e-magazine
A Trio Bands Together
It's time for Beijing to lose some economic weight and synergize with neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
News
Special> China Responds to Abe's Shrine Visit> News
UPDATED: April 29, 2014 Web Exclusive
Documents Show Sharp Population Decline after Japanese Invasion
By Yu Lintao
Share

New documents uncovered by Jilin Provincial Archives showed that the population of Nanjing where the notorious massacre took place decreased sharply during the War of Chinese Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945).

A total of 89 wartime documents were recently made public by the Jilin Provincial Archives. The documents, once kept by the invading Japanese army in northeast China where a major Japanese military base was established during the war, revealed details of atrocities Japanese troops committed in China.

Among the documents, six concerned Japanese army's invasion of Nanjing. Some Japanese newspapers within the documents published on December 23, 1937 depicted the gruesome killings during the Nanjing Massacre. A report by Osaka Daily News states that Japanese soldiers killed 85,000 people within three days, and in one case, bodies were scattered over several kilometers between a port to a river. "Dead bodies stretched for 1,000 to 1,500 meters to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River," the report said.

A report on an investigation into "restoration of public order by Nanjing Kempeitai" by Commander Ooki Sigeru on February 28, 1938, said that the population of Nanjing was about one million before December 1937, when the Nanjing Massacre took place. But at the end of February 1938, the number was only about 330,000.

The Chinese Government claims that around 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed by invading Japanese troops during the massacre. However, some right-wing figures in Japan have attempted to deny the massacre by claiming the population in Nanjing before the Japanese occupation was no more than 300,000.

Yin Huai, head of the Jilin Provincial Archives, said that the documents have provided new evidence to refute those people who have doubted the Nanjing Massacre. These files have been revealed as a response to denials of Japan's wartime crimes in China.

(Reporting from Jilin Province)



 
Top Story
-Examining Obama's Asia Tour
-Intimate Diplomacy
-An Opportunity
-A New Road for Urbanization
-Storied Partners
Most Popular
在线翻译
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved