Japanese filmmaker to make documentary claiming that the Nanking Massacre is nothing more than political propaganda

The Japan Times has reported that the Nanking issue is about to heat up:

About 40 people, including Diet members, university professors and critics, rallied Wednesday behind a Japanese director’s plan to shoot a film putting his spin on the Nanjing Massacre in which he claims the butchery of Chinese by the Japanese Imperial Army is nothing more than political propaganda.

In a news conference held to “strike back against an erroneous understanding of history,” people including Upper House members Hirofumi Ryu and Jin Matsubara gathered to support Satoru Mizushima, director and producer of “Nanking No Shinjitsu” (“The Truth About Nanjing”), which will depict the filmmaker’s account of what took place in 1937.

Though not present at the news conference held at a hotel in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, supporters of the film also include Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and well-known journalist Yoshiko Sakurai.

It is likely that the upcoming release of an American documentary based on Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking had some influence on the decision to create The Truth About Nanjing. While it might make people like Tamagawaboat happy, this new Japanese documentary is definately not going to go over well in a certain country that doesn’t have freedom of speech….

[The official stance of the Japanese government on the issue of the Nanking Massacre can be found here.]

10 comments - What do you think? Posted by James - January 25, 2007 at 11:32 am

Categories: General Japan, Politics Tags:

http://whatjapanthinks.com Ken Y-N

Where did the “myth” come from in the Japan Times headline? “Myth” implies, to me, denial of the whole thing, which the article doesn’t suggest they are going to do (nor that they aren’t going to do it, of course), so thumbs down to JT for their spin.

I’m in the camp that says that the Chinese side is exaggerated, but quibbling over minor details is a tactic to distract from the main facts, one which I also see often from Holocaust deniers.

This is only going to get ugly…
http://www.japanprobe.com James

Ken Y-N:

I totally agree about the Japan Times’ headline, hence I dropped the word “myth” in my post. While I think the Chinese have exploited history and exaggerated the body count for political purposes, quibbling over the body count only makes the Japanese look like, as you say, Holocaust deniers. I think it would probably be best to stop arguing with the Chinese for a decade or so, let relations with China improve, and then push to have the world recognize a more accurate version of history.
http://bufanler.spaces.live.com Fan Zhang

I think the new documentary “Nanking”, now showing at Sundance film festival, is more likely to have had more influence on the decision than the other upcoming movie based on Chang’s book. Iris Chang might have had good intentions, but her book had many flaws. So, a movie based on her book is not going to be too much of a threat for the Nanking deniers. That movie might actually help them in some ways. The real threat for them is “Nanking”. I haven’t seen the film, so I can’t say how much real history is in it.

As you know I have been paying a lot of attention on Nanking Massacre. I found that majority of right wing Japanese do not deny the killing of POWs took place in Nanking. However, they think the executions were legal based on international laws. They also don’t seem to deny that some civilians were also killed, but, the civilians were killed in the cross fire just like in any war according to them. Whatever the truth is, I simply can not except the fact that they think the executions of disarmed POWs were legal. Japan and China should come together for a joint research. The current confusions are to be blamed on both countries. I wish they can work it out, but I don’t think it is going to be easy. I have been cursed at by many Chinese for being fair to Japan. Ironically, in the past couple of days I have been getting the same treatment from many Japanese. Maybe, this is why I feel like the luckiest person to live in US despite our own problems.

Here are two previews on “Nanking”: http://nankingthefilm.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WO1FkTynh8

Here are some good discussions: http://www.docsthatinspire.com/?p=48
http://www.transpacificradio.com Alex

Thank you for the links Fan. In the You Tube link, I was a little surprised to hear them say its a “Shindlers List Story in Asia”.

I have red Iris Chang’s book as well as other books on the subject I bought from Yasukuni Shrine to give a polar opposite view. Frankly, I’m quite convinced that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Massacre is a good word because it sounds horrendous. And war in general is horrendous. I would hate this to be blown out of proportion in order to make a movie.
http://bufanler.spaces.live.com Fan Zhang

I would call it a “massacre” just based on the number of POWs executed. When 60 American POWs were executed by Germans on Dec 17, 1944, we call it “Malmedy Massacre”.

Now let us assume these executions were legal, then it would be the largest LEGAL execution of POWs during WWII.

There are some who argue these were not POWs, they were Guerrillas. Therefore, execution of guerrillas is not a criminal case in a war sitiation according to law. This might be true, but these Guerrillas(if they were) were disarmed before they were executed. These actions simply do not pass the moral test, even through they might have been legal.
tomojiro

Fan, thanks for your links. Some of the comments of a bunch of revisionist are disgusting and as a Japanese I feel ashamed.

Here is a interesting review about the discussions in the Japanese academic field.
http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/Askew.html

Another interesting site with full of first hand testimony and confessions of soldiers. Maybe you are already familliar with these but anyway I will post it.
http://www.geocities.com/nankingatrocities/note/note.htm

I really hope that both the Japanese side and the chinese side stop using this tragic for political reason.
Ken

Here is a press release for the movie which correct the falase by Iris Chang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_SNKHu5vow&NR

Chinese people are getting aware of the truth that the deed was done by Korean regiment, etc. as follows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz3OO2C-W0k

It will be also proved that the number is too exagerated before long.
Jiang

No matter it was 300,000 or 200,000 people were killed, this is indeed brutal crime. The core issue here is not how many ppl. got killed; it is that lots of Japanese do not admit and regret for what they had done in the WWII! I feel shamed and sorry for the Japanese younger generation. Most of them are brainwashed by Jap politicians. One should learn from the past, but not constantly keep denying!
It is obviously that many of the JP younger generation are twisted with their mind.
It seems that they are bounded with sort of mission to clean up their grandfathers’ mess… JP’s educational system is so much influenced by its political environment, which cannot give the younger generation a positive view of the history as a guidline for the future. In fact, all the JP ppl. deserve to know the truth, so that in the long run they how to get along with other countries around.

http://surfin-english.blogspot.com Jamie

Have you ever met any Japanese people, or are you just making an assumption based upon what you’ve been told by other people? Because the Japanese people I know are all fully aware of Nanjing, fully aware of the comfort women issue, and fully aware of Japan’s role in both. THey may disagree with numbers, and they definitely don’t feel regret for it, but I don’t regret that my grandfather used to kill Japanese people for a living either, so I don’t blame them.

I ain’t my grandfather, and it wasn’t my fault. Same goes for the younger Japanese of today.

..

i must say that making this movie will only make that japanese filmmaker, crew and all the supporters look back

the nanking massacres is of course an internationally recognized event

Japanese filmmaker to make documentary claiming that the Nanking Massacre is nothing more than political propaganda

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