The Rape of Nanking

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Summary: Living in Japan has proven to me: Iris Chang is correct!
Review: This book has become something of a sensation since it was first published. I read it then, back in 1997, and periodically return to it. Most Japanese do indeed seem to be in a state of deep denial about Nanking in specific and about Japan's violent occupation of China in general. The critics of this book on Amazon, all or almost all of whom appear to be Japanese, provide quibbling (Japanese: "komakai") evasions about the events in this book, but the testimonies of thousands of first-hand witnesses, Chinese, Japanese, European, and American alike, has confirmed the basic facts provided by Chang. "Japan at War" by Theodore and Haruko Cook in particular provides thorough, horrifying accounts by former Japanese soldiers of how they quickly learned to think of the Chinese as less than human. The Japanese referred to them as "maruta" - "logs." One former Imperial Army member admitted that decapitating Chinese became so automatic to him that to this day he couldn't look at a person's neck without wondering how easily he could slice through it with his sword.

One Japanese critic here on Amazon wrote that the Japanese army committed "about 10" rapes in Nanking. I'd really like to see the evidence for this claim. A group of students at such "elite" Japanese universites as Waseda, Keio, and Tokyo University, were recently arrested for running what was essentially a gang rape club (named, oddly, "Super Free"). Well over 10 gang rapes are alleged to have been committed by "Super Free" members alone; we must believe first-hand sources that the number of rapes of Chinese in Nanking was well into the thousands.

Do the Japanese today still hold the Chinese in contempt? Do they still regard the Chinese as "maruta," or "logs." The evidence in Japan says yes. Japanese media is full of hysterical stories of Chinese "criminals" invading Japan. Japanese claim the Chinese are "dirty" ("Chukogujin kitanai ne.") Demonstrations by Japanese Nazis called "uyoku" are daily events in most big cities here in Japan. These "uyoku" blare violent diatribes over loudspeakers - diatribes frequently Japanese at the Chinese. And when these "uyoku" have their demonstrations, how many Japanese counter-demonstrators can one see? None. Not one Japanese dares to challenge them that I've seen. Cowardice, or are they in tacit agreement with them? The words of the democratically-elected governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, suggest the latter. Ishihara has made a point of using derogatory language to describe the Chinese. He refers to them as "Shinajin" ("chinks") in his speeches, and talks at length about how they are a threat to Japan's safety and quality of life. Ishihara also declared famously in 1990 that the Rape of Nanking was "a lie, a lie made up by the Chinese to embarrass Japan." Frighteningly, Ishihara is frequently mentioned as a possible Prime Minister of Japan. He'd be considered an absurd fringe candidate in any Western country, but in Japan he's hugely popular and his anti-Chinese ravings appear to have a great deal of support.

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Summary: Just read thoroughly with fair mind.
Review: I was surprised by a reader who accused people, those who rated this book with 1-star and got better responces from other readers, of conspirators.
I think, in my humble opinion, people who rated this book with 5 stars didn't read it thoroughly, if they did read it at all!
Basically, they seem to have completely forgotten the fact that the Chinese and the Japanese were fighting a war at the time of this "incident" allegedly happened.
Ms. Chang shows a map of "Sites of the Nanking Massacre" before the foreword. Those "sites" were the battlefields in which many of both Chinese and Japanese soldiers died in action. Therefore, naturally, there were a lot of dead bodies there. Then Ms. Chang completely ignores this fact and counts every dead bodies as the "victims of the massacre". Even the bodies at the Yijiang Gate were counted as the victims. These dead Chinese soldiers died before the Japanese Army even reached the gate. Some of lucky soldiers who managed to get out of the gate were not so lucky enough that, because there were no boats left for them to cross the river, they had to swim in freezing water and died. Ms. Chang described about the incident in p78, still, she counted the "innumerable" dead bodies as the victims of the Massacre.
Like in many other places, the Chinese war dead in Nanking were abandoned by their comrades and, actually, the Japanese Army paid some good money to the Chinese Self-Government Committee to bury them. They even held a Buddhism memorial service for the Chinese soldiers killed in action on 8 February 1938, which was never mentioned in this book.
Ms. Chang's view is undoubtedly biased, and so as people who determinedly not see the book's full of discrepancies.
If you think you are fair-minded, please read "What really happened in Nanking" by Tanaka Masaaki, "the Alleged `Nanking Massacre'" by Takemoto and Ohara and `The Overall Picture of the "NankingMassacre"' by Shudo Higashinakano in "Nanking 1937 : Memory and Healing" ed. by Li, Sabella and Liu. then compare them to this book before making any accusations against the Japanese Army.
After all, every civilized person should be aware of that there is always a danger of burning an innocent person as a witch.

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Summary: Bad money drives out good.
Review: Sensationalism sells more than historiography. Another sample than Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking : The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II" is James Bacque's "Other Losses : The Shocking Truth Behind the Mass Deaths of Disarmed German Soldiers and Civilians Under General Eisenhower's Command".

