrific scenes of atrocities by Japanese troops? Was she killed by the threats and harassment of right-wing Japanese? Was she killed by the covering up and denials? Was she killed by the injustices? Was she even killed by the indifference of many people? I have to say that Iris was one of the last victims of the Nanjing Massacre and if justice is not done, more people will suffer from the agonies and pains.

In his eulogy, reporter Richard Rongstad said, "Iris Chang lit a flame and passed it to others and we should not allow that flame to be extinguished."

The fascist history of Japan (part 3): Nanjing Massacre

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — The fascist history of Japan (part 3): Nanjing Massacre

The fascist history of Japan (part 3): Nanjing Massacre

Article 5 of 29

Amy Yang

Originally published at https://amyyyang00.substack.com/p/the-fascist-history-of-japan-part-c6c

Publication Date: July 23, 2026

Every country in the Third World carries a specific, painful memory of having been bullied, oppressed, occupied, and slaughtered by the imperialist West (including Japan). Therefore, we—the people of the Third World—upon learning of the more than seven centuries settler-colonialism in Palestine and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, will without any hesitation support the Palestinian people's armed struggle; we can deeply relate to the suffering of the Palestinian siblings and understand that armed resistance is the only solution to colonialism and imperialism.

For us Chinese people specifically, the ongoing settler crimes in Palestine— especially in Gaza—remind us vividly of the fascist crimes committed by imperialist Japan against the Chinese, Koreans, and the Ryukyu people. When we see children in Gaza burned to death and Palestinian prisoners raped and tortured by these Zio.nist swine, we see before us how our ancestors were mercilessly slaughtered by fascist Japanese dogs. When we witness the Axis of Resistance waging guerrilla warfare against the Zionist army and the American empire, we see before us how the Eighth Route Army (八路军) defeated the modernly equipped fascist Japanese army using simple rifles and millet.

For the entire Third World, Palestine is our shared wound, liberation is our common mission, and remembrance is our collective responsibility. Therefore, until all Zionist states have been crushed and imperialism has been completely dismantled, we should—and will—never forget or forgive the fascist crimes committed by the imperialist West and all Zionist states.

This week, the series "the fascist history of Japan" will focus on one of the darkest chapters in Chinese history: the Nanjing Massacre committed by imperialist Japan. I hope this series will help comrades outside Southeast Asia learn more about Japanese fascism, which hides behind the "kawaii" facade of J-pop.

The Nanjing Massacre – A History That Must Not Be Forgotten

南京大屠杀——不容忘却的历史

By Liu Yani, Gao Jing (刘亚妮、高晶)

On December 13, 1937, the invading Japanese army captured Nanjing and committed atrocities in Nanjing and its surrounding areas, resulting in the deaths of at least 300,000 Chinese people, the rape of countless women, and incalculable property damage. The Japanese also imposed a news blackout, turning the once prosperous ancient capital of six dynasties into an inescapable hell on earth. After World War II, despite overwhelming evidence and the tearful testimonies of survivors, Japan continued to deny its crimes, fabricate history, and refuse to acknowledge its guilt. To this day, influenced by international political circumstances and other factors, research and dissemination of the Nanjing Massacre's historical facts are far less extensive than those concerning the Nazi Germany's Holocaust, and international awareness of the Nanjing Massacre is also far less than that of the Nazi Germany's Holocaust.

The Nanjing Massacre

The Nanjing Massacre is one of the "three major atrocities" of World War II. Eleven Japanese military units participated in the Nanjing Massacre, including the Central China Area Army under Matsui Iwane, the Shanghai Expeditionary Army under Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, the 16th Division under Nakajima Kesago, the 6th Division under Tani Hisao, and the 10th Army under Yanagawa Heisuke. Tragically, many of them did not face historical judgment or pay the price for their crimes, but instead lived out their later years peacefully, died of old age, or were even enshrined at the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan.

For many years, Japanese right-wing forces have used every means to deny the Nanjing Massacre, destroying relevant evidence and threatening and bribing witnesses. However, the reality of the Nanjing Massacre is undeniable. Historical records show the dramatic decrease in Nanjing's population; the bodies of Chinese people were arbitrarily piled up, intentionally buried, burned, or thrown into the Yangtze River; survivor accounts after the massacre; diaries and photographs written by foreigners who witnessed the massacre; and testimonies from some of them at the Tokyo and Nanjing Trials. This evidence powerfully refutes the flawed lies fabricated by those with ulterior motives both domestically and internationally to deny the Nanjing Massacre's existence. It declares to the international community that the Nanjing Massacre is an indisputable fact, and that the Japanese army committed unforgivable crimes against the Chinese people in Nanjing during its invasion of China, making the Nanjing Massacre a part of the national and international memory.

The Crimes Committed by the Japanese Army in the Nanjing Massacre

The crimes against humanity committed by the invading Japanese army in Nanjing are countless.

Inhumane slaughter

After the Japanese captured Nanjing, Prince Asaka Yasuhiko's command issued an order to kill all prisoners of war. The initial plan was to divide the Chinese prisoners into small groups and execute them one by one by firing squad. Besides eliminating any possibility of resistance or retaliation, another reason for the massacre was the Japanese army's inability to provide food for the prisoners. Later, the Japanese mostly divided the prisoners into larger groups, took them to nearby villages or riverbanks, machine-gunned them, stabbed the bodies, and buried them. When there was no large enough land for burial, the bodies were burned or thrown into the Yangtze River.

In addition to massacring prisoners of war, Japanese soldiers also carried out inhumane killings of defenseless civilians. The Japanese army murdered Chinese civilians in every corner of Nanjing and its surrounding areas, shooting the elderly, women, and children at any time and place, and arbitrarily firing on any man they suspected of having served in the military.

The atrocities committed by the Japanese army deeply terrified even some of the accompanying journalists. Today, figures such as Izayoshi Masaoka, Omata Yukio, Kono Koki, and Sasaki Motomasa have all documented these horrific acts. Omata Yukio, who witnessed firsthand the Japanese army's treatment of prisoners of war, wrote: "The first rank was beheaded, and the second rank was forced to throw these headless corpses into the river, and then they themselves were beheaded. The massacre continued from morning until night, but the Japanese army only killed 2,000 people in this way. The next day, they grew tired of this method of killing and set up machine guns." In Nanjing at that time, dying instantly from gunshot wounds was considered lucky for most; many endured inhuman torture before death. The Japanese army would bury prisoners of war half-alive and then release dogs to tear them apart and trample them, or run them over with tanks; they would tie up prisoners of war and civilians, piercing their bodies with countless small holes; they would drive civilians to rooftops and set them on fire, watching them struggle between burning to death and falling to their deaths; they would force Chinese people into frozen ponds and watch them freeze to death.

Sexual crimes

The Japanese army also engaged in wanton sexual assault against women. War correspondent Yukio Omata wrote, "There were almost no soldiers who didn't rape." Women faced constant danger of being assaulted, possibly by Japanese soldiers breaking into their homes and raping them in front of their families, in the street, or even in churches, temples, and safety zones. Japanese soldiers forced women over 70 to perform sexual acts, many of whom were raped to death; they sexually assaulted children under 10, wantonly mutilating their bodies; they raped pregnant women or women who had just given birth, even cutting open their abdomens. Besides women, Chinese men also faced the possibility of sexual assault, or being forced to perform sexual acts for the amusement of the Japanese soldiers. If they refused or resisted, they would not hesitate to kill those who disobeyed. The Japanese even forced men to commit incest.

The sexual assaults on women by the Japanese army were not stopped or punished by high-ranking officers and the Supreme Commander. On the contrary, in response to public opinion and protests in China and internationally regarding the sexual assaults, the Japanese Supreme Command established a large-scale official underground military prostitution system. In 1938, the first official comfort station of the Japanese army in China was established in Nanjing. In the comfort stations, the Japanese army referred to these women as "public toilets." Some of them committed suicide because they could not bear the humiliation, some were gang-raped to death, some died of illness, and some were killed arbitrarily by the Japanese army. The women who were lucky enough to survive were plagued by diseases and suffered from psychological trauma. They spent the rest of their lives in physical and mental torment, suffering undeserved calamities and bearing their pain alone. They were severely violated and never received an apology or compensation.

Looting and destruction

Chris Kroger recorded in his diary that Japanese soldiers broke into a house, raped women, and stole a bicycle, bedding, and other belongings. In a letter to a colleague, he mentioned that after the fall of Nanjing, the Japanese army carried out a near-total looting and destruction of Nanjing and its surrounding areas. Almost all houses, including residences of Europeans and Americans, embassies of various countries in Nanjing, hospitals, churches, etc., were brutally looted by the Japanese army. His own residence was also looted when he left; his car, camera, and tires were stolen. He also mentioned in the letter that after the looting, the Japanese army systematically burned Nanjing; by December 20th, they had burned down one-third of the ancient city.

In his report, "A German Eyewitness Account of the Events in Nanjing from December 8, 1937 to January 13, 1938," he mentioned that due to their rapid advance, the Japanese army failed to receive sufficient supplies in time. Therefore, they looted food, clothing, and everything else they could from refugees, even targeting impoverished villages near Nanjing. Approximately 80% of the shops were looted and then burned down.

The Significance of Studying and Disseminating the Historical Facts of the Nanjing Massacre

Forgetting history is a betrayal of history; denying crimes is a repeat of crimes. The study and dissemination of the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre by later generations has significant historical importance.

Respecting history, comforting the souls of the dead, consoled the survivors, and preventing a second tragedy of "massacre" from occurring are our common responsibilities. Although both were large-scale massacres during World War II, committed by fascists as inhumane crimes, the Nanjing Massacre's historical memory, dissemination, and research on the international stage are not as widespread as the Nazi Germany's Holocaust.

There are many reasons for this. For example, Japan's strict blockade of Nanjing and its disinformation campaigns both domestically and internationally; the actions taken by the United States, Germany, and other countries, influenced by the global situation and their policies towards Japan, to downplay the Nanjing Massacre in domestic and international cultural memory; and restrictions on domestic research and dissemination of information about the Nanjing Massacre.

However, as Iris Chang stated, forgetting the Nanjing Massacre, forgetting the most inhumane torture and slaughter inflicted on innocent civilians and surrendered soldiers by the Japanese army during the invasion of China, especially the horrific crimes committed against ordinary women and children, is a disrespect for history and a second massacre of those who died and suffered in the massacre.

This statement refutes the absurd claims denying the existence of the Nanjing Massacre and warns against the revival of militarism. During the Nanjing Massacre, in order to maintain its domestic and international image, the Japanese government and military deliberately presented photos of Japanese soldiers distributing food, clothing, and other necessities to Nanjing citizens to cover up the true atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Nanjing.

The international community and the vast majority of Japanese citizens only learned of this tragedy after the Tokyo and Nanjing trials. Due to a lack of related publicity and reporting, most people found it hard to believe. The international community, especially ordinary Japanese citizens, questioned the authenticity of the Nanjing Massacre, and some Japanese even found it unacceptable, believing it to be a fabrication of history by China and a smear campaign against Japan, severely damaging the positive image of the Japanese military and hurting their national feelings. Japanese right-wing forces have consistently and vehemently denied the historical fact of the Nanjing Massacre. In 1982, the textbook controversy occurred in Japan, prompting Nanjing to begin work on "building a museum, erecting a monument, and compiling history" to expose the shameless actions of Japanese right-wing forces.

The Nanjing Massacre is a national tragedy, a calamity, and a historical lament that the Chinese people can never, dare not, and will never forget. Forgetting the Nanjing Massacre is a disregard for history, an injury to the feelings of the Chinese people, and a catalyst for the revival and promotion of militarism and fascism.

Opposing historical nihilism and ensuring the international community's widespread understanding of the Nanjing Massacre is crucial. Unlike domestic dissemination, the international dissemination of the Nanjing Massacre is constantly influenced by the international political situation. At the time of the Nanjing Massacre, John Rabe, then the Siemens agent in Nanjing, along with American missionaries John Magee and Minnie Vautrin, and the Dane Bernhard Arp Sindberg, chose to remain in Nanjing and established the International Safety Zone. It is estimated that this safety zone, less than 4 square kilometers, saved the lives of over 250,000 Chinese people.

After returning home, he wrote to Hitler to report the specific situation, condemn the actions of the Japanese army, and hoped that Hitler could negotiate with the Japanese Emperor to stop the Japanese army from continuing to kill innocent civilians in Nanjing. Due to political considerations related to the German-Japanese alliance, Rabe's report was not made public, and the German authorities prohibited him from publishing any information about the Nanjing Massacre, and confiscated his diary and the film reels taken by John Magee.

During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Western capitalist countries, driven by strategic considerations to counter the socialist bloc, intended to heavily support Japan in East Asia to contain China and the Soviet Union. To ensure Japan's loyalty as a partner in its Asian strategy, the US government remained silent on the atrocities committed by the Japanese army and strictly prohibited their dissemination, leaving the general American public largely ignorant of the Nanjing Massacre. Simultaneously, in the world's eyes, the Nanjing Massacre was tainted by political bias, portrayed as a fabricated history by China to oppose the capitalist bloc's support for Japan. The global political situation severely hampered the international dissemination of the cultural memory of the Nanjing Massacre, objectifying it as a political tool rather than a genuine historical event.

After the Cold War, the trend of "depoliticization" in international historical research intensified, leading to significant progress in the international dissemination of the cultural memory of the Nanjing Massacre. Historical materials and archives related to the Nanjing Massacre were extensively researched and widely disseminated internationally. In 1997, the book “The Rape of Nanjing: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II” was published in the United States, sparking widespread discussion. In 2015, the "Nanjing Massacre Archives" were inscribed on the Memory of the World Register, marking a new historical height in international understanding of the Nanjing Massacre and the international dissemination of its cultural memory.

In 2019, Zeng Jiahe and She Zhuangshu conducted a questionnaire survey on the public's understanding of the Nanjing Massacre. The results showed that international public awareness of the Nanjing Massacre was far lower than that of the Holocaust, and many hoped that the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre could be disseminated more widely and deeply internationally. It is gratifying that, after understanding the true historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre, the vast majority of people are able to transcend race and nationality and reflect on and characterize the Nanjing Massacre from the perspective of a shared future for mankind.

Learning from history to inspire the present, we strive to build a modern socialist country. "Backwardness invites aggression"—the Chinese people experienced this firsthand, through blood and tears, in modern times. The Nanjing Massacre is but a drop in the ocean of suffering in the history of the Chinese people in modern times. Almost constantly, the Chinese people faced or endured such pain: foreign invasion, warlord conflicts, bureaucratic oppression, and the inability to protect their property and lives, their dignity trampled upon.

The painful lessons and the annual siren blaring on the anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre serve as a constant reminder: backwardness invites aggression; progress must be relentless. Studying the large-scale massacres committed by Japan in Nanjing during the Japanese invasion of China is not intended to incite anti-Japanese or belligerent sentiment, but rather to ensure that the Chinese people remember this historical tragedy that occurred on Chinese soil, never forgetting the pain and humiliation suffered by the Chinese people in modern times, and transforming it into a driving force for the youth of China today to strive forward.

An Attitude Towards Researching and Disseminating the Historical Facts of the Nanjing Massacre

Revisiting the trauma of history is to ensure that the Chinese people never forget the suffering their compatriots endured and the humiliation their nation suffered. Only when the motherland is strong and prosperous can the safety of the people be guaranteed, and only then can the people have a strong backing.

We need to seek truth from facts and respect the reality. Researching and disseminating the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre must first and foremost adhere to Marxist historical materialism, respect history, and seek truth from facts. History can not be dressed up at will; historical research must be based on historical facts. At all times, the study of historical issues must adhere to a scientific attitude, respect objective historical facts, and start from historical materials to study and explore the original development of events, thereby grasping the essence of historical events.

Moreover, researching and disseminating the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre requires continuously uncovering new cultural relics and historical materials to further fill the gaps in our cultural memory of the Nanjing Massacre. In 2022, the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders publicly released a batch of newly acquired cultural relics and historical materials. Among them, Jun Arai's "Diary from the Battlefield" is the author's original diary manuscript, detailing the specific time and operation methods of the "comfort stations" established by the Japanese army in Nanjing.

This is a powerful rebuttal to the Japanese government's long-standing denial of ever implementing the "comfort women" system and its shameless act of recruiting women from China, South Korea, and North Korea into "comfort women" through various means. In the same year, Huang Jing of Nanjing University discovered the manuscript of Wu Yanqiu's memoir, "Refugee Memoirs," a survivor of the Nanjing Massacre, adding new first-hand historical evidence to the research on the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre and providing many valuable details to help reconstruct the historical tragedy of the Nanjing Massacre.

