The Apology from Japan by Imogen

Mostly likely you think of World War II as the Jewish Holocaust and Hitler, however there is more that has been forgotten by both the west and the Japanese. Many people may argue Hitler commited the worst atrocities however they fail the realise just how severely tortured the chinese were. The Japanese invaded the City of Nanking in December 1937. Their violence was so brutal yet forgotten by both Japan and the Western World. The Japanese refuse to acknowledge their Mistakes, the Western World has forgotten and the victims were silenced. These victims that died at the hands of the Japanese need justice, need to have their voices heard but most of all the Japanese need to admit to their crimes against China and stop silencing the victims. For Japanese school are unaware of such crimes, the massacre was forgotten by the Western World and the Japanese and Chinese government have silenced the victims. As George Santayana once said,
“Those you cannot remember the past are those who are condemned to repeat it.”

The Japanese and Chinese government tried to suppress the victims for the sake of Political alliance. Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II she speaks about how the massacre was hidden for Political Reasons. “ Neither the People’s Republic Of China nor The Republic of China demanded wartime reparations from Japan because the two governments were competing for Japanese trade and political recognition.” This implies the Chinese governments tried to hide the news so the victims were silenced for trade was deemed more important than the justice of hundreds of thousands of lives. They refused to do the ethical thing and take actions however the Chinese governments would rather see their own people neglected then stop trade with Japan. If the Chinese government wouldn’t acknowledge the victims, why should Japan? “Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, said in her book that Mao Zedong decided to stay silent about the massacre to maintain an amiable trade relationship with Japan. As the economy of China became stronger and the government became wealthier in the 1980s, China became decreasingly dependent on trade with Japan, and there was a resurgence of interest in the Nanjing Massacre.” This shows how trade was valued over the justice of hundreds of thousands of lives lost in the massacre. This shows why the Japanese need to admit to their crimes for the lives of these victims were disregarded.

The Western World has neglected about the massacre and therefore the Japanese feel no need to admit their crimes. In her book Iris Chang states “The horrors of the massacre of Nanking remain virtually unknown t people outside Asia.” This implies how little regard people had for this issue at the time and even less now. These victims have been forgotten, disregard and treated with little importance. The do not feel as though they owe an apology to China for the rest of the World does not feel sorry for what happened. “Norman Alley, the Universal Newsreel man had shot fifty-three hundred-foot rolls of movie film of the Japanese attack on the Panay, but before the film was released to the theatres, President Roosevelt asked him to excise some thirty feet of film that revealed several Japanese bombers shooting at the gunboat at nearly deck level.”This shows how the Western Media wanted to ignore the atrocities committed by the Japanese and how the victims never had justice for they were silenced even by the Western World.

Despite their crimes against China, Japan doesn’t teach about the massacre of Nanking. Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II says in some Japanese schools they say the number of deaths in Nanking was as little as two thousand although the number is said to be three hundred thousand. This implies how much of Japan is in denial of these crimes and how these victims weren’t important to the Japanese. The Japanese are disregarding these lives, they need to give these victims justice. Mariko Oi, a Japanese woman speaks about how the crimes are barely mentioned in Japanese school books. “There was one page on other events leading up to the Sino-Japanese war in 1937 - including one line, in a footnote, about the massacre that took place when Japanese forces invaded Nanjing - the Nanjing Massacre, or Rape of Nanjing.” (BBC, 2013) This implies the Japanese doesn’t see importance in recognition of the victims and shows they are disregarded.

The Japanese refuse to acknowledge their Mistakes, the Western World has become oblivious to such crimes and the victims were silenced. These victims that died at the hands of the Japanese need justice, need to have their voices heard but most of all the Japanese need to admit to their crimes against China and stop silencing the victims. Next time you hear of WWII, spare a thought for the victims of the massacre of Nanking who went unheard.


Oi, Mariko. "What Japanese History Lessons Leave out." BBC News. BBC, 14 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 June 2016.

Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. New York, NY: Basic, 1997. Print.