• Source: The Truth About Nanjing

The Truth About Nanjing (南京の真実, Nankin no shinjitsu) is a 2007 film by Japanese far right filmmaker Satoru Mizushima that is widely considered to advocate for denial or revisionism of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.




Background and funding


Mizushima said he received more than 200 million yen (US$1.8 million) in donations from 5,000 of his supporters in order to fund the film. The film was backed by nationalistic figures including Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara and was intended to expose what the filmmakers saw as propaganda aspects of the Nanjing Massacre. Less than a month before the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre, the director said in an interview that Japanese war criminals were martyrs who were made into scapegoats for war crimes as Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross in order to bear the sins of the world, and they died bearing all of old Japan's good and bad parts. Contrary to the scholarly consensus, he also claimed that the Nanjing Massacre was a politically motivated frame-up by China and the numerous Western eyewitnesses whose accounts form the basis of the historical understanding of the Nanjing Massacre. These accounts were, according to the filmmakers, espionage activities.
The film was based on the work of Asia University professor Shūdō Higashinakano who has claimed the massacre was a hoax. Higashinakano was ordered by a Japanese court to pay compensation to a Chinese woman after he accused her of lying about being a victim of violence by the Japanese in Nanjing.
Mizushima said that the project was meant to counter the film Nanking, a 2007 American documentary, which he believed was "based on fabrications and gives a false impression" and which he perceives to be a "setup by China to control intelligence".




Plot


The Truth about Nanjing is a three-part film.

The first section was "Seven condemned criminals" (The theme is Class A war criminals.)
This part shows the last day of the seven people who were condemned to death in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and executed on 23 December 1948 at Sugamo Prison, Tokyo. The film focuses on Iwane Matsui's campaign in Nanjing through flashbacks. Focus is put on each of the seven men.

The second section was for verification. (Documentary)
The third section was for America. (Drama)




Cast


The cast of the first part
Kenkichi Hamahata – Iwane Matsui
Jun Fujimaki – Hideki Tōjō
Minori Terada – Kōki Hirota
Shōhei Yamada – Seishirō Itagaki
Kuniyasu Atsumi – Kenji Doihara
Baiken Jukkanji – Akira Mutō
Akira Kubo – Heitarō Kimura
Kan Mikami – Shinshō Hanayama, Chaplain of Sugamo Prison
Kyōko Kamimura – Fumiko Matsui, wife of Iwane Matsui
Setsuko Karasuma – Shizuko Hirota, wife of Kōki Hirota




Reactions


Tokushi Kasahara, professor at Tsuru University, said other countries were making faithful documentaries and "it is shameful that Japan can only make this kind of film."




= Support in Japan

=
Journalist Yoshiko Sakurai and a number of serving national-level Japanese politicians came out in support of the film.

House of Representatives:
Shingo Nishimura (Independent)
Jin Matsubara (Democratic Party of Japan)
Tōru Toida (Liberal Democratic Party)
Atsushi Watanabe (Liberal Democratic Party)
Masaaki Akaike (Liberal Democratic Party)
Eiichiro Washio (Democratic Party of Japan)
Hirofumi Ryu (Democratic Party of Japan)
Yohei Matsumoto (Democratic Party of Japan)
Tomomi Inada (Liberal Democratic Party)
House of Councillors:
Shimpei Matsushita (independent)
Yasuhiro Oe (Liberal Democratic Party)
Nariaki Nakayama (Liberal Democratic Party)




See also



Japanese war crimes
The Rape of Nanking
Japanese nationalism
Japanese militarism
Japanese right-wing




References






External links


(in Japanese) 'Nankin No Shinjitsu' official website
'Nankin No Shinjitsu' official website in English
'The Truth of NANKING' official website in English and Japanese
"Film director brands Nanjing massacre a myth." Stuff.co.nz. Last updated January 1, 2009.

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Nanking no Shinjitsu
• Pembantaian Nanking
• Nanking (film 2007)
• Akira Kubo
• Penyangkalan Pembantaian Nanking
• Balai Peringatan Para Korban Pembantaian Nanjing oleh Penjajah Jepang
• Hari Peringatan Pembantaian Nanjing
• Kontes untuk membunuh 100 orang menggunakan pedang
• Perang Tiongkok–Jepang Kedua
• Mao Zedong
• The Truth About Nanjing
• Nanjing Massacre
• Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders
• Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal
• Historiography of the Nanjing Massacre
• Nanking (2007 film)
• Nanjing Massacre denial
• Death toll of the Nanjing Massacre
• Nanking Safety Zone
• City of Life and Death