The Nanjing Massacre workshop

at UBC, Vancouver

March 21, 2003

“The racisim I encountered when I was teaching

the truth about the Nanjing Massacre”

Yoshiyuki Masaki

http://www22.tok2.com/home/asianhomepage/fukusima3.htm

Thank you for inviting me as a resource person to the Nanjing Massacre workshop held at UBC in the beautiful city of Vancouver. I wish Tokyo would lose its ugliness by stopping refusing to admit the wrong in World War II. I’m sorry to say that the Japanese government is still showing a shameless stance by being ambiguous about the history issue. I’m very ashamed and feel uncomfortable to be living in a country where you have the Mayor of Tokyo still in a dream world, saying that the Nanjing Massacre is a lie. Just imagine the Mayor of New York saying America did not drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He would be kicked out the moment he said so. But Ishihara, the Mayor of Tokyo, instead of being kicked out, is much talked about as the most likely candidate for the next Prime Minister. Japan’s central government is no better. A strange thing happened in the Japanese Diet in March 1995, after Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin（江沢民）declared in a speech in Russia that the total number of the Chinese victims in World War II is 35,000,000. One Japan Communist Party Dietman said, “Japan killed 20,000,000 Asians in World War II”, and all political parties except the Japan Communist Party were upset by this remark and demanded erasing it from the record. And it was formally erased. They think 20,000,000 is too large a number to handle. Then what is the formal number they have? The following is the formal number of World War II victims according to the Japanese government:

Viet Nam: two million (2,000,000)

Indonesia: four million (4,000,000)

The Philippines: one million, one hundred eleven thousand, nine hundred thirty eight (1,111,938)

India: one and a half million (1,500,000)

New Zealand: eleven thousand, six hundred twenty five (11,625)

Australia: twenty three thousand, three hundred sixty five (23,365)

And China: no record

The Japanese government wants to hide the number of the Chinese victims from the eyes of the Japanese people. They are deceiving not only Chinese people but also their own nation. Why? The formal number of the Chinese war dead in World War II given by China, as I said, is 35,000,000. In my recent visit to Nanjing I was assured of this number by Professor Chan (張憲文), head of the history institute at Nanjing University, and also by Vice-curator Wan（王件民）of the Nanjing Massacre Museum.

This number is too shocking for the Japanese politicians to accept. They do not have the moral strength to face this reality. But reality is reality. You can’t change it. You have to start thinking based upon this reality. The Japanese have to think of fresh ways of restarting their relationship with Chinese people.

Then what should the Japanese do? They should, first of all, know what really happened in China. You may, or may not, be surprised to know that nearly all Japanese people, including university professors, are ignorant of the war in China. When I said to a history professor in Japan that the number of Chinese victims in World War II is 35,000,000, he said, “That cannot be.” I asked, “Then what’s the number you have?” He said “About 1,000,000.” I said, “Do you really believe that? Can you say that in front of Chinese people?” His reply was, “No”.

This strongly suggests that he knows what he says is both untrue and politically indefensible, but that’s what he wants to believe. He is comfortable in that belief.

Let me give you a few more examples of the Nanjing Massacre as a racism issue.

Three years ago, one university fired me because I showed the Nanjing Massacre video tape, “In the Name of the Emperor” to my students in some of my English language classes. It was an English version with my translation of the subtitles. So it was also good for English language practice. I had done this for four or five years, and asked the students to write their impressions. Most of them sympathized with the Chinese, saying the Japanese government is wrong to hide the truth. And I put such representative student opinions on my Internet website, with their permission. The web pages became popular as time passed and I got many emails, encouraging ones and hate mail as well. The university must have received as many emails. However, I was notified in 2000 that I would have no more English classes to teach the following year. I wanted to know the reason and so I asked, “Does it have anything to do with the Nanjing Massacre?” The university admitted it did. I protested, “What’s wrong with teaching the truth about the Nanjing Massacre?” The reply was, “Do you know that the police came to investigate? What should we do when the right-wingers come?”

This shows that the university is afraid of the right-wing pressure, and that ultra-nationalist revisionists have succeeded in censoring public and academic debate.

Just a month ago, an interesting letter came to me from the women’s college where I was also teaching English. It was written by three attorneys representing the college. They asked me to erase the opinions of the students about the Nanjing Massacre on my web page. They say the students’ opinions are too extreme.

I wrote to the attorneys and explained why I would refuse to erase the opinions. “If the students were asking me to erase, I would consider it, but if, just because the university does not like their opinions they want me to erase, that’s something I cannot accept. Their opinions are not mine, nor the university’s. We cannot do anything about them unless the students themselves request action.”

I wrote to the attorneys to that effect. And I got a reply. “We understand your situation. What you say is quite true. You don’t have to erase the students’ opinions.”

I was relieved to know that there are some sensible attorneys in Japan.

Let me describe one last incident that occurred about 4 years ago. I was teaching English to high school students in a private class. One of the students, after the class, came up to me and said, “My Japanese language teacher said the Nanjing Massacre is a lie.” I decided to take this opportunity to make the public high school think deeply about this issue. We (some friends and I) went to the high school with a TV crew and several newspaper journalists. By talking with these journalists, I found that they think it is wrong to say that the Nanjing Massacre is a lie, although, at the same time their understanding of this tragedy is very superficial. Anyway, we went to the school and expressed our wish to meet the principal, who happened to be a militaristic one. I heard from other teachers, for example, that this principal keeps a calendar of warships in his school office. But when we were showed in, the calendar was gone. This principal may have been afraid of us since we are taxpayers.

