[Thaitanium]

(09-21-2015 02:37 PM)dreambig Wrote:  

(09-21-2015 01:43 PM)Thaitanium Wrote:  

Not too sure about your percentage of schoolbooks but I don't have a source to back that up.

In terms of total % of schoolbooks issued:

0.05% as of 2001
http://www.y-okabe.org/pdf/050624.pdf (page 2)

0.4% in 2005
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%B6%...1%E7%A4%BE (original source is down)

As for the details of what was changed, we are talking about only a few paragraphs that are controversial. There is no denial of Nanking even in this far right alteration of the text.

Quote:

Full-Scale War with China

In August 1937, two Japanese soldiers, one an officer, were shot to death in Shanghai (the hub of foreign interests). After this incident, the hostilities between Japan and China escalated. Japanese military officials thought Chiang Kai-shek would surrender if they captured Nanking, the Nationalist capital; they occupied that city in December. *But Chiang Kai-shek had moved his capital to the remote city of Chongqing. The conflict continued.

*At this time, many Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded by Japanese troops (the Nanking Incident). Documentary evidence has raised doubts about the actual number of victims claimed by the incident. The debate continues even today.
http://www.bakumatsu.ru/lib/New_History_...Nation.pdf

As noted above, there is still disagreement as to the number of casualties, which is actually true. The Chinese Communist party originally claimed 300,000 dead which was an obvious fabrication for propaganda purposes.

Not to downplay the horror of the Nanking massacre, but guys need to understand more about the region power dynamic at play here.

The Chinese use this "textbook problem" for ongoing propaganda against the Japanese. This strategy achieves two things:

1. It gives the Chinese populace a common enemy to riot against (and takes away negative attention from the government - oldest trick in the book).
2. It allows China to continue to play the victim card while they build up their military presence in Asia. We all know the power of being the eternal victim.

China also continue to claim (principally to the Chinese people but also foreign media) that Japan hasn't apologized for its war crimes. This is an outright lie, as I linked to above. It surprises me that guys on this forum are buying into this lie without verifying the facts first.

(09-21-2015 01:43 PM)Thaitanium Wrote:  

I do know there is a substantial amount of people in Japan downplaying or just denying any wrongdoing.

This isn't really an argument. There are fascists in the USA too. So what?

Well, I can't disagree with the facts/numbers you state. Perhaps I am too influenced by some documentaries I've seen about former Japanese soldiers explaining what happened and the fact that they got threatened after by right wing extremists in Japan. Also seeing some of the images in Nanking itself left quite an impression. On the other hand, there is some controversy on the matter and sincerity of the apologies given.

I agree with what you say about the situation in the region, and with the bullying tactics the Chinese are using a stronger Japan is probably a good idea.

I have been to both China and Japan a few times and enjoy being in both countries. Thanks for the data though, learned something from it