The Rape Of Nanking By Iris Chang

Japan and China had many contrasting responses to western penetration in the nineteenth century, including economic interaction - economically China suffered and Japan prospered, Japanese agricultural productivity increased while China’s did not, and China only accepted a small amount of goods while Japan accepted a wide range of goods- and political interaction - China went to war but Japan did not, Japan adopted western learning styles but China did not, and Japan heavily increased taxes on their people after 1890, while China did not -but had very comparable geographic traits – both had ocean borders – Japan was completely surrounded by water while China was bordered on a large percentage of itself, both kept their ports either fully

Consistent with Japanese propaganda the nationalist leaders held belief that Japan was “the leader, protector and light of Asia”. However, this perception of liberation from colonial rule was a façade as the civilians of occupied nations experienced harsher treatment under the Japanese than they did under the colonial authorities.

For this assignment, we were asked to research, in pairs, the effects of foreign imperialism on two Asian societies. Chris and I chose China and Japan as our Asian societies.

Throughout The Rape of Nanking, the brutal massacre of thousands of innocent Chinese citizens is brought forth through the invasion of this ancient city taken over by the Imperial Japanese army. Iris Chang illustrates the graphic details of the murder and rape of these victims through the perspectives of different sides of the attack. Chang; furthermore, ties in the mass genocide and destruction displayed throughout the book with the example of the Japanese government’s desperate attempt to cover up the incident and the reluctance of the survivors to discuss it. In addition, the horrifying events of The Rape of Nanking only further motivated an uncontrollable desire for aggression, violence, and imperialism in the Asian community evidently

While coming up with a topic for this paper, one of my questions dealt with war and cultural groups. I will be the first to admit, Racism was the last thing on my mind. The original question being, “How does war affect a Social Culture and how does it stand today?” When I started thinking about Cultures that had been so deeply affected by war, one of the first that came to mind were the Japanese in World War II. Then I recalled what one person had told me of their younger days at college, when they were attending school. Their name will remain anonymous; I do not want to make the victim’s name public as it has a very personal nature.

The Japanese empire was in great power by this time period, and they thought themselves as the king of the East Asian race. Japan, the “old order”, also believed that some day Europe and America would take over their power and become the “new orders”(Doc A). Japan was one

The reasons for the Japanese behaving as they did were complex. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) indoctrinated its soldiers

The book Fly Boys written by James Bradley gives us many different stories and viewpoints during WWII. During this time Japan was in the dark compared to china or the U.S. They didn't like outside influences and thought the gaizin were ruining their religious beliefs, but the Japanese reacted to this in a bad way. The Japanese army was at war with china and would not only captured chinese soldiers but would also take the women from china. They would rape the women and spread disease from soldier to soldier. The reason for the spread of disease is that “ 1 women for every 35 soldiers,”(Bradley 61) and they viewed the women as military supplies. They kept the women for months on end and would only give them one day off to be checked by doctors.

During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy’s “human resources were stretched thin,” forcing the Japanese government officials to turn towards Korea for extra manpower. In 1942, the government-general of Korea (GGK) announced that twenty-year-old Korean men would be conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. To promote Korean acceptance of conscription, the Japanese encouraged assimilation of Koreans into Japanese culture and society. This included learning Japanese and taking on a Japanese name. The attempts at assimilation and the draft left Koreans wondering whether they would become full citizens or “remain second rate subjects” after the war. Even Korean soldiers, who were supposedly equal to Japanese soldiers, were left wondering about their position in Japanese society. Through an analysis of Kasayama Yoshikichi’s recount of “The Korean Guard,” this paper argues that Kasayama reveals the nature of Korean conscription in the Japanese Army. In doing so, this paper shows how Korean soldiers were forced to comply to Japanese official orders, otherwise they would be punished; although, some Korean soldiers resisted towards the end of the war.

The nineteenth century was a turbulent time of western imperialism and a major Asian power shift. European powers and the United States had a destabilizing effect on the region and the choices Japan and China made in response their imposing expansion was a major contributor to the trajectory of their respective futures. Social factors, such as the differences in national and religious unity, also played a role in the how the two nations emerged from the Age of Imperialism.

The Rape of Nanking was one of several atrocities committed by Japanese troops in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Throughout the eight years of war, Japanese troops utilized a number of war tactics, of which one was humiliating and dehumanizing residents of Nanking or Nanjing. Japanese troops headed toward Nanking on November 11, 1937, after they gained control over Shanghai, China. They wanted Chinese troops to surrender, instead of attacking them. Once they arrived to Nanking, Japanese troops gave them a chance to surrender, however Chinese troops did not. Consequently, Japanese troops started attacking the city; they burned down homes, raped, and looted residents of Nanking. They raped between 20,000 and 80,000 women and killed them afterwards. Some Japanese troops kept women alive so they could abuse them repeatedly. When troops went out and raped women, they spread terror and revealed what they were capable of doing. Women of all ages were abused and killed brutally. Some Japanese troops forced fathers to rape their own daughters, so they could display the civilians inferiority. As Japanese troops were raping innocent females of Nanking, they were gaining power over China.

In Chinese Comfort Women: Testimonies from Imperial Japan's Sex Slaves, Liu Mianhuan, a former comfort woman, recalls, “Several military men raped me that day. … From that day on, the Japanese troops raped me every day. Each day at least five to six men would come…” (7-8).

Prior to the atrocities committed during the pacific wars, the Empire of Japan was involved in many other conflicts with nearby nations. Namely, the Qing Empire of China. The First Sino-Japanese war was fought from 1894 to 1895, between China and Japan due to conflict over Korea. During this war, China was unable to modernize its army against the Japanese, who had recently undergone the Meji Restoration, and improved its military. This led to a victory for the Japanese, and for the first time, the dominance over East Asia shifted from China to Japan.1 To further add to the tension between the two nations, Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, creating a puppet state of Manchukuo. As the dominant force in East Asia, Imperial Japan perpetrated atrocities targeting

Nanjing at the time with about a population of approximately a million was a prime target when Japan invaded china in 1937. That November, Japanese troops made their way into the city, and the gruesome fighting and raping went on for weeks. Japanese troops killed Chinese men assuming they were disguised soldiers as they were stripping off citizen’s

Japanese Militarism The recent spat between Japan and China is the latest in a series of outbursts between the two nations. What started as a Chinese objection to Japanese interpretation of history especially with reference to the latter’s acts against China during the fourth quarter of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, has now snowballed into a major controversy which could threaten the fragile relationship between them. The current episode started simmering when the Chinese began circulating an online petition protesting against Japan’s bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.