Currently, both domestic and international research on the Nanjing Massacre and rebuttals of the denials made by Japanese right-wing forces are primarily based on firsthand archival materials, such as diaries of Chinese victims, memoirs and oral histories of survivors, diaries, memoirs and oral histories of Japanese soldiers who invaded China, as well as diaries, videos, and photographs taken by foreign friends at the time. This approach grounds research and dissemination in authentic historical facts, adhering to a pragmatic and respectful approach to history.

A dichotomy is employed, analyzing specific issues in specific contexts. Mao Zedong, in "On Protracted War," first proposed a rational distinction between the Japanese rulers and the Japanese people. Gao Xingzu, in the opening of "The Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Imperialism," also emphasized that "we have consistently followed the Party Central Committee's policy of strictly distinguishing between a small handful of militarists and the vast majority of the Japanese people." He believed that the Nanjing Massacre was an atrocity committed by Japanese militarists, including a large number of Japanese officers and soldiers, and had nothing to do with the vast majority of the Japanese people. The war brought immense suffering to the Chinese people, and it also caused immense suffering to ordinary Japanese citizens.

Besides strictly distinguishing between the Japanese military, government, and the general public, it's also crucial to view the Nanjing Massacre victims, the vast majority of Chinese people, and the ruling class of landlords and compradors headed by Chiang Kai-shek dialectically.

The Chiang Kai-shek group had promised the Chinese people and the world to defend Nanjing to the death and never withdraw their troops. Tang Shengzhi also promised the troops and the people of Nanjing to live and die together. However, on the eve of the fall of Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Tang Shengzhi and other high-ranking Kuomintang generals in Nanjing to evacuate by water, abandoning the city and fleeing. At the same time, it's also essential to view the governments and ordinary people of Western capitalist countries dialectically.

Just as we will not forget the atrocities committed by Japanese fascism in Nanjing, we will also not forget the noble actions of foreign friends like Rabe, Magee, and Minnie Vautrin who risked their lives to protect Chinese refugees in Nanjing. They were not Chinese, but in Nanjing at that time, they protected and saved more than 200,000 Chinese refugees.

It's also important to balance the love for one's country with the love for peace. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, every generation of Chinese sons and daughters has devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the great leap forward of the motherland from standing up to becoming strong, and from becoming strong to becoming prosperous. The motherland, in turn, has protected every Chinese son and daughter with its increasingly strong and resolute arms. Chinese sons and daughters must remember the experiences and lessons of history and, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, strive tirelessly for a prosperous, democratic, civilized, harmonious, and beautiful socialist modern country.

Studying and disseminating the historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre is to fill the gap in international cultural memory of the Nanjing Massacre, refute denials of the Nanjing Massacre, awaken humanity's fear, disgust, and vigilance towards such atrocities, prevent the recurrence of such atrocities, prevent humanity from being dragged back into the abyss of racial antagonism and massacre, extinguish the seeds of the revival of militarism and fascism in their infancy, safeguard lasting world peace and good order, and solidify the consciousness of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Conclusion

The Nanjing Massacre is a historical memory that every Chinese son and daughter and all peace-loving people must never forget. It left a bloody mark on modern Chinese history and the history of World War II with the deaths of over 300,000 innocent lives. However, due to various factors, it was once forgotten in the international arena. This was undoubtedly a second "massacre" of the innocent victims who perished in the massacre and the survivors who suffered lifelong psychological and physical trauma. Therefore, research on the Nanjing Massacre should be valued, and efforts to disseminate the facts of the Nanjing Massacre internationally are urgently needed.

Nanjing Massacre in the Eyes of Germans

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Nanjing Massacre in the Eyes of Germans

Nanjing Massacre in the Eyes of Germans

Article 6 of 29

The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders

Originally published at https://www.19371213.com.cn/en/information/news/hotnews/202311/t20231113_4096579.html

Publication Date: December 26, 2022

The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Germany diplomatic relations. Go back 85 years in history, a group of Germans fostered deep bonds with Chinese people.

They observed, recounted and analyzed the Nanjing Massacre as a third party. They not only tried their best to save Chinese refugees, but also recorded the suffering of Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in a detailed and accurate manner. Their records provided evidence of the crimes of the Japanese army in Nanjing, including slaughter, rape, looting, and arson.

They were John Rabe, Karl Guenther, George Rosen, Paul Scharffenberg, Christian Jakob Kröger, Eduard Sperling, and Oskar Paul Trautmann. Today, let’s revisit their stories.

Rabe, director of Siemens Nanjing Office and chairman of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone

Of the German we have known so far, Rabe produced the most detailed accounts of the Nanjing Massacre. Almost every type of crimes committed by the Japanese army could be found in The Diaries of John Rabe.

The Nanking Safety Zone led by Rabe saved the lives of more than 250,000 Chinese refugees, including over 600 refugees sheltered in his residence at No. 1 Xiaofenqiao on Guangzhou Road. He was hailed as “a living Buddha” by the refugees.

However, Rabe suffered from physical and mental exhaustion as he witnessed endless miseries and finally decided to leave Nanjing. Before he left, thousands of women surrounded his car, crying for losing his protection.

On May 2, 1938, the 17th day Rabe returned to Germany, he projected US priest John Magee’s visual video about the Nanjing Massacre. He also delivered four speeches about the massacre.

During a speech delivered at the Koerber Foundation in Berlin, Germany in March 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Rabe and said “we in China cherish the memory of Mr. Rabe as a man who demonstrated great compassion for life and love of peace.”

Guenther, German engineer

In 1937, Jiangnan Cement Factory, Asia’s largest cement factory, was completed in the northeastern suburb of Nanjing and started operation. That coincided with the Japanese invasion of Nanjing. Unwilling to let it fall into the hands of the Japanese army, the Board of Directors of the factory urgently hired German engineer Dr Guenther from Tangshan in Hebei to prevent occupation by the Japanese.

After the city was captured, Guenther, along with a Danish colleague Bernhard Arp Sindberg, stood together with Chinese people in the eastern suburb of Nanjing. The cement plant sheltered more than 20,000 refugees from nearby areas, many of whom fled from Qixia Temple because the refugee camps there were constantly harassed and attacked by the Japanese soldiers.

Besides, Guenther stopped the Japanese army from forcibly demolishing facilities in the cement factory and worked to safeguard its security to prepare for the resumption of production.

After the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Guenther continued to work at the factory as an engineer and didn’t return to Germany until the factory produced cement after the People’s Republic of China was founded.

Rosen, secretary of German Embassy in China Nanjing Office

Before the Japanese troops reached the city of Nanjing, Rosen was invited to board a British ship near Nanjing, which offered him a chance to keep himself away from the atrocities taking place in the city. However, Rosen and some British officials were refused when they wanted to return to the city. “The real reason was that Japan does not want us to see the deplorable scene of rape, burning, killing, and looting that the completely unbridled Japanese army has unleashed on the civilians of Nanjing.”

On January 9, 1938, the German embassy’s office in Nanjing reopened. In the first official report to the German Federal Foreign Office, Rosen mentioned that the Japanese troops began clearing away corpses immediately after some diplomats said they would return to Nanjing. But such a slaughter that had no parallel in modern history of the world was so large in scale and long in duration that they could not completely destroy the evidence of their crimes. “This arson, organized by the Japanese military, is still going on to this day — a good month after the Japanese occupied the city — as is the abduction and rape of women and girls. In this respect, the Japanese army has erected a monument to its own shameful conduct,” Rosen said.

After seizing Nanjing, the Japanese frankly told some “secrets” to westerners in Nanjing. Rosen, who knew those “secrets”, wrote them into the report to the German Federal Foreign Office.

Rosen recorded the process of the Nanjing Massacre with the same rigor as Rabe. For example, he once inspected the place which occurred in the video of John Magee.

Paul Scharffenberg, office administrator of German Embassy in China Nanjing Office

Scharffenberg did no less than Rosen to expose the atrocities of the Japanese army.

On February 15, 1938, after persistent requests against Japanese military restrictions, Scharffenberg was finally allowed to enter the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum area. He was shocked by what he saw along the way. “We got as far as the swimming pool. The lovely willows along the road near the pagoda have all been chopped down and almost all the villas have been burned down. We could not walk in the area because there were still too many corpses, blackened and partially eaten by dogs.” And, the city of Nanjing littered with bodies faced serious public health problems. “The weather is very changeable at present. When it’s as warm as it is today, you can’t go out on the streets for the stench of corpses.”

Lots of evidence of the massacre could be found even in the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum area where access was allowed. This obviously didn’t satisfy the Japanese troops which wanted to leave a good impression on foreigners.

On March 4, 1938, Scharffenberg reported to German Ambassador to China Trautmann: “They are now hard at work removing bodies from the center of the city. The Red Swastika Society has been given permission to bury the 30,000 bodies in Hsiakwan. They manage 600 a day. The bodies are wrapped in lime and straw mats, with only the legs hanging out, then driven back into the city and buried in mass graves also filled with lime. It’s said that circa 10,000 have been dealt with.”

Christian Jakob Kröger, treasurer of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone

On December 28, 1937, at the climax of the massacre, Kröger drove to Qixia Mountain to investigate the atrocities of the Japanese army, finding that Japanese soldiers “indiscriminately killed all farmers including women and children with guns in the field”, but he admitted he “had to courage to be a hero”.

Kröger’s car was looted by Japanese soldiers, and his servant was threatened with bayonet to open the door and hand over everything to them. More seriously, three corpses were put at his door for weeks. He saw and recorded the crimes committed by the Japanese soldiers, including robbery, murder, and rape.

Japanese right-wing forces often spread rumors that it was Chinese soldiers who burned Nanjing to the ground. In fact, Kröger witnessed their act according to his testimony in late January 1938:

 “Since December 20, 1937, the Japanese began to systematically burn down the city and thus far have been so successful that about one third of the city has been burned down, especially the South City, the main business district, as well as individual commercial buildings and residential districts near our house. The burning has diminished somewhat now, that is, at present they are burning down only a few houses that were previously overlooked or otherwise missed. Before burning, all the houses were plundered completely by organized squads with trucks.”

Eduard Sperling, an employee at Shanghai Insurance Company and inspector-general of the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone

As the inspector-general of the Safety Zone, Sperling inspected one place after another to chase away the Japanese soldiers and protect Chinese refugees. His colleagues in the International Committee for the Nanking Safety Zone called him “a fortress of the committee”.

Sperling was in charge of 650 Chinese police officers in the safety zone. He said he had “esteem and respect for the Chinese race, who, as I have often seen, is willing to endure their suffering and sorrow without complaint or grumbling.”

In such an unbearable situation, Sperling was one of the few foreigners who always kept his spirits up. “In well over 80 cases, I was called by Chinese civilians to drive off Japanese soldiers who had forced their way into houses inside the Safety Zone and were violating women and young girls in the most dreadful manner. I did so without any serious difficulties,” he said proudly.

But the Japanese army would not stop their atrocities because the hard work of Sperling. Even in March 1938, violence hard to imagine was still continuing. Facing the situation, Sperling tried his best to save Chinese civilians.

Oskar Paul Trautmann, German ambassador to China

Most reports made by Germans were forwarded by Trautmann. In addition to spreading appalling news to the German government and the world, he also recorded the Japanese army’s crimes including looting and massacre during the Nanjing Massacre.

At the same time, Trautmann noticed the effects of the Nanjing Massacre on the Chinese people. “China has awoken. The Japanese army has caused hitherto undiscovered patriotism long buried in the hearts of the Chinese people to sprout. All attempts by the Japanese to establish an independent government produce only an image that they can persist only at the tip of Japanese bayonets.”

This observation was echoed by an American observer, who wrote the following in an article, “The defiance in the faces of these Chinese, led away on that last death march, is the greatest proof I could offer that China is at last a nation as we ‘patriotic’ westerners understand the word.”

Of course, as the ambassador, Trautmann focused on analyzing the far-reaching impacts of China-Japan conflicts on international relations in the Far East and how Germany should cope with them.

These Germans risked their lives to save Chinese refugees in different ways. We will never forget their humanitarian spirit and brave and righteous acts.

Black Dragon Society: Japan’s Secret Imperialist Clique

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Black Dragon Society: Japan’s Secret Imperialist Clique

Black Dragon Society: Japan’s Secret Imperialist Clique

Article 7 of 29

https://unseen-japan.com/

By Alyssa Pearl Fusek

Originally published at https://unseen-japan.com/black-dragon-society/

Publication Date: August 5, 2020

Secret societies are often relegated to the world of conspiracy theories and comic books. But they do exist, albeit not as secretly as you’d think. And Japan’s Black Dragon Society is an excellent example of this phenomenon.

By the end of the 19th century, a surge of right-wing nationalist secret societies began to appear in Japan. The country had emerged as a dominant modern power. As a result, many of these societies wanted the government to go a step further. They wanted Japan to expand territorial assets overseas, notably China and Korea.

The Kokuryukai (黒龍会; Amur River Society, also sometimes translated as Black Dragon Society) remains one of the most well-known of these groups.

Black Dragon Society members were fervent employers of Pan-Asianist rhetoric. They professed a belief in “the unity of all Asian peoples”. But this was more of a cover for Japanese imperialist leanings. The group formed initially in response to Russia’s overtures into Manchuria. But soon, the Kokuryukai inserted themselves into military and political situations – both overseas and at home.

Black Dragon Society: Ideological Roots in the Genyosha

Before exploring the Kokuryukai, it’s pertinent to briefly look into the Genyosha (玄洋社; Dark Ocean Society).

Formed in 1881 by Fukuoka-born “Emperor of the Slums” Toyama Mitsuru (頭山満), the Genyosha mostly attracted gangsters and former samurai. They weren’t afraid to employ various intimidation techniques — often violent — to exert influence. Their clientele included manufacturing and mining companies, government officials, and organized crime families.

The Genyosha zealously endorsed Japanese expansionism. To further their agenda, they deployed agents in Korea, China, and Manchuria. These agents would stir up pro-Japanese sentiments and survey possible enemy positions.

In 1895, a group of Genyosha agents infiltrated Korea’s Imperial Palace. They carried out the murder Empress Myeongseong, long considered an impediment to Japanese expansionism. In 1898, Genyosha members attempted to assassinate foreign minister Okuma Shigenobu. He lost a leg as a result of a bomb blast.

The 1900 Boxer Rebellion soured straining relations between Japan and Russia, threatening Japan’s interests in Manchuria and Korea. Enter “continental adventurer” (大陸浪人; tairiku ronin) and Genyosha disciple Uchida Ryohei (内田良平).

Uchida suspected Japan and Russia would soon be at war. With the Genyosha’s support, he formed the Kokuryukai to combat the Russian threat. He identified the Amur River, Manchuria’s northern boundary, as the point of no return for Russia. Any movement past that boundary would spell war.

Uchida Ryohei and the Birth of the Kokuryukai

Uchida was born in 1873, just a scant five years after the Meiji Restoration.

Like Toyama, Uchida hailed from Fukuoka, the closest city to the Asian mainland. Its proximity made it a hotbed for nationalist and militaristic discourse. His father was famed jojutsu master Uchida Ryogoro (内田良五郎). As a result, Uchida grew up dabbling in various martial arts, including kendo, judo, and sumo. Uchida’s uncle Hiroaka Kotaro (平岡浩太郎) was a co-founder of the Genyosha and the owner of a successful coal mining business.

Uchida became involved with the Genyosha sometime in the 1890s, joining the offshoot Tenyukyo (天佑侠; “Heavenly Blessed Heroes”). He traveled to Korea in 1894 to assist the peasants in the Donghak Rebellion. After studying Russian at Toyogo University, he traveled to Siberia in 1895. There, he opened a judo school in Vladivostok that conveniently served as a front for more covert activities. He also paid a visit to St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1897.

In 1901, Uchida formed the Kokuryukai in Tokyo along with 59 other men, including future “Taisho Democracy” figurehead Inukai Tsuyoshi (犬養毅) and prominent people’s rights activist Oi Kentarou (大井憲太郎). Toyama was involved as well, though to what extent remains under debate. Some scholars depict Toyama as either fully involved in the Kokuryukai or only vaguely cognizant of Kokuryukai activity. While Toyama did maintain ties with the Kokuryukai, Uchida was the undisputed leader and instigator behind many Kokuryukai plots.

Black Dragon Society’s Influence on Foreign Policy

The majority of the members hailed from Kyushu, but the Kokuryukai made a point of recruiting nationwide. The organization boasted close to 1000 members by the 1910s. It operated a cohesive network that included politicians, diplomats, businessmen, and other secret societies – both domestic and foreign.

Most of their funding came from affluent businessmen and industrial companies. Hiraoka Kotaro frequently sent funds from his own company to the Kokuryukai.

Many members prided themselves on operating outside the murky world of politics. Without strong political power within, however, the Kokuryukai relied on various propaganda to influence public and political opinions. Uchida wrote various memoranda for bureaucrats and high-ranking military personnel.

He paid personal visits when he believed he needed to make a stronger impression to drive his point across. The group also published a variety of journals.

