Subject: Japanese Textbook Treatment of the Nanking Massacre
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JAPAN ECHO Vol. 25, No. 4, August 1998

Japanese Textbook Treatment of the Nanking Massacre

What are Japanese students being taught about the atrocities committed
by the Japanese Army when it grabbed Nanking (Nanjing) in December 1937? In
its November 22, 1996, issue Naigai KyÙiku, a periodical published by
Jiji Press, reviewed middle school history textbooks for use in the 1997
school year (April 1997 to March 1998), and in its December 19, 1997, issue it
reviewed high school history textbooks for use in 1998. Here are extracts on
the start of the Sino-Japanese War and the capture of Nanking from the four
most widely used texts.

MIDDLE SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

Shinpen--Atarashii shakai: Rekishi (New Social Studies: History,
New Edition). Tokyo: TÙkyÙ Shoseki, 1998. Used by 41% of middle schools. From
the section "The Start of the Sino-Japanese War" (p. 254):

Having brought Manchuria under its control, Japan advanced into northern
China. The Sino-Japanese War began on July 7, 1937 (ShÙwa 12), with the Marco
Polo Bridge Incident, a clash between Japanese and Chinese armed forces at the
Marco Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Peking (Beijing), without any
declaration of war being issued. The fighting spread from northern China into
central China, and at the end of the year the Japanese Army occupied the
capital Nanking (Nanjing). In the process it killed an estimated 200,000
people, including women and children (the Great Nanking Massacre).

Chšgaku shakai: Rekishiteki bun'ya (Middle School Social Studies:
The Field of History). Osaka: Œsaka Shoseki, 1998. Used by 19% of middle
schools. From the section "The Sino-Japanese War" (pp. 252-53):

On July 7, 1937 (ShÙwa 12), Japanese troops clashed with Chinese troops
near Peking (Beijing) at the Marco Polo Bridge. Acting while the attitude of
the government was still ambivalent, the Japanese Army extended the battle
into Shanghai. In this way an all-out war between Japan and China began in the
absence of a declaration of war. China's Nationalist government formed an
anti-Japanese national front with the Communist Party and fought to repel
Japan's invasion.

The Japanese Army encountered fierce resistance everywhere. It is said to
have killed 200,000 people after occupying Nanking (Nanjing), and it was
censured by various foreign governments.1 But the Japanese people
were not informed of these facts.

Footnote 1. This is known as the Great Nanking Massacre Incident,
and the Chinese authorities assert that more than 300,000 people were
slaughtered. In addition, from around 1940 on, a three-pronged campaign to
burn, kill, and plunder was set in motion against anti-Japanese strongholds in
northern China, and it had a devastating impact on the lives and the
livelihoods of the Chinese masses.

HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS

ShÙsetsu: Nihonshi kaiteiban (A Detailed Exposition of Japanese
History, Revised Edition). Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppansha, 1998. Used by 38% of
high schools. From the section "The Sino-Japanese War" (pp. 323-24):

On July 7, 1937 (ShÙwa 12), shortly after the installation of Konoe
Fumimaro's first cabinet, Japanese and Chinese forces clashed at the Marco
Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Peking (Beijing)--the Marco Polo Bridge
Incident. A local cease-fire agreement was reached, but because of factors
including pressure from military hard-liners, the Konoe cabinet revised its
policy line of no expansion and determined on an increase of troops. Military
action escalated; the battle spread from the north to the south and, over
time, throughout China.1 In order to offer the maximum resistance,
the Nationalist government engaged in its second joint operation with the
Communist Party in late September, and an anti-Japanese national front was
established. The Sino-Japanese War escalated in this way without any
declaration of war. Japan sent in one big army after another. But while it
managed at the end of the year to occupy the capital Nanking
(Nanjing),2 the Nationalist Army continued to put up resistance
even as it retreated to Wuhan and then to Chungking (Chongqing) in the
interior. As a result, peace efforts had no effect, and a long war seemed in
the offing.

Footnote 1. Initially known as the "North China Incident," it was
later renamed the "China Incident." While neither side had declared war, it
developed into what was in fact an all-out war.

Footnote 2. On this occasion the Japanese forces killed many
Chinese, including noncombatants, and after Japan's defeat this (the Nanking
Incident) became a major issue at the Tokyo Trial.

Nihonshi B (Japanese History B). Tokyo: JikkyÙ Shuppan, 1998.
Used by 7% of high schools. From the section "The Widening Spread of the
Sino-Japanese War" (pp. 318-19):

Just after that, on July 7 [1937], fighting broke out between Japanese and
Chinese forces at the Marco Polo Bridge outside of Peking (Beijing)--the Marco
Polo Bridge Incident. A temporary cease-fire was reached on the scene, but the
Konoe cabinet determined to send in troops with the idea of giving China a
punch, suppressing the anti-Japanese movement, and securing northern Chinese
resources and markets; this was called the "North China Incident." The
fighting spread to Shanghai in August (the Second Shanghai Incident), and the
affair was renamed the "China Incident" in September. Without declaring war,
Japan embarked on an all-out invasion of China--the Sino-Japanese War.

Contrary to Japanese expectations that the country could be subdued with a
single big thrust, China, which had forged an anti-Japanese national front,
resisted fiercely. Japan sent in massive forces, and in December they occupied
Nanking (Nanjing), the capital of the Nationalist government. On that occasion
the Japanese troops killed many Chinese, including soldiers who had
surrendered or been captured, and went on a rampage of looting, burning, and
raping. This was internationally censured as the Great Nanking Massacre. In
the few weeks before and after the occupation the number of deaths, including
combatants, is estimated to have been at least one hundred and several tens of
thousands.

© 1998 Japan Echo Inc.