Akira Kashima

Making of The Rape of Nanking Akira Kashima

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War ll by Iris Chang, first published in 1997 and made into many Hollywood type movies, seems to have played an important role in planting the images of Japanese brutality and cruelty during World War ll in public mind in the West. It is shocking however, to discover NO FACTUAL BASIS FOR THE ALLEGED MASSACRE OR MASS RAPE of Nanking(Nanjing) citizens in 1937-1938 during Sino-Japanese War, so vividly described in The Rape of Nanking. Even more astonishing is that The Rape of Nanking is highly acclaimed as a history book, often referenced in other history books and public discourses by some well-regarded people in the field including some Holocaust scholars. How could anyone who actually read the book endorse or give glowing reviews of a book full of forged evidence and contradictions? Is it possible that missionaries lied under oath? This short study exposes some of the many lies told in The Rape of Nanking from five key perspectives. We hope to help the readers to gain insight into how narratives might have been created and propagated to serve their political purposes during the war and beyond.