But dissemination wasn’t without its challenges. The government banned Kokuryukai’s first effort Kaiho (会報; Bulletin) due to its stance on expansionism (despite many politicians sharing those same Pan-Asianist sentiments). A point was made to distribute the journals in other languages, including classical Chinese and English.

Preparing for the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

In its infancy, the Kokuryukai had two main goals. The first: prepare for war with Russia. The second: sway public opinion in favor of this preventative war.

Many of the members supplied maps and possible enemy outposts based on their own experiences on the continent. Uchida, realizing the importance of understanding the enemy’s language, opened a school for Russian and Chinese.

Japan’s military lacked the internal resources for espionage and overseas reconnaissance. It often relied on the Kokuryukai for help gathering intelligence on Russia. The Kokuryukai even went as far as to purchase two islands off the Korean peninsula on the slight chance battle ensued in northern Korea. The fighting ended up taking place in Manchuria, reducing the islands to husks.

As mentioned earlier, the Kokuryukai’s Kaiho was discontinued due to government pressure. But they soon began printing its successor, Kokuryu (黒龍). Despite its small circulation, the government also banned this journal for its vehement anti-Russian stance. In 1901, Uchida wrote Demise of Russia, which implied that Japan would struggle to recover lost ground if it waited for Russia to make the first move.

Unsurprisingly, he was forced to cease publication. But a couple of months later, he released a more palatable version titled Discourse on Russia.

Not all of their publications faced opposition. The group also published a two-volume biography on renowned samurai Saigo Takamori (西鄕 隆盛), who Pan-Asianists long revered. They produced materials tailored for army officials and diplomats, such as A Guide to Conquering Russia and Kokuryukai’s New Map of Manchuria and Korea. During the Russo-Japanese War, Kokuryukai members frequently took on translation and interpretation jobs for the Imperial Army. Their expertise and experiences abroad proved crucial for military intelligence; how influential, however, is still up for debate.

Handling the “Korea Problem”

Japan eventually forced Russia to forego any plans to claim any territory in East Asia. Following the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the Kokuryukai turned their attention towards Korea. In 1907 Uchida co-sponsored the Iljinhoe, a pro-Japanese political party that believed a union with Japan would jumpstart Korea’s economy. Japan annexed Korea in 1910, but many Kokuryukai members were unhappy with the unequal treaty. They had hoped for a more balanced union between the two countries.

The problem was set aside in light of a new enemy: leftist political beliefs on the home front.

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Domestic Intervention and Attacking Taisho Democracy

The objectives of the Kokuryukai shifted to the domestic scene in the 1920s and 1930s. The Taisho democracy’s advocacy of a “cooperative foreign policy” (協調外交; kyocho gaiko) rankled the right-wing nationalists who believed Japan was destined for total leadership over all of Asia. The Kokuryukai began heavily relying on their print publications to spread their message. The inaugural issue of the group’s new venture Ajia Jiron (亜細亜持論) explicitly stated their Pan-Asianist views:

“The Japanese Empire, as the last [independent] representative of Asia, is the only one that can face and fight the West as the backbone of the Yellow race…. We need to formulate a comprehensive foreign policy…, implant the idea of Greater Asianism, the great achievement of the foundation of our country, in the minds of the people, and bring about a comprehensive solution to the East Asia problem….

Ajia Jiron 1:1, July 1917. Taken from Pan-Asianism: A Documentary History, 1850–1920

Some of the contributors included professors and retired military officers, including former Lieutenant-General Sato Kojiro (佐藤鋼次郎), a strong advocate of national mobilization. Many articles on East Asian affairs, however, carried a latent undertone of Japanese superiority over “inferior” China and Korea.

Political Rallies of the Black Dragon Society

Political rallies became another propaganda tactic. In 1918, the Kokuryukai hosted the “People’s Rally on China Policy” and called for the government to support Sun Yat-sen, a close confidant of the Kokuryukai. The rally reportedly attracted 30,000 attendees.

They also held the “Rally to Promote the Abolition of Racial Discrimination” to campaign for a racial non-discrimination measure in the League of Nations charter. When Japan failed to do this, the Kokuryukai formed the League for the Equality of Races to address the “America problem.” The 1924 US legislation banning Japanese and Chinese immigration led to more rallies, which were attended by Diet members, distinguished scholars, and other political activists.

Like the Genyosha, the Kokuryukai didn’t shy from using more violent tactics to get their message across. In 1919, members publicly humiliated the Osaka Asahi president by dragging him through the city streets before leaving him lashed to a lamppost. In 1925 Uchida himself was implicated in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sato Takaaki (加藤 高明), who earned the Kokuryukai’s distaste for his help in drafting a universal suffrage bill.

In the 1930s, the image of a black dragon found its way to the US when Kokuryukai agent Satokata Takahashi exacerbated pro-Japanese sentiments among male Black nationalists in Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit. Agitating abroad was nothing new for the Kokuryukai; they provided aid to anti-American Filipino Emilio Aguinaldo and China’s Sun Yat-sen. Unfortunately, despite their powerful connections, by the late 30s, the Kokuryukai was losing relevance, unable to keep up with the changing times.

The Forced Disbandment of the Black Dragon Society

Uchida’s death in 1937 is considered by many the beginning of the Kokuryukai’s growing obsolescence. During World War II, Western propaganda feverishly hyped the Black Dragon Society as a sinister, pervasive influence in Japan’s wartime decisions. Despite the vast inaccuracies, much of this sensationalism actually worked to promote future research into Kokuryukai history.

A 1942 article in the Milwaukee Sentinel highlighted Toyama as the “sinister, cynical and wholly inhuman old man” behind the Kokuryukai, even though Toyama never claimed to be the group’s leader. (This same article also claimed one of the Kokuryukai’s objectives was to kill Charlie Chaplin). The Kokuryukai also made its way into the comics world — in 1941, Fawcett Comics introduced the Black Dragon Society in Master Comics #21 as a pro-Emperor terrorist organization. The 1945 US propaganda film Know Your Enemy: Japan introduces the “dreaded” Kokuryukai with a graphic of the islands of Japan morphing into a black dragon, calling it a “secret gangster organization” peopled by “fanatics” and led by Toyama, “chief of Japan’s Murder Incorporated.”

Conclusion

The arrival of Occupation authorities spelled the end for Japan’s nationalist and right-wing organizations. Under the “Undesirable Organizations” decree, the Kokuryukai was forcibly disbanded. Attempts to resurrect the group in the following decade largely failed, but their long-lasting print campaign to paint themselves as the premier nationalist group was a success.

It’s difficult to quantify to an exact degree how influential the Kokuryukai were in major military decisions. However, no one can say they weren’t perseverant – or that they were easily forgettable.

Sources

Jacob, Frank. “Secret Societies in Japan and Preparation for the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)”, Diacronie, No. 28, 4, 2016.

Saaler, Sven. “The Kokuryukai (Black Dragon Society) and the Rise of Nationalism, Pan-Asianism, and Militarism in Japan, 1901–1925”, International Journal of Asian Studies, 11, 2 (2014), pp. 125–160.

Saaler, Sven & Szpilman, Christopher W. A. Pan-Asianism: A Documentary History, 1850–1920. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2011.

Historical contribution of main Eastern battlefield in World Anti-Fascist War

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Historical contribution of main Eastern battlefield in World Anti-Fascist War

Historical contribution of main Eastern battlefield in World Anti-Fascist War

Article 8 of 29

People's Daily Online

By Wu Minchao

Originally published at https://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0828/c90000-20358427.html

Publication Date: August 28, 2025

By Wu Minchao (People's Daily) 09:02, August 28, 2025

The year 1945 marked a great turning point in history. After 14 years of resistance in China, nine years in Ethiopia, six years in Britain, France, and other Western European countries, and four years in the Soviet Union, the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, the world finally secured victory in the World Anti-Fascist War.

Eighty years on, commemoration and reflection of this triumph must not only recall its historical significance, but also revisit the background in which the war began. Only through such analysis can we fully understand the profound sacrifices made by the forces of justice and draw lessons for safeguarding peace and development today.

The war had two epicenters: Europe and Asia. For English-speaking countries, the European story is more familiar. Yet in Asia, Japan was the engine of aggression, casting its long shadow over the region.

After the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century, Japan embarked on the path of external expansion. In 1894, it launched the First Sino-Japanese War, seizing Taiwan and the Penghu Islands. It later encroached upon China's northeastern territories and sovereignty through the Russo-Japanese War. In 1931, Japanese militarists brazenly staged the September 18 Incident, igniting the first flames of fascist aggression worldwide. China thus entered a phase of partial resistance, which also marked the opening of the World Anti-Fascist War.

In 1936, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, with Italy joining the following year. This convergence linked the Eastern and Western sources of conflict.

A year later, Japanese militarists deliberately provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident, unleashing a full-scale invasion of China. From that moment, the entire Chinese nation mobilized in total resistance, opening the main Eastern battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War.

From a global perspective, China was the first country to confront fascist aggression. While many nations, including the United States and the UK, were still pursuing policies of appeasement toward Germany, Italy, and Japan, China had already opened a large-scale anti-fascist front. By the time war broke out in Europe in 1939 and in the Pacific in 1941, China had already withstood Japanese militarism for eight and ten years, respectively.

Corresponding to the two epicenters of war were two main theaters: the European theater and the Asian theater. Japan's invasion of China was the defining feature of the Asian theater. The Chinese battlefield effectively thwarted Japan's strategy of a swift conquest and delayed its overall war of aggression in the Asia-Pacific. It was not only the main battlefield in Asia but also the main Eastern battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War - an indispensable pillar of ultimate victory.

Throughout that arduous war, the entire Chinese nation fought for survival, national rejuvenation, and the cause of justice for humanity, making immense sacrifices and tremendous contributions. Over 14 years of resistance, China suffered from more than 35 million military and civilian casualties, with direct and indirect economic losses exceeding $600 billion. Chinese forces tied down and fought the bulk of Japan's military strength, killing more than 1.5 million Japanese troops. At the same time, China's protracted resistance greatly depleted Japan's national power and resources, becoming a decisive factor in the eventual downfall of Japanese fascism.

The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was of global significance. It strategically coordinated and supported the Allies' strategic actions in Europe and the Pacific, while constraining Japan's strategic cooperation with German and Italian fascism.

By resisting the main forces of Japanese militarism for 14 years, China dragged Japan into a prolonged quagmire. This endurance thwarted Japan's "northward advance" against the Soviet Union, sparing the latter from a two-front war, and delayed Japan's "southward advance" into Southeast Asia, undermining its scheme to unite with Germany and Italy in pursuit of world domination.

Former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt acknowledged China's pivotal role, stating: "Without China - or if China had been defeated - countless additional Japanese divisions would have been deployed elsewhere. Japan could have seized Australia and India unimpeded, then advanced into the Middle East."

In January 1942, China, the United States, the UK, the Soviet Union, and 22 other anti-fascist countries jointly signed the Declaration by United Nations, marking the establishment of the international anti-fascist united front and laying an important foundation for final victory.

China's struggle was part of a global effort. Peace-loving nations provided vital support, including Soviet and American aviators who fought courageously in Chinese skies - many making heroic sacrifices. Anti-fascist fighters from North Korea, Vietnam, and even Japan joined the Chinese people in battle. Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune and Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis gave their lives treating the wounded. John Rabe of Germany and Bernhard Arp Sindberg of Denmark saved thousands of refugees during the Nanjing Massacre, recording and exposing Japanese atrocities. The noble character and sacrifice of these international friends, together with the Allies' decisive role in hastening the end of the war, will always be remembered by the Chinese people.

Seen from the perspective of the global fight against fascism, the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression holds an irreplaceable place in history.

More importantly, through this life-and-death battle between justice and evil, light and darkness, freedom and enslavement, China reestablished itself as a major country in the world. The Chinese people won the respect of all peace-loving nations, and the Chinese nation earned a noble reputation. It demonstrated China's unshakable determination to pursue independence, freedom, and liberation.

Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War belonged collectively to China and all the Allies. Today, as 80 years ago, China remains committed to working with all peace-loving nations and peoples to defend global peace, stability, and development.

(Wu Minchao is a special research fellow at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)

Keeping the spirit of war of resistance alive

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Keeping the spirit of war of resistance alive

Keeping the spirit of war of resistance alive

Article 9 of 29

China Daily

By Wang Yiwei

Originally published at https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202510/18/WS68f2e7d3a310f735438b5b71.html

Publication Date: October 18, 2025

'The peoples of China are at their most critical time, Everybody must roar his defiance." These words, immortalized in China's national anthem, capture not just a moment in history but a perennial truth about humanity's struggle against fascism and oppression. On the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War, the spirit of that defiance continues to shape the world order — and can still call us to action.

Chairman Mao Zedong reminded the world in 1939 that our enemy is a world enemy, and the war of resistance is a world war. Indeed, China was the first country to raise the banner of armed resistance against fascism. Its 14-year war of resistance was the longest in the World Anti-Fascist War and inflicted the heaviest losses on the Japanese army, which made China the main battlefield of the global war against fascism in the East.

The war was not only a national fight for survival but a valuable contribution to world peace. From the guerrilla campaigns that denied Japan control over China's heartland to the sacrifices of ordinary farmers who rescued US pilots, Chinese people sustained the fight that stopped the advance of fascist forces in Asia.

The significance of China's resistance extends beyond military triumph, because it challenged global inequality that had long subordinated the East to the West, and the countryside to the city.

British historian Rana Mitter has argued that the Chinese people's war of resistance overturned the bourgeois notion that the countryside must bow to the city. By defeating the Japanese forces, which claimed to represent "civilization" and treated China as a backward country, the Chinese people awakened the spirit of national self-reliance. And by preventing the colonization of the Chinese nation and civilization, the Chinese people ensured the continuity of the world's only unbroken cultural tradition.

In this sense, the war of resistance marked a turning point for China: from humiliation toward national rejuvenation, from backwardness toward modernization. The victory in the war of resistance was the first complete victory of the Chinese people against foreign invaders in modern times, reestablishing China as a major global power.

The global significance of this history lies in its enduring lessons. World War II was not just a contest between armies but an existential battle for humanity itself. Auschwitz and Nanjing are searing reminders of fascism's cruelty. Victory against fascism was achieved through solidarity — through John Rabe in Nanjing, through Norman Bethune on China's front lines — and the united front of peoples across nations and ideologies.

The world has once again reached a crossroads.

In today's age of interdependence, no country alone can secure peace. The only path forward is solidarity and mutual respect — what China calls building a community with a shared future for humanity.

The war of resistance embodied this idea long before the term existed. By linking national liberation with global survival, it demonstrated that the fate of nations is inseparable. It forged a spirit of sacrifice and resilience that continues to inspire people to resist imperialism, colonialism, and hegemony even today.

Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the victory in the war of resistance against Japanese aggression and World War II is not about nursing nostalgia, but about keeping the spirit of resistance against injustice and fascism alive. The rise of new forms of extremism, terrorism and xenophobia shows that the poison of fascism remains a threat. Hence, the world must once again use its strongest weapon — unity — against injustice.

As Marx and Engels noted, history becomes "world history" only when the destinies of nations interconnect. Our interconnected age demands that we move beyond cycles of dominance and conflict toward lasting peace and shared prosperity.

The cry of "world unity" that resounded in the 1940s must echo again — not as a distant memory but as a living mission. The victory of the Chinese people against fascism laid the foundation of China's modernization and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. More important, it left humanity a legacy: that by remaining united, people can defeat the darkest forces, and that only through cooperation can we safeguard civilization's future.

The author is deputy head of the Academy of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Renmin University of China.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

If you have a specific expertise, or would like to share your thought about our stories, then send us your writings at opinion@chinadaily.com.cn, and comment@chinadaily.com.cn.

‘Sanae Takaichi absolutely should apologize for her remarks’: Japanese peace activist

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — ‘Sanae Takaichi absolutely should apologize for her remarks’: Japanese peace activist

‘Sanae Takaichi absolutely should apologize for her remarks’: Japanese peace activist

Article 10 of 29

Global Times

By GT reporters Wang Wenwen and Xing Xiaojing

Originally published at https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202511/1349135.shtml

Publication Date: November 26, 2025

‘Sanae Takaichi absolutely should apologize for her remarks’: Japanese peace activist

People attend a protest in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, November 25, 2025. Photo: VCG

Editor's Note:

Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made erroneous remarks regarding the Taiwan region, the comments have sparked widespread public debate and continuous protests within Japan, with prominent politicians and experts voicing open opposition. Global Times (GT) reporters Wang Wenwen and Xing Xiaojing spoke with Yukiko Kaikita (Kaikita), president of the Kumamoto Chapter of the Women's Association for Peace and Against Military Expansion. Kaikita said that Takaichi's remarks constitute blatant interference in China's internal affairs, and that a large number of Japanese citizens hope she will retract her statements and issue an apology.

