Download - Canada ALPHA

This forum, which was held on April 8, 2000, also attracted media attention in Osaka and in Nanking. The
forum was reported by the Chinese media as a rebuttal to the decision made by the Peace Osaka. The panel
urged public offi cials to face Japan’s past deeds squarely. Among the panelists were Zhu and Yoshida Yutaka
of Hitotsubashi University.
Yoshida Yutaka, Interview by author on February 24, 2000.
Yoshida Yutaka is a historian at Hitotsubashi University. He has published various books and articles on
the Imperial Army’s involvement in wartime atrocities. He has done extensive research on the Army records
and other historical evidence of the Nanking Atrocities in Japan.
Q: In the United States the Nanking Atrocities are often typifi ed in the context that Japan has never
admitted the evildoings of their countrymen during World War II. It seems many people, including some
newspapers and scholars, believe Japanese in general don’t acknowledge the Rape of Nanking. Some even say
the Japanese government has been trying to cover things up and gloss over the history. What do you think of
that claim?
Yoshida: It is not entirely groundless to claim that Japan has been avoiding owing up to the past. But
it is not like 1960s or 1970s anymore. The society has gone through a major change. For instance, today
every textbook mentions the Nanjing Massacre. On several occasions the Japanese government has offi cially
acknowledged that large-scale atrocities took place. Yes, there are a variety of voices in Japan now. But I
personally think the debate whether it actually happened or not ended when Kaikosha [a war veterans’
organization holding some 18,000 members] admitted the fact and apologized for it in mid-1980s. Since then
our task has shifted to the analysis of the historical context of the Nanjing Massacre.
Q: But it is also true that in Japan there are still people who deny that the Nanking Atrocities ever
happened, isn’t it?
Yoshida: Yes, but their argument is primarily based on an arbitrary interpretation of international law,
which even conservative scholars wouldn’t agree with. They say executing plain-clothes soldiers and stragglers
are not massacres. But as I indicated in my research, it is indisputably unlawful to kill them without any legal
procedure. It seems even right-leaning scholars are criticizing the interpretation of the law by the ‘denying
camp.’ So I think they will have to take it back soon. Frankly, I do not want to be bogged down in today’s
controversy. It simply lacks the most important aspect of the historical analysis, which is, why it happened.
What drove the Japanese troops to go on the rampage in the way they did in Nanjing, that’s what the research
should be about.
Q: In Japan, some people question the credibility of certain historical materials relating to the Nanking
Atrocities. Do you think it is an attempt to downplay the atrocities or an academic inquiry?
Yoshida: We should be aware of the limitation of historical material. Any evidence does not refl ect all the
facts in one piece. So we should put them together in perspective. Better yet, we can only come up with an
image. We cannot reconstruct the past exactly as it happened no matter what evidence we have. What disturbs
me most is that those ‘deniers’ are using the materials we have gathered over a long period of time, or the ones
Kaikosha collected, and just twist things around. In the academia of history, they are not productive; rather,
they are living in the world of interpretation.
I must say I learn a lot even from some conservative historians when they try to prove their point with
their own research and with new evidence they unearthed. Although my view of a certain historical incident
such as the Nanjing Massacre may differ from their view, I can still discuss details in a scholarly fashion. But
those ‘deniers’ have their conclusions fi rst. Then they lay down the available evidence to back up their belief,
which inevitably forces them to interpret the material in a way no one else would do.
Q: In your recent writing on this topic “Did no one really know about the Nanjing Incident?”, you
indicated the Emperor might have known what was going on in Nanking. Are there any new fi ndings to
suggest that?
254