Ready for a history deep dive? 🧐 Last Saturday, a civil group in Saitama Prefecture organized a study session to shine a light on the Nanjing Massacre—one of the darkest chapters of WWII. With 2025 marking the 80th anniversary of the war’s end, scholars from Japan, Germany, and Russia are joining voices to urge Japan to face its past honestly and prevent future mistakes.
“It is crucial for us to critically examine Japan’s past history, and spreading the correct historical narrative has become even more important,” says one participant, highlighting the power of collective memory in shaping a more peaceful future.
Japanese scholar Yoichi Jomaru, a former Asahi Shimbun journalist, reveals that a systematic review of newspapers from around 1937 shows deliberate concealment of atrocities by the Japanese army during the invasion of the Chinese mainland. “Even if it is a brutal and shameful part of history, we cannot deny the Nanjing Massacre, nor can we deny history,” he stresses.
Jomaru believes that Japan can only build genuine understanding and trust with its Asian neighbors by honestly acknowledging its wartime responsibilities. He points out that one of the key post-war failures has been the lack of a widespread societal consensus on the nature of Japan’s wartime aggression.
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Japan urged to confront its history of aggression with honesty
cgtn.com