GT: Recently, Prime Minister Takaichi made erroneous remarks regarding a "survival-threatening situation" and the Taiwan question, implying the possibility of military intervention in the Taiwan Straits. As a peace activist, how do you view this statement?

Kaikita: I am genuinely outraged by her statement. Takaichi's remarks are nothing short of an open declaration of interference in China's internal affairs. For decades, the Japanese government has refrained from intervening in issues like this. Precisely because of that stance, the Japanese people have maintained friendly relations with the people of China. Most importantly, Japan's core commitment to the world is that we would never again wage war. When World War II ended in 1945, the Japanese people not only enshrined this principle in our constitution but also internalized, from the bottom of their hearts, the conviction that "we must never go to war again." This was the lived experience of my grandparents' generation. Yet, among Japanese politicians, that conviction gradually faded, as it was replaced by a complete tilt toward the US-Japan security framework. This shift fills us with deep anger. This is why today many Japanese are calling for the withdrawal of Takaichi's remarks. As a civic organization, we planned and held a large-scale rally on November 24 in Kumamoto, Japan where I live. Civic groups from across Japan participated, and we all shared the same concern.

GT: Looking back, no matter their political stance toward China, previous Japanese prime ministers have been extremely cautious regarding the Taiwan region, because it is clearly an internal matter for China. But Takaichi crossed this red line. Does it indicate that some Japanese politicians are trying to break through certain red lines?

Kaikita: On social media, we may see comments that appear to support her views. The sheer number of these fabricated comments makes it seem as if there is broad support for Takaichi. In reality, in our daily lives, we rarely hear ordinary citizens endorsing her remarks. For many people, she has clearly crossed a line - even among those who somewhat support Japan's increased defense spending, most still believe Takaichi's statement went too far and broke a fundamental boundary.

GT: Takaichi's remarks clearly contradict the principles of the four political documents between China and Japan. Yet, the Japanese side claims these remarks do not change Japan's established position and insists there will be no withdrawal. How might this stance further erode the already fragile political trust between the two countries?

Kaikita: Her statement completely ignores international law. We have submitted requests for meetings not only to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to which Takaichi belongs, but also to leaders of opposition parties - such as former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda - and to all opposition leaders who oppose war and oppose military expansion. We believe that both the LDP, including factions critical of Takaichi, and the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, must take concrete action. Who benefits from manufacturing such remarks? The arms industry - those who produce and sell weapons. They stand to profit enormously. Japan is being swept up by this artificially constructed "Taiwan contingency," and ordinary people are being dragged along with it. This is a deeply regrettable situation.

GT: Some voices in the Japanese media blame China for the current tensions. How do you view these media interpretations?

Kaikita: Japan's morning and midday programs - those with the highest viewership - are often filled with commentators who disseminate misleading narratives. Japanese television today is saturated with programs that mislead the public. It is extremely regrettable. We citizens understand very well that the government manipulates much of this coverage, but unfortunately, some people still believe it.

GT: Some on social media claim that China is overreacting to Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks. What is your view? Do you think China's response is excessive?

Kaikita: Absolutely not. China's response is entirely justified. Anyone hearing those remarks would be angered - and all the more so because they concern basic principles of international law. Takaichi's statement violates the international treaties between Japan and China, so Beijing's protest is completely natural. Many Japanese also believe this. In Japan, even within the LDP, Takaichi's remarks are not regarded as the unified view of the party. There are voices within the LDP saying her statements went too far - that they reflect her personal stance rather than the party's position. In my view, she absolutely should apologize. It is obvious that her remarks were made to curry favor with the US. And this does nothing to serve Japan's national interests. Most Japanese people hope to maintain stable relations with China; after all, Japan and China signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between China and Japan. Japan acknowledged - and must never forget - the aggression and harm it inflicted during the war. However, Takaichi still stubbornly refuses to apologize. This deeply concerns us. Therefore, we are demanding a retraction of her remarks.

GT: If this situation continues, what consequences will Japan face?

Kaikita: I feel a profound sense of danger. If a war ever breaks out, no one in Japan stands to gain anything from it. From history, we know clearly that war always breeds extreme discrimination and grave violations of human rights. What is the purpose of waging war? This is what we want to ask Prime Minister Takaichi directly. Her so-called "Taiwan contingency" argument is essentially an interference in China's internal affairs, fabricating a scenario that does not exist. Another undeniable reality is that the US is expanding its military bases across Japan. Currently, not only Okinawa, but Kyushu, western Japan, and indeed the whole of Japan, are facing the trend of becoming military strongholds. This goes far beyond the scope of "exclusive self-defense" and is clearly unconstitutional. In response to this unconstitutional reality, we will continue raising our voices in protest. We are also appealing to Japan's opposition parties - to every conscientious politician - urging them to speak out more strongly against this path.

Column: Japan's dangerous return to militarism, and why we must remember its past

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Column: Japan's dangerous return to militarism, and why we must remember its past

Column: Japan's dangerous return to militarism, and why we must remember its past

Article 11 of 29

Xinhua News Agency

By Zhang Yuebin, Xu Shijia

Originally published at https://english.news.cn/asiapacific/20260111/385d9c05d9924a3dab8c30dd3604f72e/c.html

Publication Date: January 10, 2026

The fusion of domestic totalitarian control, foreign military aggression, and alignment with the European fascist powers created a short, frenzied phase of Japanese fascism. Its unchecked expansion ultimately provoked a united and fierce response from the world anti-fascist alliance, leading inexorably to its defeat.

by Zhang Yuebin and Xu Shijia

In recent years, Japan has been steadily rebuilding its military power and rewriting the rules that long restrained it. This shift hit a worrying new note when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi implied Japan could intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait. To understand why this is so alarming, it is necessary to revisit how Japanese militarism once took root, how it justified itself, and the devastating costs it imposed on Asia and the wider world.

Throughout East Asian history, Japanese militarism has been an unusual existence. Shaped by a particular historical and cultural trajectory, and reinforced by Japan's relative geographical isolation, it grew into an ideology that once fueled an empire spanning much of East Asia.

THE ROOTS OF MILITARY SUPREMACY

The rise of modern Japanese militarism can be traced to 1192, when Minamoto Yoritomo became Seii Taishogun and established a shogunate, a form of military autocracy that lasted for nearly 700 years. The samurai-dominated government, built on the belief in the primacy of armed force, ingrained a persistent mindset among Japan's elites that aggressive expansion was a legitimate solution to national crises.

For instance, Yoshida Shoin argued that losses to Western powers should be compensated by seizing territories in Northeast China and the Korean Peninsula, an ideology that deeply shaped the Meiji Restoration leaders.

A MILITARIST STATE BEYOND CIVILIAN CONTROL

Under Japan's modern imperial system, the military was granted extraordinary institutional powers, operating independently through key mechanisms:

Direct Access to the Emperor: the military headquarters (i.e. pre-war Japanese military institutions and leadership) possessed the "right of direct audience with the Emperor to submit memorials," allowing them to bypass the cabinet and report directly to the Emperor.

The Service Minister Requirement: The Army and Navy Ministers were required to be active-duty officers. By nominating or withholding candidates, the military headquarters could manipulate the cabinet.

Wartime Command Autonomy: the 1893 "Regulations on the Wartime General Headquarters" stipulated that all members of the headquarters should be active-duty officers, thereby completely excluding civilian officials.

In essence, the military could interfere in the affairs of the civilian government, but the government had no authority over military matters. Consequently, the military headquarters were elevated above both the government and the Diet, securing its supremacy in the state apparatus.

LEARNING THE WRONG LESSONS

Japan's militarism was further reinforced by its selective adoption of Western ideas. Prussia became a particular model. The Iwakura Mission studied Germany's military and political systems, noting that "the founding and development of Germany bear striking similarities to Japan. Studying this country's politics and social customs will yield far greater benefits than learning from Britain and France."   

Their meeting with Otto von Bismarck, who espoused a worldview that "the strong bully the weak, and the large intimidate the small," solidified a belief in "might makes right" as a universal truth.

This ideology, disseminated throughout society, gradually gave rise to a militaristic system. Economically, Japan's industrial revolution was fueled by the ruthless exploitation of its own people and the aggressive plunder of other countries. Its invasion of the Korean Peninsula and China not only laid the foundation for Japan's industrial revolution but also spurred its development. This model of capitalism, built on aggression and plunder, formed the socioeconomic foundation of Japanese militarism.

Educationally, the Japanese government promulgated the "Great Principles of Education" in 1879 and the "Imperial Rescript on Education" in 1890. Centered on loyalty to the Emperor and state Shinto, these documents inculcated the ideology of emperor worship, the concept of a "military state," and the belief in a "divine nation." Militarist education thus became a core pillar of the system.

Under this militaristic system, Japan annexed Ryukyu, invaded Taiwan of China and the Korean Peninsula, launched war on China in 1894, provoked the Russo-Japanese War, and profited massively from WWI to emerge as a so-called "world power." Japan's path to modernization was, from the outset, a path of aggressive expansion and colonialism.

THE DESCENT INTO FASCISM

After WWI, this militarism evolved into its most extreme form: fascism. Civilian and military fascists agitated for "national transformation" and the "Showa Restoration" to seize state power and establish a powerful regime dedicated to overseas expansion and building of a global empire.

The February 26 Incident in 1936 was an internal conflict between the Kodo faction and the Tosei faction within the military, which led to the establishment of a fascist system from top to bottom, known as the "state of enhanced national defense."

Under the direct orchestration of the military, Japan embarked on a rapid and aggressive sequence: it provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident in July 1937, enacted the National Mobilization Law in April 1938, signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy in September 1940, established the Imperial Rule Assistance Association -- a fascist organization -- in October 1940, and finally launched the Pacific War in December 1941.

The fusion of domestic totalitarian control, foreign military aggression, and alignment with the European fascist powers created a short, frenzied phase of Japanese fascism. Its unchecked expansion ultimately provoked a united and fierce response from the world anti-fascist alliance, leading inexorably to its defeat. On August 15, 1945, Japanese militarism was compelled to announce unconditional surrender.

A LEGACY OF HORROR

Japan's wars of aggression inflicted catastrophic loss of life and destruction, bringing profound suffering to the peoples of Asia. The death toll across East Asia (excluding Japan) is estimated to have surpassed 19 million. Japan itself endured heavy losses: over 2 million soldiers and 800,000 civilians died.

According to a survey by Japan's Post-War Rehabilitation Agency, 119 cities were destroyed by air raids, 2.4 million homes burned, and 8.8 million people displaced. In the war's final phase, conscripted soldiers died in droves from disease, malnutrition, and starvation, or in suicidal "special attacks" and sinking ships.

Japan's wars of aggression were also marked by systematic atrocities that constitute one of the darkest chapters of modern history, leaving indelible trauma across the region. In China, the Nanjing Massacre, the relentless bombing of Chongqing, widespread "mass graves," and the grotesque human experiments of Unit 731 represent crimes of unspeakable barbarity. In Southeast Asia, the Bataan Death March, the construction of the Thailand-Burma "Death Railway," and the massacres in Manila and Singapore laid bare the brutal essence of Japanese militarism.

During the railway's construction, the Japanese military conscripted 61,000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) and 200,000 Southeast Asian laborers, subjecting them to merciless conditions. The resulting mortality rate reached 20 percent among the POWs and a staggering 50 percent among laborers, averaging over 250 deaths per kilometer of track laid.

Editor's note: The authors are Research Fellow and Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.■

'Neo-militarism' will once again lead Japan toward abyss

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — 'Neo-militarism' will once again lead Japan toward abyss

'Neo-militarism' will once again lead Japan toward abyss

Article 12 of 29

People's Daily Online

By Zhong Sheng

Originally published at https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0112/c98649-20412872.html

Publication Date: January 12, 2026

By Zhong Sheng (People's Daily) 09:40, January 12, 2026

Amid escalating worsening regional tensions, Japan continues expanding its defense budget -- an approach that smacks of a self-staged drama." In its year-end editorial for 2025, Tokyo Shimbun sounded a warning.

An increasing number of insightful voices in Japan have come to recognize that the Sanae Takaichi administration has deviated from Japan's postwar pacifist path, continuously fabricating a sense of danger for the public and building momentum for what can only be described as "neo-militarism."

Historical precedents remain starkly relevant. A look back at Japan before and during World War II shows that deception and manipulation of its own people ran throughout the criminal expansion of militarism. In the end, wars of aggression not only inflicted enormous disasters on the region, but also brought catastrophic suffering upon the Japanese people.

To drive the war machine, Japan's militarists spared no effort in selling the public a "poisoned illusion." Brutal aggression was dressed up as a "just war" for national rejuvenation and the "liberation of Asia," while the slaughter and oppression of neighboring peoples were whitewashed under the banner of the so-called "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."

To enforce this narrative, Japanese militarists constructed an ideological prison.

They indoctrinated the public with the Kokoku Shikan, a historical view that regards the history of Japan as the unfolding of a divine plan centered on the Emperor, proclaiming Japan a "divine nation" and the Japanese people superior to all others.

They promulgated documents such as the Imperial Rescript on Education and Shinmin no michi, enforcing imperial indoctrination and servile education to subordinate the populace to the will of war.

They fabricated cultural toxins that glorified warfare, including works such as North Shore Troops and the so-called "soldier" trilogy, promoting spurious "heroic deeds."

Even after catastrophic defeat in World War II, they continued to issue fictitious victory reports through "Imperial General Headquarters announcements," constructing within Japan an information cocoon completely divorced from reality.

Countless Japanese youth were funneled into the war machine. Under the grip of militarist slogans such as "seven lives for the emperor" and "one hundred million shattered jewels," they were reduced to cannon fodder.

Many civilians were forced to endure extreme rationing under the National Mobilization Law, driving daily life to the brink of collapse. Countless women were deceived or coerced into becoming so-called "comfort women" for the military, many of whom lost their lives.

When the illusion finally collapsed, the price was written in blood: more than three million Japanese died, over 120,000 war orphans were left displaced, and large numbers of people in the Ryukyu Islands were forced into "mass suicides."

From deceiving the people to bringing calamity upon them, Japanese militarism is at its core a doctrine of bloodthirsty gambling. Recently, a Japanese scholar writing for People's Daily recalled a phrase often spoken by his elders: "It was a good thing that Japan lost the war." The depth of Japan's painful memory of war is evident in such words.

History's warning is close at hand, yet Japan's right wing is repeating old tricks. Under the rhetoric of so-called "normalizing the state," and in the name of strengthening "autonomous defense" and building a "nation capable of fighting," they are whipping up support for "neo-militarism."

They deny the history of aggression and tamper with history textbooks in an attempt to shed what they call the "burden of history," poisoning and brainwashing younger generations. They exaggerate "external threats" and a "survival-threatening situation," seek to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, and attempt to break free from the constraints of the Pacifist Constitution and the status of a defeated nation.

Externally, they fan the flames of tension and provoke confrontation, hoping to profit from chaos and seize opportunities for expansion. In short, Japan's right wing seeks to completely abandon the pacifist path that underpinned Japan's postwar development and to reshape the country according to its obsession with "neo-militarism."

As Japan's right wing pushes the country further down the misguided road of militarism, it will ultimately be the Japanese people who bear the cost.

Japan's defense budget for fiscal year 2026 has reached a record high of 9.04 trillion yen ($57.41 billion), sparking widespread opposition at home. At a time when Japan's economy faces sluggish growth and shrinking fiscal space, the public broadly hopes the government will prioritize revitalizing the economy and improving social welfare.

A renewed turn toward military expansion has only deepened concerns among thoughtful voices in Japan. "The so-called 'three security documents' speak only of preparing for war, not of avoiding it." "Takaichi's remarks do more harm than good and do not serve Japan's national interests." "Japan's diplomacy should aim to maintain stable and normal external relations." Such voices opposing militarism continue to emerge within Japan, reflecting profound anxiety over the country's strategic direction.

More than 80 years ago, the Japanese people were handed a hollow promise that "the war could be won," only to inherit ruins and immeasurable suffering. Today, right-wing forces remain fixated on the same obsession, attempting once again to drag the nation into the abyss of "neo-militarism" and to repeat a path that harms both others and itself.

Against this backdrop, Japan's peace advocates must remain highly vigilant. Japan's future does not lie in right-wing fantasies but in a thorough reckoning with its history of aggression, fostering neighborly relations, and steadfastly safeguarding regional peace and development.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)

The dangerous moves: Japan challenges the bottom line of peace

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — The dangerous moves: Japan challenges the bottom line of peace

The dangerous moves: Japan challenges the bottom line of peace

Article 13 of 29

Global Times

By Xiang Haoyu

Originally published at https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202604/1359559.shtml

Publication Date: April 22, 2026

The dangerous moves: Japan challenges the bottom line of peace

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

One day after sending a ritual offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday reportedly continued to make a monetary offering to the site. Additionally, the Japanese government has officially revised "the three principles on transfer of defense equipment and technology" and their implementation guidelines on Tuesday to enable overseas sales of weapons.  

