The historical facts of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre committed by Japanese army during the invasion of China cannot be distorted or denied, veteran journalist Yoichi Jomaru said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) on Saturday.
Jomaru, a former journalist with Asahi Shimbun, spent three and a half years reviewing approximately 80 Japanese newspapers and related materials published across Japan of that time to search for wartime and postwar coverage of the Nanjing Massacre.
He found that while Japanese media at the time recorded part of the facts of the massacre, they remained silent on many atrocities.
Jomaru said that Japanese reporters at the time intentionally hid the truth of the massacre and other atrocities committed by the Japanese army in China, and his findings were published in his book.
"Even if it is a cruel and shameful history, the Nanjing Massacre cannot be denied. History cannot be denied. I was a journalist, a news reporter. Covering up the truth of the history is wrong," said Jomaru.
Jomaru said that Japan must face its history of aggression and honestly face its wartime responsibility to build genuine trust and understanding with its Asian neighbors.
"I think one of Japan's major failures after the war was not forming a broad social consensus on the nature of its aggression. To make sure that people have books to read when they want to access the truth, there must be someone to write about it. As an author, I will continue to write and publish," said Jomaru.
Facts of Nanjing Massacre cannot be denied: Japanese journalist
