China marks 75th anniversary of Nanjing Massacre

Chinese government likes to fuel anti-japanese feelings among chinese people using various pretexts.

This is such a sad incident that happened. I wish that the Japanese would recognize what happened and teach about it so that the same mistakes aren't repeated. However, some Japanese people I have talked to think that that it isn't so important to teach for a couple of reasons. They say that since the numbers are disputed (apparently with China inflating them regularly) that it is hard to really understand the scale of what happened. Also, during war a lot of atrocities happen and have happened between various countries. Lastly, they say that if the younger generation is taught about stuff like this when facts are contested, it may make them feel bad about being Japanese.

I don't agree with these views but it is hard to change some people's minds on the issue. I feel that a lot of nationalistic thoughts have been taught to the Japanese as well as the Chinese which makes it hard to get them to see the importance of truthful facts taught in an honest way. Hopefully, men like Mr. Satoru will gain a voice in Japan and let people know that it is ok to appologize for what happened. Politicians may not like the history of their country but to flat out deny something like this happened will only tarnish their images in the eyes of the international community.

if the younger generation is taught about stuff like this when facts are contested, it may make them feel bad about being Japanese.

As they bloody well should! It is called, 'growing up', which is something most of the population cannot do!

@technosphere: Wouldn't Japan's annual memorial for Hiroshima/Nagasaki then be considered anti-American?

akkk1: I guess it depends on how the ceremony is conducted in both cases. If they are actively trying to get citizens angry about the other country, then yes. If they are trying to shed light on what happened, remember the victims and try to find a way in which it would never happen again, then no.

Disillusioned: Agree! However, some don't feel this way. It is a strange concept. I think most people can understand that their country has done bad things in the past and move beyond that. I would hope that Japanese citizens would be able to do the same.

This also marks 44 years for the Pingjin Campaign, where Chinese nationals killed 550000+ soldiers and innocent people. It's funny how they ignore their more recent history and push to punish people that weren't even born when Nanjing happened.

Wouldn't Japan's annual memorial for Hiroshima/Nagasaki then be considered anti-American?

AFAIK, japanese people on their annual memorials say no nasty slogans towards to Americans. Chinese even during their memorials and meetings express hatred towards to Japan. Following strict orders from chinese authorities.

The creditability of Chinese dissidents are not worth anything, they are paid Chinese who go around bad mouthing their own country. Fortunately we don't have many Japanese who behave that way.

@basroil, I hear your point, a lot of people in Australia was angry for apologising to Aboriginals due to White Australia policy claiming the same point you claim, they were not born then. But my point is, your father and your grandfather was born then and if he had been a collective part of history whether they made the decision to kill or not.

SO LETS REMEMBE HISTORY, NOTE THE DIFFICULTY, MOVE FORWARD WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION FOR EACH RACE.

Abe:

No, no!

It didn't happen!

Tiger. Have to agree with basroil on this one. China loves to play the victim card while ignoring/denying/justifying their own atrocities (Pingjin, Tibet, Tianammen). They have little to be proud of in their recent history either. basroil. I think the Pingjin Camapaign took place in the late 40's so it would not be that much more recent than the Nanjing Massacre (11 or 12 years). Neverthless, a very good observation.

Rape is unforgivable, true, but is Japan the only country in the world that did mass killing during wartime?

Life's not worth living without a little righteous indignation every now and then. By that measure, China's living high on the hog. Maybe a little too high.

Rape is unforgivable, true, but is Japan the only country in the world that did mass killing during wartime?

I don't think anyone is suggesting that they are. Denying it ever happened though, is understandably going to upset some people.

Nothing like setting the mood for the remembrance with air raid sirens. Very CLASSY!!!

By the way, do the Chinese deny the massacres by Mao in his quest to unify/dominate China? Not to downplay the Japanese excluding Nanjing from textbooks, but it seems the Chinese are playing a hypocritical game to create a scape-goat of Japan.

Not to downplay the Japanese excluding Nanjing from textbooks, but it seems the Chinese are playing a hypocritical game to create a scape-goat of Japan.

Quite probably. In which case every important ultra-rightist mayor, governor or Diet members who keeps saying Japan did nothing wrong because they cannot reconcile the truth with what they would prefer to believe is playing right into their hands.

@Onniyama Pingjin, Tibet and Tianammen are internal to China. Much like the Pink Panther, Malcom X, David Coresh and Guantanamo Bay is also attrosities internal to America, CNN plays it big each year to remember Tianammen. But CNN don't commemorate FBI storming into David Coresh's religious compound in Walco. Countrys tend to be softer on their own attrocities and play up attrocities commited by foriegners. America and Australia also has memorial events for Pearl Harbour and Bombing of Darwin every year.