The series of dangerous moves once again reveals the peril of Japan's rapid "remilitarization." 

The revision of limits on defense equipment exports constitutes a substantive hollowing-out of the core spirit of Article 9 of the pacifist constitution and has become a revolutionary turning point in Japan's postwar security policy. In the past, Japan's military equipment exports were strictly limited to non-combat purposes. This revision removes that restriction, meaning that Japanese-made lethal weapons can not only flow into the international arms trade market but may even, under specific conditions, be deployed in countries currently in conflict. 

Once the taboo against exporting lethal weapons is broken, Japan's "exclusively defense-oriented policy" has become nothing more than a fig leaf. The ultimate goal of this "salami-slicing" tactic is to completely revise the pacifist constitution.

The nature of Takaichi's offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine is even more serious. The Yasukuni Shrine is not merely a religious site; it is the spiritual totem of Japanese militarism. At this significant juncture marking the 80th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Trials, Takaichi's blatant offerings to the Yasakuni Shrine not only constitute a flagrant trampling of the sentiments of the peoples of the nations victimized by World War II, but also represent a covert denial of the historical verdicts of the Tokyo Trials and a direct provocation against the postwar international order. These moves by a Japanese leader are intended to fulfill political promises to right-wing conservative forces within Japan, to whitewash the country's history of aggression through subtle means, and to further erase the sense of guilt and reflection within Japanese society regarding the tragedies of war.

These dangerous moves by Japan collectively form a logical closed loop that signals the resurgence of Japan's militaristic genes. As its security policies progressively breach postwar taboos layer by layer, Japan is edging ever closer to the risk of war. Japan believes that a mere crisis narrative is insufficient to sustain long-term militarization; it must be supplemented by a reshaping of internal values. The maneuver by Japan's right-wing forces of sending offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine is precisely aimed at shaping a distorted national identity at the societal level, packaging militarist ideology as contemporary "patriotism."

The simultaneous advancement of physical armament and ideological indoctrination signifies that Japan is actively deviating from its postwar path of peaceful development. The "normal country" it proclaims to be is, in essence, a "war-capable state" that seeks to cast off its status as a defeated nation and free itself from the constraints of the pacifist constitution. As an industrial powerhouse that has yet to fully sever ties with its history of aggression and possesses deep technological expertise, Japan's "remilitarization" will have a severely negative impact on strategic stability in the Asia-Pacific and beyond. Lifting the ban on lethal weapons exports could directly fuel an arms race in the region. 

Regrettably, many countries have yet to fully recognize or take seriously the dangers posed by Japan's current shift. Japan's "Yasukuni-centric historical worldview" and its military rampage have already begun to resonate dangerously, and the international community should sense the danger in this. 

The international community must recognize that the more Japan attempts to achieve national "normalization" by distorting its historical memory, the more it exposes its dangerous and "abnormal" restlessness; and the more it attempts to amend the constitution and expand its military, the more it reveals its wolfish ambitions. More people in Japanese society need to wake up, because a "normal country" built on false historical narratives and radical military expansion will never bring Japan true security and self-reliance, but rather the consequence of sliding back into the abyss.

The author is a distinguished research fellow at the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies of the China Institute of International Studies. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

The Scrapping of Japan's Peace Constitution comes at the Cost of the Working People of Asia and the Pacific

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — The Scrapping of Japan's Peace Constitution comes at the Cost of the Working People of Asia and the Pacific

The Scrapping of Japan's Peace Constitution comes at the Cost of the Working People of Asia and the Pacific

Article 14 of 29

Resist U.S.-Led War Movement

Originally published at https://www.resistusledwarmovement.com/statements/japanarticle9

Publication Date: May 26, 2026

Resist US-Led War Movement, as a global network struggling for just peace against US military aggression, condemns the attempted revision of Article 9 in the Japanese constitution and drive towards militarization of the Trump/Takaichi tandem.

As Japan marks 79 years since the enactment of its Constitution, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has signaled a renewed push to amend Article 9,  which expressly renounces war as a means to resolve international disputes while allowing Japan the right to self-defense. This revision effort is directly linked to Japan’s growing militarism, which is both dictated and supported by U.S. military strategy in the Asia-Pacific. As the U.S. prepares for potential war with its self-declared biggest rival, China, Japan has become a key player in the U.S.-led war strategy, particularly within the “island chain” designed to counter Beijing. However, this shift does not benefit the Japanese people; instead, it subordinates their security and welfare to U.S. strategic interests.

The First Island Chain and Japan’s Role

Since the U.S. announced its so-called “Pivot to Asia” in 2012, the primary front of U.S. militarization has been this region. Central to this effort is the “Island Chain Strategy,” which reduces countries to pawns on a Pacific chessboard of war. The First Island Chain begins off the northwest coast of Malaysian Borneo, running along Palawan and Luzon in the Philippines. Its other end stretches from South Korea through Jeju Island and Sasebo in Japan, then through Okinawa and the Ryukyu Arc, with both ends meeting at Taiwan. These countries host some of the U.S.’s most significant military bases, including 43,000 personnel at Camp Humphreys in South Korea; 30,000 troops across Okinawa; and tens of thousands of rotational troops in the Philippines. They also host deadly missile systems such as THAAD in South Korea and Tomahawk missiles in Japan.

To justify its militarization, the U.S. portrays China’s rise as aggressive, fostering a new Cold War mentality. Meanwhile, the U.S. already occupies many Asian countries with permanent bases, rotational troops, and deployed weapons. Aggressive U.S. war games in the South China Sea, conducted alongside regional militaries, aim to provoke and prepare for a war with China fought in the interest of the U.S. imperialist class.

The U.S. Has Always Pushed Japan to Abandon Its Peace Constitution

Military agreements forged after WWII enable the U.S. to station more troops in Japan than anywhere else in the region. One-fifth of Okinawa’s land is occupied by U.S. bases. Right-wing Japanese governments have pushed for constitutional changes allowing Japan to re-arm offensively, leading to rising defense spending since 2007 and a doubling of the budget by 2023.

As part of its Island Chain strategy, the U.S. has enlisted Japan as a junior imperialist ally. In line with the Pivot to Asia, the U.S. continually rolls out new agreements. The Japan-U.S.-Korea alliance (JAKUS) and Japan-Philippines-U.S. alliance (JAPHUS) expand the U.S. military’s network, formalizing regular war games, enhancing intelligence-sharing and missile integration targeting China, and creating an anti-China economic bloc. These measures amount to an iron web of alliances in preparation for war against China.

Concurrently, 2026 marked Japan’s largest participation in Balikatan, the U.S.-led multilateral war exercises in the Philippines. Japan sent around 1,400 troops and warships, a historic step in Japan’s militarization since WWII. All Japanese Self-Defense Forces units participated in field training and missile launch exercises in the Philippines and its surrounding seas, marking the first time Japanese troops were in the Philippines since Japan’s WWII invasion. The Japanese occupation in countries of the Asia and the Pacific during or until WWII configured one of the bloodiest chapters of colonialism and imperialism in modern history. Filipino and Korean comfort women, women or girls who were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers as part of a system operated by the Imperial Japanese Army in its occupied territories between 1937 and 1945, are still seeking justice for the crimes committed during Japanese occupation and instead of accountability for these crimes, Japan is repositioning itself for the next world war scenario.

This War Won't Benefit the Japanese People or the Peoples of the Asia-Pacific

The second Trump administration has further intensified Japan’s role as its junior partner. The U.S. National Security Strategy (NSS) released in November 2025 mentions Japan five times: encouraging India to step up in “the Quad” (which includes Japan); calling on Japan to adopt trade policies that rebalance China’s economy; noting Japan’s foreign assets can be used to develop (read: exploit) the Global South; warning Japan will suffer if China controls the South China Sea; and urging increased defense spending to protect the First Island Chain.

Although the push to scrap Japan’s pacifist constitution is wrapped in the populist language of defending against the “Chinese threat,” this militarist turn serves only U.S. and Japanese ruling classes' strategic interests, not the Japanese people, nor any nation in the Asia-Pacific. By abandoning diplomacy and peaceful solutions, the Japanese ruling class is willingly moving its own people toward what is set to be the most destructive war in history, acting as Washington’s junior partner in provoking global conflict.
In response, Japan’s anti-war movement has persistently opposed this escalation towards war, exposing it for what it is. Recalling the atrocities committed by Japanese imperialism across Asia and the Pacific, the movement continues to demand a genuine peace constitution, one rooted in Japan’s own sovereign will and that respond to its people and to protect a genuine and independent peaceful foreign policy in the region, not one dictated by U.S. military aggression.

The path Japan is on, remilitarization under the guise of "self-defense" to protect U.S. and Japanese imperialist interests, leads only to ruin for working people across Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and the wider region. The only beneficiaries are the U.S. and Japanese ruling classes, along with Japanese War and Weapons corporations like Mitsubishi Heavy and IHI, which are already profiting from Japan’s lifting of its ban on lethal weapons exports. The real threat is the U.S.-led drive toward war, enabled by a Japanese ruling class that has learned nothing from the devastation of 1945. Genuine security will never come from imperialist missiles and military bases, but from solidarity among working people and the pursuit of national and social liberation.

When will Japan apologize to its Asian victims? China's delegate confronts Japanese defense minister at Shangri-La Dialogue

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — When will Japan apologize to its Asian victims? China's delegate confronts Japanese defense minister at Shangri-La Dialogue

When will Japan apologize to its Asian victims? China's delegate confronts Japanese defense minister at Shangri-La Dialogue

Article 15 of 29

Global Times

By Guo Yuandan, Su Yaxuan

Originally published at https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202605/1362369.shtml

Publication Date: May 31, 2026

When will Japan apologize to its Asian victims? China's delegate confronts Japanese defense minister at Shangri-La Dialogue

Shen Zhixiong, a senior colonel from the National Defense University and member of China's delegation to the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD), raised a pointed question to Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday morning.

The fifth plenary session of the SLD was held on Friday morning, during which Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi delivered a speech and mentioned "neo-militarism." In the interactive session, Shen said he was pleased that Koizumi had mentioned "new militarism" in his remarks. Shen pointed out that recently, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visited the Australian War Memorial and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier. However, victimized countries in Asia have not received any apologies or expressions of remorse from Japanese government.

China believes that genuine legal reconciliation must be based on reflection on history that treats all victim nations equally, Shen said. 

"Whether the Japanese government is prepared to respond in an equally serious and unequivocal manner to the concerns of China, South Korea, and victimized nations of Southeast Asia regarding the history of the Second World War, thereby creating the conditions for mutual trust and regional security," Shen asked.

In response to Shen's question, Koizumi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he appeared uneasy, lowering his head to look at the printed materials in his hands for a few seconds. Then he said that responding to the Chinese representative's question was "the difficult part." Then, he did not answer the question head-on.

Koizumi argued that Japan's defense policy and the defense build-up are not based on the idea of identifying any specific country or region as a threat or having a military confrontation. He then shifted the blame, claiming that China continues to increase its defense spending at the higher level and is rapidly expanding its military capabilities across a wide range of areas without sufficient transparency. China's external approach and military activities are matters of serious concern for Japan and the international community.

Later, he said that "Japan believes it is essential to have persistent, candid dialogue and communication without turning out, turning our eyes away from concrete and difficult issues precisely because challenges exist."

"Japan's refusal to apologize and its lack of profound reflection have angered people in Asian countries that suffered under Japanese militarism, as Japan's Asian neighbors were among those most severely affected," Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

Moreover, Japan has been vigorously developing offensive military capabilities, once again causing neighboring countries to feel the threat of a resurgence of Japanese militarism in recent years, Zhang added.

Zhang noted that Japan fundamentally lacks the sincerity to engage in dialogue with China and also lacks the political foundation for holding talks with China's defense minister. 

Koizumi's remarks are insincere and amount to nothing more than wishful thinking, he added.

China Warns Japan: Nuclear Debate and Remilitarisation Threaten Regional Stability

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — China Warns Japan: Nuclear Debate and Remilitarisation Threaten Regional Stability

China Warns Japan: Nuclear Debate and Remilitarisation Threaten Regional Stability

Article 16 of 29

Savage Minds

By Abdul Rahman

Originally published at https://www.savageminds.co/p/china-warns-japan

Publication Date: July 22, 2026

China has reiterated its concerns about growing talks of re-militarisation and nuclearisation in Japan, a day after its defence minister hinted that revisiting the country’s position on nuclear weapons is unavoidable.

China claimed that such a move would be a violation of existing arrangements in the region and Japan’s commitments to international law and warned it may lead to instability in the region.

During an online news programme telecast on Sunday, Japan’s defence minister, Shinjirō Koizumi, while drawing a parallel between the situation in Ukraine and East Asia, was reported as saying that “though it is a difficult issue … one topic we cannot avoid is nuclear weapons.”

Koizumi was responding to continued public support for the country’s pacifist constitution and its three non-nuclear principles, despite his government’s push to revise them.

On Sunday, thousands of Japanese took to the streets in Tokyo to oppose the Sanae Takaichi-led government’s plans to revise the constitution and the three non-nuclear principles to allow the deployment of US nuclear arms in the country and push for its re-militarisation agenda.

Japan’s three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons were formulated in 1967 and have been followed by all successive governments in the country since then.

Japan’s experience of being the only country in the world to have faced the devastating effects of nuclear weapons has been critical in shaping its nuclear outlook and public opinion over the issue.

However, the recent rise of the right wing in the country’s politics and growing pressure from the US in its “New Cold War” with China have led to calls for a “national revival” and attempts to re-militarise the country, including talks of Japan developing its own nuclear weapons.

The Takaichi government has pushed the US narrative of possible threats from China to the countries in the region and expressed its openness to the deployment of US nuclear weapons to the country, calling it “extended deterrence.”

Strong public opinion against nuclear weapons

However, Japanese public opinion has remained largely opposed to re-militarisation and nuclearisation.

In a recent public opinion survey in the country, more than 75% of respondents opposed any tampering with the three non-nuclear principles. In the same survey, more than 67% of Japanese also opposed the Takachi government’s push for the militarisation of the country.

According to a report in Global Times last week, 82 local assemblies across Japan, including those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have submitted written opinions to the central government demanding no revisions be made to the country’s no-nuclear principles.

The report noted that the number of local assemblies submitting such demands has grown significantly this year, as there is a growing fear of such a move by the current government.

Japan has been witnessing large-scale protests against the Takaichi government’s policies since the beginning of the year. Before the 19 July protests, there were similar protests in May, June, and earlier this month as well.

Respect public opinion and commitments to the NPT.

Lin Jian, official spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during a regular press conference on Monday, 20 July, called the growing popular mobilisations against the Takaichi government’s policies “a clear sign that people want peace.”

“Tokyo’s rush to abandon the pacifist constitution and remilitarise the country at a faster pace is out of step with the public. We urge the Japanese authorities to stop going further down the wrong path and not to stubbornly go against the overwhelming trend on the nuclear issue,” he underlined.

“If the Japanese authorities stick to their miscalculation on the nuclear issue” and deploy allies” nuclear weapons, “they not only gravely challenge the postwar international order and the nuclear non-proliferation regime but also breach the commitment to peace,” Lin said, warning that Japan may “eventually pay a heavy price” for such policy choices.

Lin reminded the Japanese government that the country, as a signatory of the NPT, “bears indisputable, undeniable and non-negotiable obligations under international law to refrain from receiving, manufacturing, acquiring or transferring nuclear weapons.”

He urged the international community and the Japanese people to further push the Takaichi government to make it respect its commitments under the NPT and abandon its plans for remilitarisation.

Japan's SDF Calls Itself 'Japan Navy,' Violates Pacifist Constitution

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Japan's SDF Calls Itself 'Japan Navy,' Violates Pacifist Constitution

Japan's SDF Calls Itself 'Japan Navy,' Violates Pacifist Constitution

Article 17 of 29

Voice of the Proletariat

By Park Jee-hoon

Originally published at https://voiceoftheproletariat.substack.com/p/jsdf-calls-itself-japan-navy

Publication Date: July 30, 2026

In a video released by China Military Bugle and other outlets, an aircraft belonging to Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) repeatedly referred to itself as the “Japan Navy.” China, in turn, warned the aircraft to “pay attention to your words.”

Transcript

JPN: Chinese Navy Task Group, this is “Japan Navy.”

CHN: Japanese aircraft, this is China Navy Task Group. Your so-called “Japan Navy” has violated your Constitution.

JPN: This is “Japan Navy.”

CHN: You can only keep the Self-Defense Force. Pay attention to your words.

Narrator: During the China-Russia joint patrol near Okinotori Reef, the Japanese side conducted surveillance operations against Chinese vessels. Japan referred to itself as the “Japan Navy” in a radio exchange. Under Japan’s Constitution, it can only maintain Self-Defense Forces.