Anyway, three of us were allowed to enter the principal’s room. We explained the situation and we gave the school one week’s time to investigate. After one week, the principal reported that the teacher in question said he does not remember saying that the Nanjing Massacre is a lie. I asked, “Did you ask the students?” The principal kept silent, ignoring my repeated question. I finally said to the principal, “Your silence means you did not ask the students. You only asked the teacher. And the teacher is trying to get away by saying, ‘I don’t remember.’ And you are trying to protect him by saying his statement never occurred, the same pattern the Japanese government uses to doubt and deny the Nanjing Massacre.” Then I asked the final question, “If the teacher said that the Nanjing Massacre is a lie, what do you say to him?” The principal said, “It’s a serious offense that cannot be overlooked.”

This shows that the principal and the teacher know that it is wrong to say that the Nanjing Massacre is a lie. They know that Japan’s Supreme Court gave a final judgment affirming that the Nanjing Masscre is true, although the number of 300,000 killed is not yet accepted. However, the root problem, the racist belief that Chinese are inferior to Japanese, remains deep-seated. Japanese people like the principal know that such racism is wrong, but it continues to unconsciously discolor their thoughts and actions.

Is there anything we can do to change the Japanese government’s stance? Yes, there is. Here’s one idea I want to suggest.

This is a VCD set called “Historical Analysis”. It is a comprehensive, 4-hour documentary about the Nanjing Massacre produced in 1995 by Nanjing TV, composed of four VCDs. The language is Chinese, but I’m now translating this major documentary project into Japanese and English. Just this month, before coming to Vancouver I visited the Nanjing TV station and received permission to begin the translation, which I suggested will be a cooperative work of Chinese, Japanese and Canadians. I also received permission to produce DVDs and to broadcast them in Canada and Japan. When this is completed, we can do a lot of things. The objective is to persuade the Japanese that the Nanjing Massacre is as true as the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By spreading DVDs, by broadcasting on traditional TV or by using the Internet, we can show the Japanese, and the whole world, the truth of history that no one can deny. We can build a solid foundation on which both Chinese and Japanese can stand together. Eventually, Japanese people will view Chinese people with less racism and the Japanese government will have to follow.

In order to make this vision a reality, I’m thinking of visiting Japanese high schools and showing the students these videos, which is possible. I have actually visited three high schools, although regarding a different issue. I’m an English teacher and I’m not satisfied with the way English is taught in Japan. I am advocating a new way of learning English, so I’m asking English teachers and principals if I can demonstrate new approaches. I have found that they are receptive to letting me teach their high school classes. I’m thinking of introducing the Nanjing Massacre as a form of peace education. I’m fairly confident that I can positively influence high school students because of my past success with college students. I showed the video, “In the Name of the Emperor”, to my college students and asked them to write their impressions. Nearly all of them understood the situation and were not supportive of the Japanese government’s stance, but rather sympathetic to the Chinese. I would say around 95% of them were like that. In high schools the result would be pretty much the same. As we continue moving forward, more and more high school students will learn why Chinese people are not satisfied with the way Japanese people look at history.

This will be a beginning step for the spread of the truth about the Nanjing Massacre. Only after the truth is acknowledged will a sincere apology be forthcoming, and can compensation be considered. Japanese must first learn what it is they should naturally feel sorry for. When the Nanjing Massacre becomes a fact of history to Japanese, that is when Japan will be reborn. That will mark a new era for Chinese and Japanese, which all responsible global citizens should strive for. Our goal is not unrealistic; we can glimpse it on the horizon. With our continued commitment and joint efforts, our objective of peace based on justice can be grasped. I ask for and welcome your cooperation with this new, very promising DVD project. I can be contacted through my website at http://www22.tok2.com/home/asianhomepage/fukusima3.htm

Another thing I want to suggest is a debate in Nanjing or on the Internet between someone like Iris Chang and the Mayor of Tokyo. The title of the debate might be, “Is the Nanjing Massacre True or Not?” Every time Mayor Ishihara uttered outrageous nonsense about the Nanjing Massacre in the past, no Japanese journalists challenged him. Ishihara gets away with it because of ignorant and gut-less Japanese journalists, who enable him to remain in his present post. But someone has to stop Ishihara and other reckless revisionists. If Iris Chang challenges him, all the people in Japan will pay attention and if he is defeated in the debate, which would surely happen, Japanese people would learn that Ishihara is a liar and con man who has swindled Japanese people out of history. Such a debate would also hasten the dawn of a new era.

Well, I have given you some of my experiences and suggestions which, I hope, will help us achieve our common goal, recording the truth of history. I really appreciate being invited and given a chance to speak to the Canadian people. Thank you very much.

南京テレビ局と協定

「歴史の証明」

日本放送権獲得

DVD制作権（日本語版･英語版）・販売権（日本･カナダ）獲得

Production of English and Japanese versions of “Historical Analysis” is under way. The rights to broadcast as well as to publish and sell DVDs in Japan and Canada are obtained.