Don't get me started on Tibet, its a much more complicated history than you'd imagine.

Chinese, Japanese Canadians mark 75th anniversary of Nanjing Massacre

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/8053340.html http://english.sina.com/china/2012/1210/536036.html

It's good to see Japanese Canadians are aware and acknowledge Nanjing Massacre and pay respect for the Najing Massacre victims.

Basroil: "This also marks 44 years for the Pingjin Campaign, where Chinese nationals killed 550000+ soldiers and innocent people. It's funny how they ignore their more recent history and push to punish people that weren't even born when Nanjing happened."

Who says it's being ignored in entirety? but why would THAT make the Japanese media when many here won't acknowledge the Rape of Nanjing, or when people like yourself come on and do everything in their power to deflect from the real issue/article and belittle the victims. Oh, and just so you know, 75 is a bigger number than 44, and we tend to make bigger ceremony or commemorate all the more on significant numbers like 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, etc.

Acknowledge the atrocity in question, basroil, don't seek to downplay it by bringing up others. What you're doing is akin to spitting on Atomic bomb victims by telling them they have to own up their own massacres before their history can be lamented.

@as basroll I really don't see how your statement even qualifies as relevant to the issue...this is about putting the burning questions between people's at rest. Who really plays victim? I would have been expecting peace loving Japanese to petition the Japanese Govt to attend the ceremony as a sign of true remorse...I do remember an official of the US Govt. did attend the Hiroshima ceremonies, though according to the many comments and new-paper articles, the Japanese were asking for none than the US president himself to attend, yet I didn't get same reaction to the commemoration of the Pearl Harbor attacks at which a local official did say, quote "this is where it all started..." For anyone question the massacres just because figures don't tally is to make human life a matter of numbers. I would say it is to be totally devoid of what makes for a peaceful world order to assume that others do not have feelings to be hurt. It is "Arianism" all over again. I bet if we had more of the likes of Mr Kai Satoru on both sides, an Asian Union with open frontiers would be feasible.

Tiger_Hermitage: "Don't get me started on Tibet, its a much more complicated history than you'd imagine."

Is this article about Tibet? Oops! I thought it was about commemorating the Nanjing Massacre.

I think the Japanese haven't come clean on this issue. Certainly a lot more can be done to raise awareness and accept the wartime atrocities that were committed. However, I also feel that the Chinese govt. will not accept any apologies no matter how sincere, especially since anti-Japanese sentiments are one of their most successful propaganda.

Agree with most posters above (the ones not doing knee-jerk reactions and talking about Chinese atrocities instead of Nanjing) that it's sad many Japanese continue to deny it and the textbooks leave most of this out. Sadly, those same nationalists and radicals are going to put into power one of the worst nationalists this country has produced, which will ensure they continue not to learn about the truth, and the potential to repeat the past increases, not to mention ties with China will not turn for the better.

Sadder still are that some will take the chance to look at the history and these victims and try to suggest that the victims are wrong while they -- who were never there -- are right, and metaphorically kick the victims while they're doing and suffering.

Nanking Massacre was committed by the Japanese military, therefore it (also) concerns Japan. Why was there Nanking Massacre? What went wrong? Why isn't anyone investigating about this?

I would have been expecting peace loving Japanese to petition the Japanese Govt to attend the ceremony as a sign of true remorse

Good point, the so-called peace loving people don't really care about peace as long as they don't even try to stop these atrocities from happening in the first place.

Japan of today remains unable to deal with its past essentially because they are unable to put the entire blame on Tojo and the imperial government at the time the way the Germans have done on Hitler and the Nazis. They are unable to define and condemn them as the crazy foreign elements of the past thus unable to draw a distictive clear line between them and the rest of Japan at war at the time as well as the Japan of today. Without absolute clarity on who the "bad guys" were they remain very much liable to take everything onto themselves. Thus why some would say they hate being Japanese while others would be inclined to dispute the actual degree of atrocities committed. Also why the class A war criminals convicted at the Tokyo war trial are worshiped in Yasukuni alongside others who fought and died during the war.

Other countries in Asia also suffered at the brutal hand of the IJA. Do you hear them still harking on about it? Do you hear their governments organizing rallies to stir up nationalist fever? Nah, didn't think so.