This transcript was typed manually without the use of GenAI.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Japan committed countless despicable crimes, including but certainly not limited to the creation of the so-called “comfort women” system, the biological experimentation operation known as Unit 731, and the Nanjing Massacre (Rape of Nanking).

Today, Japanese right-wing forces continue their efforts to revise history and push for remilitarization.

This incident comes only four months after Kodai Murata, a 23-year-old second lieutenant with the Ground SDF, broke into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, wielding a knife and threatening to kill Chinese diplomats “in the name of God.”

According to Japanese media, Japan’s right-wing forces have also recently “been paying people to use AI on a large scale to churn out disinformation on its history of aggression against China and misguide the public.”

Spokesperson Mao Ning of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that these actions, which “use the new technology to poison the public opinion for accelerating their remilitarization agenda,” are in line with Japanese rightists’ ongoing mission to spread “a wrong perception on history to misguide the Japanese society, in particular, the young generations.” She called on the international community to “stay on high alert and firmly reject such moves.”

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Mass Media as a Tool of Imperialist Manipulation: Analysis

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Mass Media as a Tool of Imperialist Manipulation: Analysis

Mass Media as a Tool of Imperialist Manipulation: Analysis

Article 18 of 29

Voice of the Proletariat

By Park Jee-hoon

Originally published at https://voiceoftheproletariat.substack.com/p/mass-media-as-a-tool-of-imperialist-manipulation

Publication Date: August 5, 2026

Adorno and Horkheimer’s theoretical framework of the culture industry, despite its roots in the “theory first, praxis never” ideas of Western Marxism, can be linked today to modern cultural products such as games and animation.¹

It is quite clear that modern imperialism has evolved and developed a far more sophisticated and covert system for using mass media to export pro-war sentiment and support the military-industrial complex.

The core of this new form of the culture industry lies in the deep integration of entertainment and politics, subtly shaping the masses’ cognition and values through standardized production, pseudo-personalized packaging, and emotional consumption.

Adorno and Horkheimer pointed out that the culture industry projects naked profit motives onto various cultural forms, eroding the critical nature of art through standardized production and causing the public to lose their ability to think independently while being entertained. Modern video games and animation take this logic to new heights; these are no longer only consumer products but interactive, immersive ideological carriers.

A clear example of this is the American case of Grand Theft Auto (GTA). Rockstar Games’ founder stated explicitly that the GTA series is fundamentally American and that its successes are inseparable from “American elements” such as “guns [and] larger-than-life characters.”

While the series seemingly satirizes American political corruption, consumerism, and racial issues, the core player behaviour, such as accumulating wealth through violent crimes and challenging established order, may actually reinforce a “might makes right” way of thinking and a push to return to the laws of the jungle.

This ultimately serves to rationalize and entertain capitalist desires and violent logic, thereby causing players to become numb to real-world American (and broader Western) hegemonic behaviour through virtual catharsis.

A more direct manifestation is that some Western games deliberately misdraw maps in the context of so-called “enemy” territories, incorrectly labelling places such as China’s Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region (XAR) and China’s Taiwan province.

This is a provocative use of “entertainment” products to lay low and test the waters of political agendas—or, in other words, an attempt to subtly undermine other countries’ sovereignty and serve their geopolitical strategies.²

To add, war games have also been noted as having “a growing influence on Western leaders,” and troops are known to have trained on immersive simulations.

Some mass-market video games are, furthermore, direct collaborations with or have been explicitly approved and funded by Western militaries, and writers and producers such as Call of Duty’s Dave Anthony have been recruited by the US Department of Defense (DoD).

Japanese right-wing forces have in recent years utilized anime, manga, video games, and other media to implant militaristic symbols such as the Rising Sun flag and Unit 731 into popular culture.³ Researcher Matthew Penney describes this through the concept of “war fantasy.”

The Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Class-A war criminals, once collaborated with the globally renowned IP Pokémon, turning it into a “must-visit” tourist attraction.⁴

The core of this strategy is to use so-called kawaii culture and everyday consumption to dissolve the seriousness and cruelty of Japan’s despicable historical acts, blurring the younger generation’s understanding of the guilt of their war of aggression through emotional identification.

While works such as Shigeru Mizuki’s The History of the Showa Era expose the cruelty of war, there is also a prevalent practice in Japan of portraying Japan as a supposed “victim” through artistic works.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Japan waged an imperialist war of aggression. Far from being a victim, Japan committed despicable acts across East and Southeast Asia, including the establishment of the “comfort women” sexual slavery system as well as biological experimentation.

This selective narrative, complementing games such as Kantai Collection (Kancolle) that moe-ify military weaponry, together constructs a “cultural field” that denies aggression and downplays guilt, creating a foundation for Japanese public opinion to break through its officially pacifist Constitution and move toward remilitarization, an act strongly opposed by the international community and contrary to the established postwar order.

Kancolle, specifically, officially collaborates with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), which continues to use the Rising Sun flag as well as martial songs, signs, and technical terms from the Imperial era.⁵

Female characters from Kancolle are largely sexualized and objectified. An article celebrating its 10th anniversary notes:

If I had to explain Kancolle to someone in a few words… it would be a game where shipgirls do battle against bikini monsters with the goal of taking just enough damage to blow your girls clothes off! … The theme of the game is collecting a fleet of cute girls that are actually anthropomorphized warships from World War II. You use them to do battle against the “abyssals,” a fleet of monster ship girls.

The JMSDF’s band has also performed popular anime soundtracks, including that of Space Battleship Yamato.

Historical wars such as Vietnam’s Resistance War against America and Korea’s Fatherland Liberation War offer lessons for understanding today’s cultural infiltration.

During Vietnam’s war of resistance, the US imperialists used disinformation to create pretexts for escalating the war and leveraged media outlets like Voice of America for wartime propaganda.

Today, this manipulation has shifted from official news to more covert and entertaining video games and social media. For example, some Western games are known to directly imbed “spy recruitment” advertisements, using part-time jobs and high salaries as bait for infiltration.

During the World Anti-Fascist War, the Japanese imperialists organized the “pen battalion” (pen butai) to glorify their aggression. After the end of the war, this force permeated the cultural sphere, and its narrative techniques have continued in contemporary animation and film.

Japan’s method of romanticizing and fantasizing about Japan’s war of aggression today is consistent with the literary propaganda of the “pen battalion” of that era, but its influence is far more profound today due to the reach of modern media.

Adorno and Horkheimer warned that the culture industry has once again degraded humanity, turning the masses into appendages of the machine; in contemporary times, games like GTA and cultural products like some Japanese anime are upgraded versions of this same culture industry, using entertainment as a guise for ideological infiltration.

Imperialist America focuses on strengthening the inherent logic of its global hegemony and geopolitical claims, while Japan focuses on glorifying its long history of aggression and paving the way to remilitarization.

For countries that have experienced this imperialist aggression, such as China, Korea, and Vietnam, contemporary cultural “soft infiltration” is like a second disaster, its harm no less than that of a direct military threat.

These attempts to sever authentic historical memory from the younger generation and replace it with beautified, fictional narratives that align with material interests are staunchly opposed by all peace-loving people.

It is crucial that critical thinking and wariness of potential manipulation by the culture industry be maintained in order to safeguard national cultural security and defend historical truth.

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The return of the Japanese samurai is no innocent cartoon entertainment: China Daily editorial

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — The return of the Japanese samurai is no innocent cartoon entertainment: China Daily editorial

The return of the Japanese samurai is no innocent cartoon entertainment: China Daily editorial

Article 19 of 29

China Daily

Originally published at https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/05/WS6a73367ea310986e2b469283.html

Publication Date: August 5, 2026

There is something almost unsettling about the cover of Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper. A cheerful cartoon mascot smiles beneath a bright sky, as though the clinical language of deterrence, missiles and military expansion can be softened by cuteness.

Japan's Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe once wrote of the ambiguity that allowed militarism to overtake his country: "That powerful, acute ambiguity which tears the nation and its people apart ... drove Japan to play the aggressor in Asia." That same ambiguity lingers beneath this year's polished report, where "patriotic rhetoric" risks dulling independent judgment and turning people into instruments of an expanding war machine.

For the first time, the 2026 white paper includes a dedicated chapter on "new forms of warfare", drawing explicit lessons from Ukraine, including drone warfare, artificial intelligence and prolonged attrition. Space, cyber and electromagnetic operations are elevated from supporting functions to core combat domains.

The parallels with pre-World War II Japan are difficult to ignore. Then, as now, "external threats" were invoked to justify military expansion. The ideology of "leaving Asia and joining the West" has been repackaged as alignment with a "democratic security coalition". The notorious wartime vision of a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" has given way to the language of a "free and open Indo-Pacific". Even the economic arguments echo history, with military investment promoted as a source of technological innovation and industrial growth.

As some Japanese observers have said, postwar Japan rested on two moral foundations: "democracy" and an unwavering commitment never to wage war again. Now both are under increasing strain. The nation sees political debate narrowing under the ascendant right-wing neo-militarists while the country's pacifist identity is gradually reinterpreted into support for military expansion in the name of deterrence. The postwar settlement, once regarded as Japan's moral compass, appears increasingly contested.

As a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense said, the 2026 white paper, filled with false narratives, indicates Tokyo is fabricating regional threats to dismantle the restraints that shaped Japan's postwar military posture. He rightly pointed out that Japan's accusations against China amount to "a thief crying ‘stop thief'" and warned that Japan's neo-militarism poses a challenge to regional stability.

Japan's pursuit of military superiority through ever-expanding deterrence risks triggering a self-reinforcing cycle of regional arms race. Although the country has technological strengths, a decisive "overwhelming" military superiority over China will prove only costly wishful thinking. Japan also remains heavily dependent on imported energy and strategic resources — a vulnerability that contributed to its wartime defeat and remains no less significant today.

Perhaps the most revealing feature of Japan's strategy is the insecurity that underpins it. Since the end of World War II, Tokyo has consistently sought security under the United States-led alliance, often at considerable economic and strategic cost. From the Plaza Accord to more recent financial concessions, Japan has repeatedly subordinated aspects of its autonomy to preserve the alliance.

The palpable unease — and at times barely concealed irritation — with which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi received the US leader's mentioning of the attack on Pearl Harbor indicates Japan remains profoundly uncertain about the reliability and durability of its most cherished alliance.

Recent protests outside the National Diet are a stark reminder that many Japanese people harbor deep misgivings about the Takaichi government's dangerous course.

Yet the juggernaut of rearmament rolls on. The nearly 600-page 2026 white paper helps pave the way for revising the country's three key security documents by the end of this year and accelerating its military buildup. Some in Tokyo are already openly proposing Japan acquire nuclear weapons and the possibility of raising its military spending above 3 percent of GDP, while legislation for dedicated military taxes advances.

Oe warned that ambiguity could tear the nation apart. As Japan steadily redefines the meaning of "security" and "peace", that warning carries renewed resonance.

China vs Japan: the battle for the global microphone to reshape post-war identity

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — China vs Japan: the battle for the global microphone to reshape post-war identity

China vs Japan: the battle for the global microphone to reshape post-war identity

Article 20 of 29

South China Morning Post (SCMP)

By Carol Yang

Originally published at https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3363175/china-vs-japan-battle-global-microphone-reshape-post-war-identity

Publication Date: August 7, 2026

No longer confined to disputed islands or historical memory, the rivalry between Beijing and Tokyo has evolved into a fight for the global microphone, as both countries try to define each other’s international identity.

Amid an escalating diplomatic crisis, China is intensifying its rhetoric against what it calls Japan’s “new militarism”, using World War II-era history to rally regional and global sympathy for its position.

In stark contrast, Japan has rejected the label as “false claims”, casting itself as a defender of regional security, a peace-loving country and a victim of “coercion”.

Tokyo has argued that Beijing’s expanding arsenal, “opaque” military build-ups and “challenges to the established rules” should worry the international community.

China calls nuclear submarine missile test ‘routine’ as Australia, Japan voice concerns

While China’s denunciation of Japan’s new militarism is still being tested for traction abroad, many countries between the Asia-Pacific region and Europe have continued to deepen their defence cooperation with Tokyo.

“China faces a profoundly distorted global narrative that has largely obscured the fascist atrocities committed by Japan against China and other nations during World War II that have never been fully reckoned with at the international level,” said Shen Yi, executive director of the Centre for National Security Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Japan PM Takaichi avoids firm commitment to 3 non-nuclear principles

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Japan PM Takaichi avoids firm commitment to 3 non-nuclear principles

Japan PM Takaichi avoids firm commitment to 3 non-nuclear principles

Article 21 of 29

CCTV.com English

By Suyue

Originally published at https://english.cctv.com/2026/08/07/ARTIQgCGQsUNOXRinHajJFZo260807.shtml

Publication Date: August 7, 2026

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a speech during a ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, August 6, 2026. /VCG

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gave an equivocal response on Japan's long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles during a ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Thursday, stopping short of explicitly pledging that her government would continue to uphold the policy.

Speaking at the memorial ceremony held at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Takaichi referred to Japan's current adherence to the principles. However, according to Japan's Mainichi Shimbun, her wording differed subtly from that of previous prime ministers and did not clearly state that Japan would continue to maintain the policy.

The report cited a source close to Takaichi as saying that if the government were to consider revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, its official position would remain unchanged until any formal amendment was made. The source suggested that Takaichi's decision to describe only the current situation was intentional.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, opposition politicians also questioned Takaichi's remarks. Junya Ogawa, leader of the opposition Centrist Reform Alliance, said Takaichi merely described the status quo without expressing a commitment to maintaining the principles in the future.

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, said Takaichi had simply reiterated the government's long-standing position.

At a press conference following the ceremony, Takaichi declined to say whether the government would continue to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles in its planned revision of Japan's three key national security documents. She said the revision process is still underway and that it would be premature to comment on the final content.

Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles, which prohibit possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory, were formally adopted by the Japanese parliament in 1971 and have since become the cornerstone of the country's nuclear policy.

Japanese media have previously reported that Takaichi's government is considering revising the principle of not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons as part of an update to the country's three key national security documents expected by the end of this year.

In July, Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi publicly argued during a television program that Japan should discuss nuclear weapons-related policies "without taboo," including whether to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The series of nuclear-related developments has fueled growing concern across Japanese society over the country's future nuclear policy.

Militarizing Japan calls for global vigilance: China Daily editorial

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Militarizing Japan calls for global vigilance: China Daily editorial

Militarizing Japan calls for global vigilance: China Daily editorial

Article 22 of 29

China Daily

Originally published at https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/09/WS6a787fdca310986e2b469c5b.html

Publication Date: August 9, 2026

chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2026-08-09 21:25

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Japan is systematically unraveling its postwar "exclusive defense" framework under the pretext of "external threat", laying the institutional groundwork for the rise of neo-militarism. Its 2026 defense white paper explicitly classifies the military industry as an economic pillar and a growth driver. The last time the Japanese government made such a designation was during the lead-up to and throughout World War II.

Japan's Ministry of Defense plans to request a record-high budget of about 8.9 trillion yen ($56 billion) for fiscal 2027, a figure that could climb to 10 trillion yen once unspecified items are finalized, Japanese media reported on Friday. Although Japan's per capita military spending is already about three times that of China, it continues to grow at a fast pace.

The budget surge is matched by an aggressive escalation of weapons exports. The Sanae Takaichi government is supplying naval vessels to Australia and the Philippines, and Patriot air-defense interceptors back to the United States to replenish stockpiles. Each deal expands Japan's military-industrial complex and normalizes a role the postwar Constitution was designed to prevent.

These are preparations for conflict funded through deficit spending that burdens Japanese households grappling with inflation and stagnant wages. Public opposition to this shift has become increasingly visible.

The same concern applies to the country's nuclear policy. Japan continues to officially uphold its Three Non-Nuclear Principles, but growing government rhetoric on the need to discard them has inevitably raised concerns about the durability of one of the most important postwar restraints on Japan's military posture. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Japan is deeply alarming, given the devastating toll of its past militarism and the nation's failure to reckon honestly with its war crimes — a combination that renders it a serious menace to regional and international security.

A recent survey in Japan found that 76 percent of respondents support upholding the country's Three Non-Nuclear Principles while 77 percent believe Japan should not pursue "nuclear sharing", an arrangement under which the US would station nuclear weapons in Japan.

As Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, the Takaichi government should listen to the call of the people, fulfill its obligations under international law of not accepting, producing, possessing or proliferating nuclear weapons, stop playing with fire on the issue of nuclear weapons and not repeat the wrong path of miscalculating the historical trend and acting against the people's will for peace.

Japan's decision to treat its neighbors as "threats" while actively deepening ties with NATO reflects a misguided "befriend the distant, confront the near" strategy. This approach is not only diplomatically reckless, it invites outside intervention into the region and ultimately risks backfiring, harming Japan's own interests and regional stability alike.

