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The Nanjing Massacre, commonly known as "The Rape of Nanking," was an infamous war crime committed by the Japanese military in and around the then capital of China, Nanjing, after it fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on December 13, 1937 (at the time, Nanjing was known in English as Nanking). The duration of the massacre is not clearly defined, although the violence lasted well into the next six weeks until early February 1938.
During the occupation of Nanjing, the Japanese army committed numerous atrocities, such as rape, looting, arson and the execution of prisoners of war and civilians. Although the executions began under the pretext of eliminating Chinese soldiers disguised as civilians, a large number of innocent men were intentionally identified as enemy combatants and executed—or simply killed outright—as the massacre gathered momentum. A large number of women and children were also killed, as rape and murder became more widespread.
The extent of the atrocities is debated between China and Japan, with numbers[1] ranging from some Japanese claims of several hundred, [2] to the Chinese claim of a non-combatant death toll of 300,000[3]. A number of Japanese researchers consider 100,000–200,000 to be an approximate value.[4] Other nations usually believe the death toll to be between 150,000–300,000. [5] This number was first promulgated in January 1938 by Harold Timperly, a journalist in China during the Japanese invasion, based on reports from contemporary eyewitnesses. Other sources, including Iris Chang"s commercially-successful book, The Rape of Nanking, also promote 300,000 as the death toll.
While the Japanese government has acknowledged the incident did occur, some Japanese nationalists have argued, partly using the Imperial Japanese Army"s claims at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, that the death toll was military in nature and that no civilian atrocities ever occurred. This claim has been refuted by various figures, citing statements of non-Chinese at the Tribunal, other eyewitnesses and by photographic and archaeological evidence that civilian deaths did occur. Present Sino-Japanese relations—and Japanese relations with much of the rest of the East Asian region—are complicated by the historical embitterment of these nations with Japan"s actions before and during World War II. As Japan makes progress in admitting to its injurious actions toward its neighbors, however belated, relations within the region will likely improve and become more cooperative.