They'll also mark the 76th anniversary in this way, and the 77th, 78th... 79th....etc

No-one is saying this should be forgotten, but for pity's sake enough is enough. Constantly harping on about this is like picking at a festering scab... it'll never heal and will cause damage to the body eventually.

Or to put it another way, like a big powerful giant who acts like a petulant child because he was bullied in his childhood. Sometimes you have to put the past behind you and get on with life, even if you think those who bullied you got away with it. (Personally I think two atom bombs is punishment enough, but what do I know....)

Its a festering scab because of the denial in Japan that any of this has occurred. History books in J have omited the truth about Nanjin and keep the children ignorant of their true history but most importantly why it is important never to repeat the atrocities.

Acknowledge the atrocity in question, basroil, don't seek to downplay it by bringing up others. What you're doing is akin to spitting on Atomic bomb victims by telling them they have to own up their own massacres before their history can be lamented.

smithinjapan -- exactly. But that's basroil and the other J-aplogists game. ALWAYS try to minimize the ugliness of whatever Japan did by bringing up something that has no real relation to the issue at hand. As if somehow Japanese soldiers having a competition to see how many Chinese citizens they could kill is less horrendous because years later the Chinese government my have set upon its own citizens. And that is why Japan will never be viewed in the same moral light as Germany, who faced its atrocities head-on and made it a CRIME to deny them. Japan will never have the guts to put on its big-boy pants and do likewise. Hell, they are about to vote the LDP into power again, and their leader is one of the ones who wants to obfuscate from the truth.

No-one is saying this should be forgotten, but for pity's sake enough is enough. Constantly harping on about this is like picking at a festering scab... it'll never heal and will cause damage to the body eventually.

Thunderbird2 -- so does the same hold true for the annual memorials at Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Don't bother, I already know you answer.

After the Cold War was over, the United States was at a loss until September 11, 2001. Then we got the War on Terror as a replacement ideology. It became America's national mission. We need an enemy.

Communism is dead in the People's Republic of China. The regime is overawed by its own lack of a mandate except one, nationalism--make the country stronger. That is now the Communist Party's only mission and justification, and friction with Japan is both its necessary consequence and a useful distraction from the corruption and the moral bankruptcy of the party.

I don't think it will result in war, though, because that would be too disruptive. We'll see. Passion knows little logic.

Readers, please stay on topic. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not relevant to this discussion.

IMHO China has the right to celebrate this event. 6,000 people attending is not that much considering the interest of using it for propaganda by the chinese "government".

Having said that, Japan will have one day to face this historical issue for good. This will be painful, but it has to be done.

I think the German example is not usable anymore, since they where forced to admit and teach their mistakes. My recommendation to Japan would be to create an independent, multinational commission to study this part of Japan history based on facts. For this I would suggest a similar thing that was done in Switzerland re its questionable behavior during WWII. During half a century the population was 100% sure that Switzerland was clean. But the memory effort has been done, it was tough to hear the bad things for many people. But now it is recognized as one of the best thing done by this country.

Link to Wiki for the ones interested on a possible path to tackle a tricky nationalistic and emotional issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergier_commission

Atrocities committed by others (Tibet, Tianmen) do not diminish what happened at Nanking, nor does it lessen or excuse the guilt of Japan.

At the same time, Shintaro Ishihara commemorated the 75th anniversary of nothing having happened except the peaceful Imperial Army giving out some delicious chocolates to grateful Chinese children.

Denying it ever happened though, is understandably going to upset some people.

In much the same way the continuing denial of the many apologies and efforts to compensate the victims is going to upset some Japanese people (like maybe Abe and Ishihara).

Chinese government likes to fuel anti-japanese feelings among chinese people using various pretexts.

I'm sure your statement is true, but it really has nothing to do with this article or the subject the article is about. This commemoration would not qualify as such a pretext no more than our annual observance of 9/11 is a pretext for fueling anti-Muslim feelings. It's a memorial service intended to remember those who were lost.

In much the same way the continuing denial of the many apologies and efforts to compensate the victims is going to upset some Japanese people (like maybe Abe and Ishihara).

Inconvenient truth transformed into an unacceptable threat! Here go nationalism.

Chinese government likes to fuel anti-japanese feelings among chinese people using various pretexts.

then you can say the same about the u.s. with the annual pearl harbor day.

this shows so honor of japan , as japan was small but it was able to beat up china badly and easily , wishing that japan will teach china this lesson again soon in the future . JAPAN IS AN HERO , CHINA IS THE WORST BULLISH

One can not be proud of a bloody past bequeathed by his ancestors, but can be ashamed and even hide, no one should ever live in denial but rather recognize and accept that past that belongs to each of us, then apologize even in the name of his ancestors who are no longer there, then look ahead and build a future of tolerance and peace, where such barbarity should never occur again. NEVER AGAIN!