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Summary: Truth overcomes denials by the Guilty
Review: This is an important book. The incredible brutalities committed by the Japanese in Nanking are well known to educated historians and to the Chinese people. The Japanese committed genocide wherever they attacked throughout Asia. The number of Chinese civilians killed by the Japanese invaders throughout China is much, much higher than the numbers killed in Nanking.

What is truly amazing is that in the year 2003, many Japanese people still are denying these events took place. They rush to write negative, uninformed reviews and denials on Amazon and they team together to hit the 'NO' buttons to review other peoples' legitimate reviews. Nanking was only one location out of many locations where the Japanese invaders brutalized and murdered en masse the local populations that they occupied. Please read other books that cover the Japanese's horrible treatment of American and Fillipino prisoners of war. No other country ever killed so many of its POWs. Not even Nazi Germany!

Those of you who continue to refuse to accept responsibilty for Japan's horrific actions in the 20th century bring shame upon yourselves and upon your ancestors. The Japanese apologists should stand shoulder to shoulder with Neo-Nazis and skinheads who similarly insist that no Jews were killed by Hitler and the Nazis. You are saying the same thing. You have been brainwashed by Japan's leadership which very dishonestly refuses to accept their responsibility for Japan's crimes. Anyone who would deny Japanese attrocities before and during World War II is a disgrace to the human race. Try as they might, these apologists for Japan's murderous past will never be able to silence the truth.

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Summary: An astounding look at human barbarism...
Review: I know that many of the Japanese apologist reviewers have chastised the author of this book for fabricating most of the details. This, however, is completely ridiculous as most of the story was well documented at the time it happened by many Western observers. Poltical viewpoints aside, this book is a well-written, readable story about the barbaric atrocities that the Japanese Army committed in China during their World War II campaign in that country. These events, while not nearly as well known as those perpetrated by the Nazis, were equally terrible and tragic. The author does a great job of informing the reader about a little known tragedy. Recommended!

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Summary: If the writer of this book wrote "The Rape of AMERICA..."
Review: If I. Chang, the writer of this book, wrote "the Rape of AMERICA," it would go like this...

"The Anglo-Saxon intruders slaughtered THREE HUNDRED MILLION of Native Americans and PEELED their HEAD-SKIN as the Anglo-Saxons used to commit in England and...."

What if a Chinese juornalist--not even a historian--who can't understand even English wrote a book like that? Would Americans keep silent? What Iris Chang committed is almost like the above. First, she is not an eligible scholar to write on such a controversial theme. Second, she can't understand neither Japanese nor English which skill is essential to research the huge amount of historical resources written in Japanese or Chinese. Without any expertness nor knowledge of Japanese-Chinese history she accomplished her work. We could easily imagine how the reult would be. 300,000 were killed?-No way. The Japanese ate Chinese?-It's Chinese custom to eat person.

Those people who are inteligent enough to notice her errors from fabrication and imagination wouldn't be able to believe her description. I hope no more people of the world will humiliate themselves talikng about the Nanking insident based on her book.

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Summary: It would be the real tragedy.
Review: It would be the real tragedy if so many innocent Americans have been brainwashed into believing Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking".

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Summary: Great book....
Review: The reviews given by these Japanese apologists are tragically pathetic...

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Summary: Lokoukyou (the ancient Marco Polo Bridge) Incident
Review: On page 33, Iris Chang says;

"In July a Japanese regiment, garrisoned by treaty in the Chinese city of Tientsin, had been conducting night maneuvers near the ancient Marco Polo Bridge. During a break several shots were fired at the Japanese in the darkness, and a Japanese soldier failed to appeat during roll call. Using this incident as an excuse upon the Chinese fort of Wanping near the bridge and demanded that its gates be opened so that they could search for the soldier. When the Chinese commander refused, the Japanese shelled the fort."

The truth is;

"In July 7th in 1937, a Japanese regiment, garrisoned by treaty in the Chinese city of Tientsin, had been conducting night maneuvers near the ancient Marco Polo Bridge. During a break, four shots were fired at the Japanese by the Chinese 29th Army in the darkness, and a Japanese soldier, Simula, failed to appear for the first roll call, but he appeared around 11pm. It was almost 20 minutes after the first shot. The Japanese army informed Wang, the Governor of Wanping, that all the Japanese soldiers are alive."

Even after the "Lokoukyou Incident", the Chinese Army continued to provoke the Japanese Army.

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Summary: interesting point about the book review here
Review: First I want to say this book is a vivid account on the massaccre. If you still don't understand why the Japanese refuse to admit to what their army did at that time, just read the book reviews from the Japanese readers.

But rather I would like to point out something I discovered among the reviews here. As I scrooled down to read more reviews from other readers, I found something really interesting. I noticed that almost all the one-star ratings get positive responses. (ie. a large portion of the readers say the rating is helpful) On the contrary, most of the 4 star or 5 star ratings get a negative response, for example, 5 out of 50 readers find the review not helpful. This applys to some well-worded reader reviews. This is highly suspicious. It seems to me that someone who hates the author of the book and the facts presented in the book are intentionally giving manipulated feedback to other readers. Since Amazon cannot track who rates the book and who evaluates the reviews, readers should be more cautious.