Domestic News on the so-called 1937 Nanjing Massacre 

                                             Last Update: 15 July 1998

1997

May 7
Articles of news papers at the time of the so-called 1937 Nanjing Massacre such as "Officers Competing in Murder" were used as teaching materials for the classes of social studies in the 6th grade of elemetary schools in Sendai city. The City Board of Education concluded that teachers did not follow teaching requirements and decided to guide them not to use such materials

May 8
Miyagi prefectural Board of Education, pointing out that if such materials were used for the classes, it was inappropriate, also guided teachers to follow teaching requirements.

November 29
Commemorating the 60th of the so-called 1937 Nanjing massacre, "Nanjing 1937", a movie produced jointly by China and Hong Kong, opened at the theaters of Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe and Nishinomiya for the first time in Japan.

December 14
Commemorating the 60th of the Nanjing massacre, "The 60th of the Nanjing massacre- Western Japan - Osaka executive committee", a group of the citizens , hold a symposium with about 400 people.

1998

May 11
Undersecretary of Japanese Foreign Ministry Shunji Yanai in a press coference said,"I think it was appropriate", refering to Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Kunihiko Saito's remark on "The Rape of Nanking", a book written by a Chinese-American, Iris Chang. Japanese Ambassador Saito described Chang's book as "inaccurate," "erroneous," and one-sided.

May 18
Members of Toei, a major filmmaker's labor union formed a group to oppose "Pride, the Fateful Moment", a Japanese movie for glorifying wartime Prime Minister Gen.Hideki Tojo, who was executed as a Class-A war criminal after World War II. The group said in a press conference,"The movie depicting Tojo as a hero could produce a wrong view of history."

May 23
"Pride, the Fateful Moment" opened at 145 theaters around the country.

June 6
A man rushed from his seat in a movie theater in Yokohama's Naka Ward, which was screening "Nanjing 1937", and slashed the screen with a cutter. Police officers arrested the man, a member of a rightist group.

June 11
Members promoting the showing of "Nanjing 1937" said, "It is a serious challenge against freedom of expression" in protest over the slashing of a cinema screen.

June 16
The Directors Guild of Japan issued a protest over the slashing of a cinema screen. In a statement, the Tokyo-based guild said, "We feel intense indignation and a profound sense of danger over the violation of freedom of expression through violent means."

June 19
A symposium critisizing "Pride, the Fateful Moment" was held in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward. About 170 people gathered.

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"No More Nanjing" Association, Tokyo