Other countries in Asia also suffered at the brutal hand of the IJA. Do you hear them still harking on about it? Do you hear their governments organizing rallies to stir up nationalist fever? Nah, didn't think so.

not stating that they are not as important, but all their civilian death tolls combined don't even come close to that pf china's. china by a wide margin bored the brunt of japan's ww2 aggressions in asia.

Am not sure why it happened the Japanese soldiers turned into animals no worse. Most Japanese know what happened and it makes us sick. Got around to reading the Rape of Nanjing book and it was tough to read. My ancestors were not a part of it but my country people ancestors were a part of it.

Having said that China (both) has to stop bashing Japan over a few nuts. Instead support the people who say it happened and it was reprehensible on the part of Japan. I say the best way to honor them is to be sure it never happens again.

Inconvenient truth transformed into an unacceptable threat! Here go nationalism.

I see that you are not a native speaker of English, but please understand there is no "threat" or "nationalism" in my post. That is an error in reading on your part, and one I am uncomfortable with.

There is no "truth" (inconvenient or otherwise) in the idea that Japan has not apologized. Propagating that notion, sympathizing with that notion, indeed allowing that notion to go unchallenged is the exact opposite of "truth". I am not communist chinese, nor am I Japanese or Korean, meaning I have no personal/ cultural axe to grind here. I have been a long time resident of Japan however and during that time I have witnessed the delivery of literally dozens of apologies . I also know that an apology is defined as an admission of culpability, some expression of regret for ones actions and the stated intention to by all means refrain from repeating the offensive behavior. In serious cases it may be required to compensate victims for their loses. Again, if anyone has a different definition of how the basic human act of apologizing is transacted, I would like them to post it for us all to read.

By that standard then, these words completely qualify as an apology.

"As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women. We must not evade the weight of the past, nor should we evade our responsibilities for the future. I believe that our country, painfully aware of its moral responsibilities, with feelings of apology and remorse, should face up squarely to its past history and accurately convey it to future generations."

To deny that as an apology is to step outside of human social norms. I am frankly bewildered by the number of people who will go around saying "Japan should apologize" when there exists a staggering amount of evidence showing that Japan has done just that over and over and over again.

Apology deniers will say "not sincere" somehow not noticing that Koizumi uses the very word sincere in his statement.

Deniers will say "not official" when Koizumi clearly states "as PM of Japan" to open his remarks.

Deniers will say "not compensated" when in fact it was the communist government of china that denied their citizens compensation by refusing to participate in AWF (not "official" enough don't you know, even though it was headed by a former PM and funded in part by tax revenue indicating that the expenditures ear-merked for and sentiment behind AWF must have been approved by government in some sort of vote). And it was also the government of ROK that bungled the distribution of the compensation Japan paid to settle this claim once and for all in and "official"1965 treaty. Apology deniers will also dismiss the hundreds of millions of dollars Japan has gifted the communists (in soft loans and foreign aid) over the last fifty years and the billions that Japan has invested in China helping them build up industry and allowing their technology to be shamelessly copied for the advancement of communist regime.

So I dispute your post Open Minded (truly an ironic handle) because you attempt to define reason as "nationalism" and falsehoods as the "truth".

FUrthermore you go on to imply there is some threat contained in the bluster of Ishihara or Abe. Are you threatened by these men? Are they any better/worse than the bitter old men who run communist china? For the sake of the future of the region wouldn't it be best if a country that has received dozens of apologies and billions of dollars from a former opponent in battle finally show a little grace, a little class, accept the apology and move on to more important issues?

Germany does not have this problem because the German government on several occasions made solemn apologies, and also makes sure that the correct facts of history are taught in schools about the nazi atrocities all over Europe, including the holocoust. Chancelor Willy Brandt went to Auschwitz, knelt down and apologised on behalf of his country. Would a Japanese Prime Minister go to Nanjing and do the same? And up to now the Germans still pay compensation to Israel. But eventually Japan will sincerely apologise as the political and economical situation change in Asia. Strong nations don't apologise to weaker nations.

Nanking Massacre was committed by the Japanese military, therefore it (also) concerns Japan. Why was there Nanking Massacre? What went wrong? Why isn't anyone investigating about this?