Presenting regional tensions as justification for Japan's military creates a self-reinforcing cycle: heightened "threat" perceptions justify a military buildup, while Japan's military buildup itself deepens insecurity among neighbors.

Japan's postwar commitment to peace was not merely a domestic policy choice. It was also part of the process through which the country tried to rebuild trust with its neighbors after the suffering caused by its wartime aggression. At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Thursday, Takaichi openly delivered a ridiculous message: Japan will uphold its Three Non-Nuclear Principles before a review. Any neighbor that has experienced the devastation of Japanese militarism understands all too well what this awkward logic really means: Japan is methodically pressing forward with its nuclear weapons agenda.

Japan's historical militarists turned a deaf ear to all appeals for restraint. Today's neo-militarists appear intent on retracing that same disastrous course. The gears of history for Japan are already turning faster, driving the country once more toward the role of a potential source of conflict.

Hu Bo: The Philippines and Japan misjudge China-U.S. strategic competition

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Hu Bo: The Philippines and Japan misjudge China-U.S. strategic competition

Hu Bo: The Philippines and Japan misjudge China-U.S. strategic competition

Article 23 of 29

Yuzhe He

By Hu Bo

Originally published at https://www.yuzhehe.com/p/hu-bo-the-philippines-and-japan-misjudge

Publication Date: August 10, 2026

Hu Bo 胡波 is Director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), and Research Professor and Director of the Center for Maritime Strategy Studies, Peking University.

In a recent article, Hu argues that the Philippines and Japan have both misread the nature of China-U.S. strategic competition, though in different ways. The Philippines, he writes, has exaggerated the intensity of the rivalry and sought to advance its own interests by aligning more closely with Washington, while Japan has interpreted signs of U.S. retrenchment as an opportunity to strengthen its strategic role and pursue greater political and military normalization.

More broadly, Hu contends that both countries underestimate China's national strength and resolve, and that their miscalculations have become a growing source of instability in the Asia-Pacific as China-U.S. relations themselves become relatively more stable and predictable.

The article first appeared in Issue No. 7, 2026 of 现代舰船 Modern Ships, a magazine run by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC)'s in-house think tank. It was also published on Mingkun Technology's official WeChat blog on July 19.

With Dr. Hu's permission, this newsletter shares the full article below.

Since the San Francisco summit in November 2023, China-U.S. strategic competition has gradually moved toward greater stability. This has been especially evident in the military and security sphere, where both sides have explicitly stressed the need to avoid war and conflict. During President Donald Trump's visit to China from May 13 to 15, 2026, the two countries announced the establishment of a "constructive relationship of strategic stability," further underscoring this trend. For both sides, competition persists, but stability has become increasingly important.

In fact, this is not merely a policy choice by the two countries but also an inevitable consequence of present-day realities. China-U.S. strategic competition differs significantly from every historical case of great-power rivalry in at least three respects.

First, China and the United States are not neighboring countries. Despite major technological advances, geography remains highly important in great-power rivalry, particularly military competition. The fact that the two countries are not neighbors leaves greater room for compromise and accommodation in their strategic competition. As President Xi Jinping has repeatedly noted, "The Pacific Ocean is vast enough to accommodate both China and the United States." By contrast, the great powers involved in historical rivalries were generally neighbors.

Second, today's military and technological conditions are fundamentally different. Since the end of World War II, the advent of nuclear weapons and the development of nuclear deterrence have imposed constraints on both the intensity and the limits of competition among major powers. Since the 21st century, the global proliferation of anti-access and area-denial platforms and technologies has greatly constrained major powers' ability to project and employ military force overseas. Broadly speaking, current and future technological conditions are more conducive to the diffusion of power than to its concentration, making historical models of hegemonic transition increasingly unsustainable.

Third, international institutions and norms have undergone transformative changes. After World War II, countries across the Third World gained independence, while the nation-state system and nationalism spread worldwide. This trend grew still stronger after the end of the Cold War. When confronted with external aggression, Venezuela represents an exception, while Iran is more typical of how modern nation-states respond. The expansion and exercise of great-power influence are coming under increasing pressure from institutional frameworks and international norms. Earlier modes of competition based on overseas expansion or the establishment of geopolitical spheres of influence have therefore become increasingly difficult to sustain.

There are also other differences, including those arising from strategic culture and the distinctive features of the present era. Together, these factors account for the unique nature and complexity of China-U.S. strategic competition. Neither the experience of the U.S.-Soviet Cold War nor the theories and historical cases associated with the "Thucydides Trap" can adequately explain this competition, much less predict its trajectory with any precision.

In recent years, third countries have frequently misjudged China-U.S. strategic competition by viewing it through the lens of historical analogies and past experience. The Philippines and Japan are two particularly notable examples.

Since the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office, the Philippines has exaggerated the intensity of China-U.S. competition. It believes that by aligning itself with the U.S., it can secure a range of its own interests, including its claims to sovereignty and maritime rights in the so-called "West Philippine Sea." It has therefore repeatedly provoked China over the South China Sea and the Taiwan question. Yet the frictions between China and the Philippines since 2023 have shown that although the U.S. hopes to exploit the Philippines and its disputes with China, it does not want those disputes to escalate excessively, still less to take risks on the Philippines' behalf.

Japan represents the opposite extreme of misjudgment. It believes that the U.S. is showing signs of retreat and retrenchment, and that Japan therefore needs to highlight its own value while seizing the opportunity to achieve political and military normalization. It has consequently strengthened its alignment with the U.S. and repeatedly sought to court attention through its positions on historical issues such as Taiwan question.

These misjudgments of China-U.S. strategic competition have been accompanied by a misreading of China's strength. Unlike the U.S. and other countries, which have relatively objective assessments of China's capabilities, the Philippines and Japan share a tendency to seriously underestimate both China's national power and its resolve.

The Philippines believes that it can "deter" China by arming itself and recruiting more allies and partners. Japan, meanwhile, believes that it can go toe-to-toe with China even without the U.S. As a result, both countries have shown little hesitation in crossing China's red lines. One to China’s south and the other to its north, they have become the two countries in the world most willing to openly defy China.

In recent months, these misjudgments by the Philippines and Japan have become the greatest source of instability in Asia-Pacific security. At a time when the overall China-U.S. relationship has become relatively stable and predictable, the actions of the Philippines and Japan deserve even greater attention and vigilance from countries in the region. For China, it is necessary to assess objectively the impact of intervention by the U.S. and other external actors, while treating the Philippines and Japan as independent actors rather than merely as "U.S. followers." China should strengthen its countermeasures against provocations by the two countries and ultimately compel them to "return to reality."

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Takaichi's ambiguity betrayal of history: China Daily editorial

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Takaichi's ambiguity betrayal of history: China Daily editorial

Takaichi's ambiguity betrayal of history: China Daily editorial

Article 24 of 29

China Daily

Originally published at https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/10/WS6a79baaca310986e2b469f8e.html

Publication Date: August 10, 2026

Eighty-one years ago, Nagasaki was erased in a blinding flash, with 74,000 victims incinerated by a weapon that should have been the last. Three days earlier, Hiroshima had suffered the same fate.

During those three days, Japanese militarists kept insisting that people sacrifice themselves for the "glorious Empire of Japan". The destruction of Nagasaki finally shattered that dangerous faith and forced Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers six days later.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made it clear at the Hiroshima memorial ceremony on Thursday and again at the Nagasaki memorial ceremony on Sunday that the country's neo-militarists have learned nothing from the horrors of the bombings. At Nagasaki's Peace Park, the city's mayor, Shiro Suzuki, called nuclear weapons an "absolute evil". Yet, standing just a few feet away, Takaichi offered only deliberate ambiguity over whether her government will abide by the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

Japan already operates under the protection of the United States' nuclear umbrella. To invoke a purported "external threat" as a rationale for acquiring an independent nuclear deterrent is hardly the "realistic and pragmatic approach" Takaichi describes — rather, it lays bare the unmistakable ambitions of the country's neo-militarist faction.

Takaichi will not say she intends to revise the principles, but neither will she promise to preserve them. She speaks only of current policy, deliberately leaving the future open to interpretation. This is the slow-motion dismantling of a commitment that has defined postwar Japan.

The hypocrisy is staggering. Here is a prime minister attending the memorials for victims of nuclear hellfire, surrounded by aging hibakusha, victims of atomic destruction — whose average age is over 86 — yet she will not reaffirm the principles these survivors have defended for decades. When the hibakusha protest her stance on "nuclear sharing" with the US, and when a record 128 local assemblies urge her government to uphold the three principles, her response is little more than a verbal shrug. No wonder Moscow called Japan's nuclear memorial act hypocritical — Takaichi equivocates on the non-nuclear principles while refusing to even ask why the bombs fell on Japan.

The "realism" that Takaichi invokes is increasingly aligned with the right-wing's neo-militarist ambitions. For Japan's remilitarization, "reality" means expanding military capabilities and deepening reliance on the alliance with the US. "Pragmatism" means leveraging Washington's desire for a more heavily armed Japan and stronger Asia-Pacific ally to create political space for nuclear ambiguity. Should we call this the Atomic Stockholm Syndrome?

Japan, the only country ever atom-bombed, now flirts with nuclear weapons under "extended deterrence". The US umbrella is a crutch, and Takaichi wants Japan to lean on it rather than lean on peace. Tokyo refuses to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, calling it "ineffective" to address its "security concerns".

Japan is in the unique position to be the moral voice for the abolition of nuclear weapons; but obligation requires clarity of conviction.

Takaichi has offered nothing but ambiguity. She does not need to formally rewrite the three principles. They can be diluted through reinterpretation, administrative decisions and incremental policy changes. If Washington looks the other way because it wants a more militarized Japan as part of its regional strategy, alliance politics could easily overwhelm international objections. What is at stake, therefore, is more than Japan's military posture. It is Japan's historical identity and regional stability.

Eighty-one years after Fat Man fell on Nagasaki, Takaichi stood in Peace Park and blurred the edges of a promise generations of Japanese have held sacred. The city's mayor was right: Nuclear deterrence does not eliminate the risk of catastrophe; it institutionalizes it.

The Takaichi government is intent on "honoring" the dead by placing their descendants under the shadow of the same weapons that destroyed them. When the last hibakusha is gone, what will remain of their plea? A prime minister who could not bring herself to unequivocally declare: "I promise to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles". That is not realism. It is a betrayal of history.

"Nanjing Massacre" Must Not Be Whitewashed as "Nanjing Incident"

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — "Nanjing Massacre" Must Not Be Whitewashed as "Nanjing Incident"

"Nanjing Massacre" Must Not Be Whitewashed as "Nanjing Incident"

Article 25 of 29

China Military Online

By @zhejiangxuanchuan

Originally published at http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/O_251451/16479025.html

Publication Date: August 12, 2026

By Jin Xuan

Ruins left by the atomic bombing, photographed near the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Parkin Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 2026. /Xinhua

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museumin Japan is currently undergoing its first major exhibition update in 30 years. However, the proposed changes, once made public, sparked widespread concern and strong opposition from the international community. Under the current proposal, "Nanjing Massacre" would be replaced with "Nanjing Incident."

This seemingly minor attempt to distort history is in fact part of the historical revisionist tactics employed by Japanese right-wing forces as they advance their agenda step by step. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum was established to promote peace, but it is now being turned into a tool for whitewashing Japan's war of aggression and advancing the agenda of right-wing forces. This development is particularly egregious.

The Nanjing Massacre is a historical atrocity confirmed by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and supported by overwhelming evidence. The term "massacre"is a characterization that clearly denotes large-scale, organized wartime atrocities, whereas "incident"is a neutral term that can refer to any accidental or ordinary historical occurrence. The primary danger posed by this alteration is that it seeks to strip the historical crime of its established legal characterization and trample on historical justice. The Nanjing Massacre was by no means an ordinary historical event, but a heinous crime against humanity. Erasing the characterization of the atrocities as a "massacre" is, in essence, an attempt to whitewash the crimes of aggression. Such a move reopens the historical wounds of the victimized peoples, desecrates historical truth, and, more seriously, challenges international judicial justice.

The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum is a venue for peace education in Japan. For years, it has focused heavily on Japan's suffering from the atomic bombings, emphasizing a one-sided image of Japan as a "victim of war"while deliberately downplaying its historical culpability as an aggressor. This latest change in wording further exacerbates the imbalance in this historical narrative. For Japanese young people, a fragmented and whitewashed historical narrative may lead them to remember only their country's suffering while turning a blind eye to the grave crimes committed in Japan's wars of aggression, gradually fostering a one-sided and distorted view of history. Such subtle indoctrination will continue to erode Japanese society's capacity for historical reflection, creating fertile ground in public opinion for right-wing forces to deny Japan's aggression and undermine the postwar order.

In the long run, such actions will undermine the international consensus established after World War II and erode the foundations of peace and mutual trust. The established historical conclusions and international order resulting from the victory in World War II were forged with the blood of anti-fascist heroes around the world. Facing up to its war crimes and sincerely acknowledging and repenting for them constitute the political foundation for Japan's postwar return to the international community and for rebuilding and developing peaceful relations between China and Japan and across East Asia. Such distortion of history continues to erode Japan's national credibility and fracture the shared understanding of history in East Asia. When historical truth is obscured and culpability is downplayed, the cautionary significance of war will diminish, and the foundations of regional peace and stability will inevitably be weakenedas a result.

In Japan, denial, concealment, and efforts to erase the memory of the Nanjing Massacre have a long history. This latest episode is by no means an isolated incident. This historical backlash does not come solely from the Japanese government; right-wing forces within Japanese society are also fueling it. The historical record must not be tampered with, and irrefutable evidence can never be erased. Any attempt to downplay these crimes is nothing but self-deception. The historical facts of the Nanjing Massacre are recorded in international judicial records, archived in historical documents and the shared memory of humanity. They will not be shaken in any wayby Japan's attempts to distort history.

The right-wing forces' manipulation of distorted historical narratives will not solve Japan's domestic problems; instead, it will only provoke growing resentment from the outside world. In reality, neighboring countries, increasingly vigilant against Japan's neo-militarism, are responding in various ways to rein inJapan's right-wing forces and push back against their agenda. Indonesian netizens have come forward to recount how their elders, after suffering atrocities at the hands of the Japanese military, took their own lives in despair. Australian netizens have shared clear photographs showing Japanese troops beheading prisoners of war. South Korean scholars have also offered pointed advice to Japan, arguing that it must, above all, stop its provocations and seek lasting peace with its neighbors through sincerity.

If Japan allows its right-wing forces to continue racing down the wrong path, it will only end up isolating itself from the civilized world. Only by squarely confronting its history of aggression, sincerely reflecting on its past, and abandoning its fixation on historical revisionism can Japan truly shed its historical burden and earn the respect of the international community.

(Adapted from an article published on the WeChat account "zhejiangxuanchuan")

Japanese militarists' numerous crimes against humanity constitute an ironclad historical record, allowing no denial or desecration

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Japanese militarists' numerous crimes against humanity constitute an ironclad historical record, allowing no denial or desecration

Japanese militarists' numerous crimes against humanity constitute an ironclad historical record, allowing no denial or desecration

Article 26 of 29

China Military Online

By Chu Xinyu, Cheng Zhaoqi

Originally published at http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/O_251451/16479425.html

Publication Date: August 12, 2026

By Chu Xinyu and Cheng Zhaoqi

An obelisk located on the former site of Camp O'Donnell  in Capas, Tarlac Province, the Philippines, surrounded by walls inscribed with the names of victims who died in the camp during World War II. (Photo by Zhang Yisheng)

In modern history, Japanese militarism launched wars of aggression, bringing profound disasters to the people of Asian countries. Across the Asia-Pacific region, the Japanese military committed a series of atrocities against humanity, including massacres, forced enslavement, human experimentation and so on. Characterized by cruel methods, wide scope, and systematic execution, these acts mark an extremely dark chapter in human history. Taking history as a mirror, Japan must stop any attempt to whitewash aggression or distort history, and face up to the heinous atrocities committed by the Japanese military in Asia. All parties should jointly uphold the historical conclusions and legal principles established by righteous post-war trials, and earnestly safeguard the outcomes of victory in World War II and the post-war international order.

Among the various atrocities committed by the Japanese military, organized and large-scale massacres of civilians were the most shocking. In addition to committing atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre in China, the Japanese military also slaughtered innocent civilians on a massive scale across Southeast Asia.

In February 1942, to cut off the support from Singapore's Chinese community for China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and to intimidate local residents through violence, the Japanese military launched the so-called "Sook Ching" (purging through cleansing) operation. Under the pretext of census, local Chinese men aged 18 to 50 were rounded up in designated areas, screened, and then transported to beaches and jungles for mass killing. While official Japanese records admitted to around 5,000 victims, research by the Singapore's Chinese community and most scholars confirms that the actual death toll ranged from 25,000 to 50,000. This "Sook Ching Massacre," together with the Nanjing Massacre and the Manila Massacre, are known as the three major massacres of civilians committed by the Japanese military during WWII.

