On December 13, 1937 Nanking, China was captured by the Japanese Army. On their march from the sea to Nanking the Japanese left a scorched earth of raped and murdered civilians. Yet the true horror began on 13 December and Japan was never held accountable for reasons that I suspect were due to the emerging Cold War with USSR.
Women were brutally raped then bayoneted by their rapists. You do not want to know where the bayonets were aimed. Babies were tossed into the air and bayoneted. Prisoners were tied to posts and used as bayonet practice. The slaughter would go on unabated until the 200,000 – 300,000 Chinese had been consumed by the blood lust of the Japanese Imperial Army.
Two Japanese officers even made a bet about who could be the first to kill 1oo civilians by sword. When they finally stopped beheading women and children long enough to compare notes, they realized that they were both already past 100 but could not confirm who got there first. So naturally, they extended the contest to 150.
What the Japanese did during World War II seems to be ignored by history. Sure, we have all heard of the Rape of Nanking but nobody really knows more about it than maybe the fact that some people did something. If you bother to dig into this heinous event, then you will quickly find your stomach turning in horror at the almost prehistorical barbarity perpetrated on innocent civilians.
Unfortunately it seems that the US government is at least partially to blame for Japan getting a pass at the end of the war. Maybe there was some guilt because of the use of the atomic bombs, but mainly (I believe) it was because our government wanted the secrets of the even more diabolical Unit 731. The human ‘medical’ experiments carried out by that secret unit make anything Dr. Mengele did look like amateur hour.
It almost makes me cry to realize that after the US gave the demons of Unit 731 amnesty in exchange for the results of their experiments, we ended up collecting no more than 5% of their research. My guess is so little of Unit 731’s data was ever collected due to the Japanese success in hiding the evidence as well as our inept investigators.
Many nations, but China and both Koreas in particular, see the Japanese Prime Minsiter visits to the Yasukuni Shrine as a sign of Japan’s unapologetic nature concerning their WW II crimes against humanity.
ST UnWoked & UnVaxxed! 
I was unaware of this. I have no idea what to say. Praying.
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Interesting post because I know for a fact this thirst for blood remains unabated. A friend who manages an international bond trading company despises doing business in Tokyo; in fact, refers to Japanese traders as the biggest *sons of bitches* he’s ever dealt with. Bond traders are hardly the passive types to begin with but he claims he’d rather do battle with a samurai warrior.
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Yes, they never call me a Jap for some reason but they will accuse me of being a NAZI. Perhaps they do not know their world history as well as they think they do.
Japan has really been rehabilitated in the public sphere much more so than Germany. When in fact it is the Japanese who still have much explaining to do. As I said in the OP, our so-called public servants bear much of the blame for this failure.
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“People don’t call me a Jap….”.
You don’t look the part, maybe? (I also think you’re probably too Celtic to be a true Nazi, but that’s just me.)
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Late to the post, ST, visit with family tonight. Informative and provoking in a way that leads me to a couple thoughts. First, I absolutely agree with you re: American guilt about the A-bomb.
When I was reading Robert Leckie’s “A Helmet for My Pillow”, he talks about the human cost of invading mainland Japan – as we made our way toward that objective. He opens the book with a poem, praying that the Crucified will forgive, and bring an understanding that would lead to peace of soul. The ambivalence here is powerful, because it comes from one who fought – not some 21st-century academic – far-removed from the reality.
Eugene Sledge’s “With the Old Breed” brought the reality even closer than Leckie did, horrifyingly so. Small wonder so many Pacific campaign vets spat out words like ‘Jap’, ‘Nip’, and worse. Doesn’t exactly square up with origami cranes, does it?
Question re: China: Sledge wrote a shorter, less-dramatic memoir, called “China Marine”. Would Marines in China during the war have been tasked with stopping these atrocities? Mom P.’s middle brother was a Marine who was there then. He never talked about it, so I’ve wondered what he might have experienced. Definitely time to hold nations/leaders accountable.
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Time for me to say: Buenas tardes to you, hermano y Buenas noches to others Stateside, Will take everyone to online Mass, and be back after-after for brunch. Peace be in and with us all….Chao for now.
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“When I was reading Robert Leckie’s “A Helmet for My Pillow”, he talks about the human cost of invading mainland Japan – as we made our way toward that objective.”
If people knew what the Japanese did when they captured Nanking, it would better inform their opinions on the use of the atomic bomb during WWII.
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Historians want America to doubt herself and because of that true history cannot be taught for fear it may cast a positive light on some of her actions.
FYI: JaC’s father fought in the Pacific Island Hopping Campaign. He was a Soldier, more precisely an ‘educated grunt’ (AKA: Combat Engineer). R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
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Thank you, Simon. I am certain that the Respect is very mutual.
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“Historians want America to doubt herself and because of that true history cannot be taught for fear it may cast a positive light on some of her actions.”
True dat, but why would you disparage your own?
Sign me,
Continuely Confused.
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Because the promise of America is also the whip that stings and reminds them that they will never have all the toys that they know they so richly deserve. So it must be America’s fault for not properly rewarding them for their awesomeness. Since America fails to reward them properly, she must be disparaged and torn asunder.
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Yes, but. The Americans who disparage America tend to come from, how shall we say? Privileged backgrounds. Most of them are highly educated, and have either done well in life or probably will. Poor Americans have more than their fair share of problems, but generally, poor Americans are not the ones promoting hatred of America.
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Liz, it seems we’re seeing the fruits of teacher-training that emphasizes *methods* over *content*. My Dad (high-school math teacher/materials engineer) had a degree in math – from a nearby state university, on the Korean War-era GI bill – and materials engineering experience from his Army service. Nary an education degree in sight, This used to make him hot under the collar, actually. As well, we’ve moved from education to indoctrination, it seems.
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ST, It’s been a lovely Sunday here at the Kaffeehaus! Time for me to say Buenas tardes to you, hermano, and Buenas noches to others who’re Stateside. Volveré más tarde. Peace be in and with us all….Chao for now
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There is a film by Chinese writer/director Lu Chuan called City of Life and Death that memorializes the fate of Nanking. Released in 2009, it was generally well received in China despite controversy about its sympathetic treatment of some of the Japanese characters. But it was this very sympathy that made the movie so effective. Because in wasn’t monsters who committed these horrors, only humans doing monstrous things.
Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1aLFfk_kqY) is how Chuan imagines the victory march of the Japanese army. Probably apocryphal, but great cinema for all that.
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Welcome aboard!
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Thanks. Judy Campbell has been singing your praises elsewhere on the Internet.
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Am glad that you heard her. I hope that others too will not dismiss her points out of hand.
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Welcome Vald, great to have you here 🙂
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Howdy, Vald!
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Backatcha Nanda
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