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%A4%A7%E8%99%90%E6%AE%BA%E8%AB%96%E4%BA%89

I see at least 20 Japanese scholars from massacre theory to incident theory.

Massacre (n): the deliberate murder of people unable to defend themselves.

But some ultra-conservative Japanese politicians dispute that atrocities ever took place in Nanjing.

Which just goes to show that not ALL the "nutters" are kept in sanitariums. Some of them are in the Diet. The existance of the Nanjing Massacre is not questioned by anyone who's able to think rationally. The only thing in question (and what's alluded to at the end of the article) is exactly how many were massacred in Nanjing. Regardless, even if you accept the low number (20,000), that still counts as an atrocity by anyone's standards.

For those going on about the "comfort women", this article isn't the place for that discussion, but you might want to read this document for background when the next article about "comfort women" comes up (and you know one will):

http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_1/39_S4.pdf

Massacre (n): the deliberate murder of people unable to defend themselves

Sort of like the massive aerial bombing of Japanese cities during the latter stages of the Pacific war. It's funny how it's merely called "xxx bombing" or "xxx air raid" when the victors do it as opposed to "XXX massacre".

Therefore, your following statement that "even if you accept the low number (20,000), that still counts as an atrocity by anyone's standards." would I doubt hold true.

As for the 300,000 number itself, the scholars have debate this because the higher the number, it supports the massacre theory in that IJA forces indiscriminately killed civilians in Nanking while the lower number (let's say 20,000) would mean a continued fighting and a mop-up operation of soldiers disguised as civilians during the 6 week period of occupation.

while the lower number (let's say 20,000) would mean a continued fighting and a mop-up operation of soldiers disguised as civilians during the 6 week period of occupation.

Some foreign academics put the number of deaths lower, including China historian Jonathan Spence who estimates that 42,000 soldiers and citizens were killed and 20,000 women raped, many of whom later died.

Japan did this to China...China is doing the same damn thing to Tibet....it's a viciuos cycle.

We are all one people under God. we need to learn, learn from our mistakes and start a new. Our ancestors worked hard to get us a good life, but we often abuse it and go out and beat down those lower than us. This is not right and I hope the day comes soon where people can see this or we will have another World Ward

IMO no one as asking anyone to pin this as an evil deed / people. If they were so inclined to they could simply make a distinction between japanese people now, and japanese people then. You don't have to name names, you don't have to include numbers in your apology, its just the aknowledgement that it happened and it was the wrong move. In a war, decisions are made and orders are obeyed, to say no one japanese has ever made a wrong decision is stupid. And clearly in a situation such as a war, wrong decisions (like this one) are magnified. There is no need to pin certain people as evil, we all live and learn, its ok In fact, if an apology was made, i wouldn't even mind if they continued to commemorate the generals as heros. Japan can rightfully dispute the magnitude of it, but they can't / shouldn't dispute how it was wrong to use comfort women and that it never happened or that the effects are insignificant. That in a sense is such as insult to those that were tormented.

“Quantity of the death tolls is in question,” “so many apologies already,” “China killed even more people in its own war,” “China still drills on the past,” and on and on … These are excuses or denials. The facts remained that the atrocities did happen regardless of the numbers in question. True, Japan delivered a number of apologies in numerous times but the question of insincerity remains when you see the high-ranking officials visiting the Shrine of war criminals every year, retracting their own apologies by saying that those things might not really happen, J gov’t distancing themselves by using a third party to compensate for the war crimes, or covering up in the history books. Yes, it’s never justified that China might kill its own people more, but there shouldn’t be any comparison at all. There are ways to solve the problem if they really want to solve it. But, the real problem is the J gov’t itself whether it is pride or shame is making a bigger mess.

flowersDec. 14, 2012 - 05:26AM JST J gov’t distancing themselves by using a third party to compensate for the war crimes, or covering up in the history books.

Regarding the compensation, what third party are you talking about? In the late 70's, J-goverment agreed to provide China with over $6 billion in ODA to rebuild China. In 1965, J-goverment agreed to give $500 million to settle the WWII issue with Korea.

Am not sure why it happened the Japanese soldiers turned into animals no worse. Most Japanese know what happened and it makes us sick.

Seriously..? Do you really think most Japanese actually know what happened, or rather, heard a rumor of some Chinese propaganda..? I'm sure most Japanese people have heard about Nanking, but they consider it just part of Chinese propaganda, and don't believe it.

But can you blame them...? The Japanese Government, for years has covered up, and white-washed over any historical past that made the Japanese out to be anything, but innocent victims of the war.