The wanton torture and killing of prisoners of war (POWs) represented another typical crime through which the Japanese military openly violated international laws of war and trampled on the bottom line of humanity. In April 1945, after three US aircrew members were captured following an emergency landing, Japanese military Garrison Commander Otohiko Inoue took it upon himself to order their execution. Japanese troops brutally murdered the POWs through beheading and repeated stabbing, subsequently burning the bodies and destroying evidence—an act of extreme malice. In March 1945, after launching Meigō Operation and breaching the LạngSơn defense line, The Japanese military stationed in Indochina atrociously massacred 300 surrendered French POWs who had laid down their arms. The relevant crimes were prosecuted in the Saigon Trials, and four involved Japanese officers were sentenced to death.

For a long time, certain one-sided historical narratives have downplayed the suffering of Asian POWs and forced laborers, ignoring the fact that Asian people were the primary victims of Japan's enslavement policy. Starting in 1942, the Tōjō Hideki Cabinet decided to forcibly conscript Chinese laborers to Japan to fill labor shortages. From 1944 to 1945, nearly 1,000 Chinese laborers were forciblytransported to the Hanaoka region to perform heavy manual labor under abysmal conditions. Following the failure of the laborer uprising in 1945, more than 100 people were tortured to death within days, resulting in the "Hanaoka Incident "—a stark testimony to Japanese militarist aggression and enslavement of the Chinese people. In the South West Pacific Theater, the Japanese military similarly abused Asian POWs on a large scale. Among the "Eight Hundred Heroes" of the Battle of Shanghai, 57 were transported in 1942 to Rabaul in Papua New Guinea for hard labor, suffering inhuman torture.

In addition, the Japanese military crossed the bottom line of human ethics by enforcing the "comfort women" system, conducting human experimentation on living people, and even instructing subordinates to mutilate and cannibalize the remains of Allied POWs out of a twisted mindset to boast of war achievements. The Batavia Trials revealed that the Japanese military forcibly conscripted thousands of European and Indonesian women on Java Island and other places to serve as "comfort women," treating women as instruments of war and committing grave crimes against humanity. In the "Truk Incident " tried by the war crimes trial held in Guam, Japanese military doctors subjected POWs to atrocities such as bacterial injections, explosive blast tests, and vivisections under the guise of medical experiments. In the "Chichijima Incident," the Japanese garrison stationed on Chichijima brutally murdered captured American airmen, dismembered their remains, and cannibalized their organs. The nature of this atrocity was so appalling that even the Japanese defense lawyer recorded the case as a crime "against all morality."

The numerous atrocities committed by the Japanese military in Asia are scars of suffering engraved in the memory of the people across the Asia-Pacific, constituting an ironclad historical record that allows no denial or desecration. The post-war trials conducted in various countries established the fundamental principles of international law that "aggression is a crime, atrocities must be punished, and guilty individuals must assume responsibility," providing an important legal paradigm for humanity to safeguard peace and punish evil. Recognizing the value of justice embodied in the post-war trials and resolutely resisting the adverse current of historical revisionism is the shared responsibility of all peace-loving countries and people.

On February 11, 2026, South Korean civic groups held a rally in Seoul, demanding that the Japanese government sincerely apologizefor the "comfort women" issueand compensate the victims. (Photo by Shi Jue)

(The authors are respectively an assistant research fellow at the Research Institute of War Crimes Trials and World Peace, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and director of the Center for the Tokyo Trial Studies at the Research Institute of War Crimes Trials and World Peace, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Editor's note: Originally published on people.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.

How can Japanese right-wing forces be allowed to overturn historical conclusions of Tokyo Trials?

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — How can Japanese right-wing forces be allowed to overturn historical conclusions of Tokyo Trials?

How can Japanese right-wing forces be allowed to overturn historical conclusions of Tokyo Trials?

Article 27 of 29

China Military Online

By Huan Yuping

Originally published at http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/2025xb/O_251451/16479429.html

Publication Date: August 14, 2026

On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender. Although this marked the end of the war of aggression, it was the Tokyo Trials 80 years ago that truly put an end to the war in legal terms. However, to this day, right-wing forces in Japan are still deliberately trying to reverse the verdict on Japan's history of aggression, seeking to break free from the constraints of the post-war international order and pave the way for "remilitarization" by negating the outcomes of the Tokyo Trials. Faced with these egregious acts, revisiting the legal principles of the Tokyo Trials and upholding the historical justice that must not be distorted is essential to curbing the revival of Japanese militarism and safeguarding peace in Asia and the world.

On May 3, 1946, pursuant to arrangements regarding Japan's unconditional surrender and the Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East officially convened in Tokyo, Japan. Bringing together judicial forces from 11 nations, the trial lasted two and a half years, held 818 sessions, summoned 419 witnesses to testify, admitted 4,336 pieces of evidence, and produced nearly 50,000 pages of English court records.

Relying on extensive and compelling evidence and rigorous legal reasoning, the Tribunal ruled in accordance with the law that Japanese militarism launched wars of aggression and severely violated international law. It thoroughly exposed the heinous crimes committed by Japanese forces in multiple Asian countries and sentenced 25 Class-A war criminals, including Hideki Tojo, to corresponding penalties. The Tokyo Trials represented the concrete implementation of the provisions of the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, reflected the collective will of the victorious nations and victims, put into practice the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and firmly safeguarded the outcomes of victory in the World Anti-Fascist War.

Accepting the judgment of the Tokyo Trials served as an important legal prerequisite for post-war Japan to rejoin the international community. The Tokyo Trials were not merely an accountability process for past crimes, but more importantly, provided fundamental norms for post-war Japan to reshape its national development trajectory, shake off the militarist system, and embark on a path of peaceful development. Together with the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, and Japan's "pacifist Constitution," which subsequently came into effect, it formed the institutional foundation for post-war Japan's peaceful path. In this sense, the Tokyo Trials drew a red line for Japan to start anew: only by making a clean break with militarism can Japan win acceptance from the international community; only by strictly abiding by pacifism can it achieve long-term stable national development.

However, Japanese right-wing forces have constantly attempted to blur or even completely erase this red line. Scholars' research indicates that Japanese right-wing politicians have concocted three main arguments to deny the Tokyo Trials: first, claiming that the trials were merely "victors' justice"; second, falsely asserting that the trials applied "ex post facto law" and that the relevant charges did not exist at the time; and third, stigmatizing facing up to the history of aggression as a "masochistic view of history." All these arguments, in the final analysis, are aimed at finding pretexts to reverse the verdict on the history of aggression.

The so-called "victors' justice" argument is, in essence, a deliberate attempt to blur the boundary between right and wrong. This trial, jointly conducted by 11 nations and based on a series of international legal documents, was by no means a power-driven decision by a single country. The Tokyo Trials demonstrated the victory of justice, and their legal value has long transcended the win-lose dynamic to become a norm of international law jointly observed by all humanity.

The fallacy of "ex post facto law" actually aims to negate the legitimacy of the trials so as to evade historical guilt. The Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East explicitly conferred jurisdiction upon the court, and its judgment is binding on Japan under international law. In the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, Japan pledged to faithfully fulfill the Potsdam Proclamation, which in turn reaffirmed the legal effect of the Cairo Declaration, forming a complete legal chain.

The so-called "masochistic view of history" is intended to undermine established historical and legal conclusions by amplifying Japan's own "victimhood" narrative. However, the rigorous procedures and detailed evidence of the Tokyo Trials are more than sufficient to debunk such false claims.

In addition to concocting rhetorical tricks, Japanese right-wing politicians, in disregard of the feelings of the victimized peoples, visit the Yasukuni Shrine which honors Class-A war criminals, tamper with history textbooks, and glorify militarist crimes. Accepting the trial results to rejoin the international community on the one hand while trying to hollow out the historical significance of the trial conclusions on the other is not historical amnesia, but a move driven by practical calculations.

Historical issues are not "old accounts" that can simply be closed, but a "credit report" that determines whether a nation can earn the trust ofthe world. If Japan wants to truly earn the trust of the international community today, it must respect the conclusions of the Tokyo Trials, face up to its history of aggression, and strictly abide by the post-war order. This is a matter ofbasic political ethics and the bare minimum of international credit.

The unsettled ghost of Japan's 'Greater East Asia' lie

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — The unsettled ghost of Japan's 'Greater East Asia' lie

The unsettled ghost of Japan's 'Greater East Asia' lie

Article 28 of 29

CGTN

By Zhang Wan

Originally published at https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-08-13/The-unsettled-ghost-of-Japan-s-Greater-East-Asia-lie-1PzrnVooQiQ/p.html

Publication Date: August 13, 2026

Japanese citizens take part in an anti-war rally near Nagasaki Peace Park in Nagasaki, Japan, on the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, 2026. /Xinhua

Japanese citizens take part in an anti-war rally near Nagasaki Peace Park in Nagasaki, Japan, on the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, 2026. /Xinhua

Editor's note: Zhang Wan is a current affairs commentator. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper identifies China as an "unprecedented and greatest strategic challenge," while the Sanae Takaichi cabinet openly claims that "Taiwan's emergency is Japan's emergency," even hinting at possible military intervention in the Taiwan Strait. This political maneuver – fabricating an external threat, stoking a sense of crisis, and then breaking through military constraints – is structurally identical to the narrative logic Japanese militarism employed during World War II under the banners of "establishing the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" to justify aggression and expansion.

The past is not so distant: Every time Japan declared an "emergency," it has ultimately meant bloodshed for its neighbors. The "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" was, from beginning to end, a project of plunder and massacre carried out under the guise of "co-prosperity."

The bloody reality behind the lie

In Japanese official rhetoric, the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" was packaged as a new order that would "expel Western colonialists and ensure stability in East Asia." In reality, however, it closely resembled Nazi Germany's "Lebensraum" (living space) doctrine – using the language of "civilization and enlightenment" to mask resource extraction and racial oppression.

After the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japan rapidly occupied the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Burma, and Vietnam, imposing brutal colonial rule on local populations and committing countless atrocities. In April 1942, Japanese forces forced approximately 75,000 American and Philipino prisoners of war on a 65-mile (105-kilometer) march known as the notorious "Bataan Death March," one of the worst prisoner-of-war atrocities in World War II. In the 1945 Manila Massacre, approximately 100,000 civilians lost their lives.

Between 1944 and 1945, Japan's forced grain requisitioning in Vietnam triggered a famine that claimed roughly two million lives. In Singapore, Japanese forces carried out systematic massacres of ethnic Chinese residents, with tens of thousands killed.

To secure an overland supply route between Thailand and Burma, the Japanese military conscripted over 60,000 Allied prisoners of war and hundreds of thousands of Asian laborers to build the Thailand-Burma Railway. In the sweltering, disease-ridden jungles, prisoners and laborers endured inhuman treatment. More than 150,000 perished in construction, an average of 360 deaths per kilometer of track laid. This stretch of railway is still known today as the "Death Railway."

On the Chinese mainland, Japanese atrocities are too numerous to fully recount. The Nanking Massacre claimed 300,000 Chinese lives. In the anti-Japanese base areas, the Japanese army implemented the brutal "Three Alls" policy, namely "Kill All, Burn All, Loot All," razing countless villages to ashes. These acts of violence establish Japan as modern Asia's largest single source of catastrophe.

People take part in a protest around Japan's National Diet Building in Tokyo, calling for the protection of the pacifist Constitution, April 19, 2026. /Xinhua

People take part in a protest around Japan's National Diet Building in Tokyo, calling for the protection of the pacifist Constitution, April 19, 2026. /Xinhua

Fifty years of colonial rule in Taiwan: A forgotten history

From 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was colonized by Japan. For five decades, the people of Taiwan endured political oppression, economic exploitation, and cultural assimilation. More than 650,000 people in Taiwan perished in resistance to Japanese colonial rule – roughly one-tenth of Taiwan's population at the time. Japanese colonial monopolies controlled 94% of Taiwan's banking sector and 96% of its electric power industry, reducing the island's economy to a dependency of Japanese industry. The "Japanization" movement forced people in Taiwan to adopt Japanese names, speak Japanese, and worship Shinto deities – a systematic attempt to sever Taiwan's cultural ties with Chinese civilization.

Yet today, Japanese right-wing figures and separatist forces within Taiwan are attempting to whitewash this colonial history as a process of "modernization." Just as no one would call Nazi occupation "European integration," no one should ever call Japanese colonialism "development assistance."

Written commitments and willful betrayal

During the negotiations leading to the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, Japan formally submitted a diplomatic document, the Japanese Proposal for Explaining the Joint Statement, which explicitly stated that the return of Taiwan to China is "the unchanged position of the Japanese government"; Japan "does not envisage any future legal status for Taiwan other than as part of the territory of the People's Republic of China"; and the Taiwan issue "should be resolved by the Chinese people themselves, that is, as a domestic issue of China."

Japan's current hype around "Taiwan contingency" and its implicit threats of armed intervention are not only a gross interference in China's internal affairs, but also a flagrant repudiation of its own legally binding international commitments.

The ghost of history has not faded

From the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" to "Taiwan emergency," Japan's narrative formula remains strikingly consistent: manufacture a threat, stoke fear, break constraints, and intervene abroad. Japan's accelerating re-militarization is essentially an effort to legitimize constitutional revision and military expansion.

The international community's vigilance against Nazi Germany shaped the post-war order, and the memory of Japanese militarism should not fade either. History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. When a nation begins to echo the language of "protection" and "emergency," Asian countries, especially those that lost millions of lives under Japan's lie of "co-prosperity," have every reason to remain vigilant.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)

Taiwan groups warn of Taiwan Strait security risks due to Japan's neo-militarism

Imperial Japan: Then and Now — Taiwan groups warn of Taiwan Strait security risks due to Japan's neo-militarism

Taiwan groups warn of Taiwan Strait security risks due to Japan's neo-militarism

Article 29 of 29

Xinhua

By huaxia

Originally published at https://english.news.cn/20260816/f2b9205de81d405bad1fae15c173be8e/c.html

Publication Date: August 16, 2026

TAIPEI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Several Taiwan-based groups have voiced opposition to Japan's neo-militarism, warning that Tokyo's push for a greater military role in regional affairs could undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and throughout East Asia.

Their concerns were expressed at forums, seminars and a public gathering held on Friday and Saturday, as Aug. 15 this year marks the 81st anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II.

At a forum in Taipei, more than 10 organizations, including the Reunification Alliance Party, brought together scholars and experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Japan and Australia.

Participants called on people on both sides of the Strait and across Asia to draw lessons from history, oppose the expansionist ambitions of Japanese right-wing forces, and safeguard peace and stability in East Asia.

Citing remarks previously made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Wang Yung, president of the Reunification Alliance Party and host of the forum, said they suggested the possibility of Japan's military intervention in Taiwan-related affairs and represented a key sign of the country's accelerating remilitarization.

The Japanese government was seeking to loosen the constraints imposed by its pacifist Constitution and the long-standing post-war principle of an "exclusively defense-oriented policy," Wang noted, warning that such moves could have serious repercussions for security in the Taiwan Strait and peace in East Asia.

A seminar was also held on Saturday in Taichung, central Taiwan, drawing over 30 descendants of resistance fighters who fought against Japanese aggression, as well as historians, teachers and students.

The event was jointly organized by several Taiwan-based groups, including an association representing relatives of patriots who fought against Japanese aggression.

Li Su-hui, daughter of anti-Japanese resistance fighter Li Tsang-chiang, said her family retained painful memories of resistance to Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan from 1895 to 1945.

"Remembering history is not merely about paying tribute to those who came before us, but also about passing on the spirit of resistance from generation to generation," Li said.

She voiced concern over the resurgence of Japanese right-wing forces and signs of militarism re-emerging, saying the seminar could help young people develop a proper understanding of their national identity and history.

"We are part of the Chinese nation, and the lessons of history must not be forgotten," Li said.

Shaw Kai-ping, also a descendant of an anti-Japanese resistance fighter, warned of the risks posed by both a revival of Japanese militarism and growing secessionist activities in Taiwan.

"At a time when the Democratic Progressive Party authorities are vigorously promoting a secessionist narrative, we need to stand up and help more people in Taiwan recognize that our motherland is China and our ancestral homeland is on the Chinese mainland," he said.

On Friday, several civic groups, such as the Reunification Alliance Party and the Labor Party, gathered and protested outside the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei.

Wu Jung-yuan, chairman of the Labor Party, said Japan's war of aggression against China had caused more than 35 million Chinese casualties, while Taiwan endured 50 years of Japanese colonial rule, inflicting profound suffering on people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"Taiwan is part of China," Wu said, calling on people on both sides of the Strait to work together to oppose external interference, safeguard peace and stability across the Strait, and strive for national reunification. ■