You should know that, if you are really from Okinawa..? Your JN Government a few years ago (and every so often still does) Tried to cover up the fact that many Okinawan's were forced (By Japanese Troops) to jump to their deaths off of cliffs, during the battle of Okinawa.

@Yuri If you mean 'The Rape of Nanking' by Iris Chang, many historians have doubted its historical accuracy. While it is accepted that an unspeakable massacre took place, Chang ( and the Chinese government ) inflated the death toll. While we can safely ignore the vicious, crackpot ideas of Ishihara and his bobble heads, history like this does people no favors. Sleazy denialists can and do seize on these generally accepted exaggerations and spread the doubts 'well, perhaps the whole thing is a fabrication'.

Well I think Japan should step up to the plate and honestly deal with past transgressions in China. 75 years of burying your head in the sand is a long time, come up for air, no one is getting any younger!! You should follow in Germany's footsteps and confront your history head on with due diligence and integrity. Japanese are a great and noble people. I know you have it in you to do the right thing.

HansaramDec. 13, 2012 - 09:47PM JST

Atrocities committed by others (Tibet, Tianmen) do not diminish what happened at Nanking,

Most certainly doesn't, but what happened at Nanking does not supersede what happened at various places during the chinese civil war. Quite literally hundreds of thousands of INNOCENT CIVILIANS died during the chinese civil war, yet the chinese government hushes it all up. They should certainly remember Nanking, but they must also remember all other atrocities including Pingjin, where up to 300 thousand innocent civilians died at the hands of their own leaders. History should never be forgotten, especially one's own history.

Most certainly doesn't, but what happened at Nanking does not supersede what happened at various places during the chinese civil war.

The fallacy begins when people try to turn this into something done by the Chinese government when the Nanking Massacre was committed by the previous Japanese military.

Chinese government likes to fuel anti-japanese feelings among chinese people using various pretexts.

so what you're really saying is that the Chinese and Japanese governments are alike then

WE ALL have to make sure the same atrocities never happen again. In order to prevent new 'Nanking' Massacres, we must first understand the one that happened, accept it (there is no place for denial, because history talks) talk about it / educate young generations, remember it every year in memory of the victims and work to make the future of our world a peaceful and happy place for our future generations.

basroil

Because this article is about Nanking, not Pingjin or Tibet.

They should certainly remember Nanking, but they must also remember all other atrocities including Pingjin, where up to 300 thousand innocent civilians died at the hands of their own leaders.

Citation needed.

Seriously..? Do you really think most Japanese actually know what happened, or rather, heard a rumor of some Chinese propaganda..? I'm sure most Japanese people have heard about Nanking, but they consider it just part of Chinese propaganda, and don't believe it.

I'm quite certain that many Japanese know about Nanking but don't subscribe to the Chinese version. As to the various studies of this incident made by Japanese scholars, please refer to the below link.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%97%E4%BA%AC%E5%A4%A7%E8%99%90%E6%AE%BA%E8%AB%96%E4%BA%89

There are at least 20 scholars within Japan with wide range of views in regards to this subject. At least there is a debate among the different views unlike China.

But can you blame them...? The Japanese Government, for years has covered up, and white-washed over any historical past that made the Japanese out to be anything, but innocent victims of the war.

Well. The above link clearly indicates that the Japanese government has not censored any of the books published by these authors. It also indicates that it's the Japanese themselves who researched this issue far more extensively than China so how does one conclude "white washing" is beyond me.

Why don't you take a step further and post other official apologies (that you claim) to the hundreds of soldiers and civilian being killed or beheaded by the Japanese military in WWII.

Apologies issued via Cabinet decisions （閣議決定） are not only signed by each member of the cabinet, it is sent to the Emperor for his seal.

これらの事項についての閣議決定の書類は，毎回，閣議の後に陛下のお手元に届けられ，陛下は，これを丁寧にご覧になった上で，ご署名やご押印をなさいます。

http://www.kunaicho.go.jp/activity/activity/01/activity01.html

As to the decisions made by the Cabinet, it specifically states

"The Cabinet, in exercise of executive power, shall be collectively responsible to the Diet, which comprises the representatives of the entire nation. "

Pathetic amounts of whataboutry on here.

Yes, China committed crimes against their own before the war, how is any of that relevant to the this remembrance service ?

They'll also mark the 76th anniversary in this way, and the 77th, 78th... 79th....etc

No-one is saying this should be forgotten, but for pity's sake enough is enough

Is it? so you'll say the same to any other countries who hold these kind of events?