Organizers hope an exhibition of historical photographs documenting Japanese imperialism and depicting horrific scenes from the 1937 Battle of Shanghai will help the Japanese citizens to understand the atrocities committed by their military in China during World War II.
This exhibition, "Echoes of China," on display in downtown Tokyo is a story not often told in Japan, showing the full brutality of Japanese military aggression during its invasion of China.
The display is being held by three men who have striven to make this history public, after one of them, Frenchman Marcus Detrez, made an unsettling discovery in his grandparents' home in 2021.
He said he never knew his grandfather witnessed the brutality, and was shocked at what he saw.
"I found a box. I had seen the box many times but I never dared opening it. Actually I opened it and I found the horrible pictures. The first one was the man with the exploded head. That's the first one I encountered. Extremely shocking," said Detrez.
The discovery led to the formation of a three-person team which wants to share these lessons from history.
In August, they donated the newly found photos to China at its French embassy.
"Echoes of China" held their first Tokyo exhibition in October. And this time, they are displaying some explicit photos for the first time.
"For this exhibition, we'd like to display a bit more cruel and hard pictures so that the people can understand what really happened in China in that time. It's not like to try to take hatred towards Japanese people. It's more like we have to face our history to make a better future," said Bastien Ratat, another co-founder.
Their efforts have stirred controversy in both France and Japan. While online backlash accusing the images of being fake, Detrez even lost his job in France. But the team are undeterred, saying the images are evidence.
"My [our] people was be [were] killed. And when we prepared this exhibition, it's so complicated. In my heart, I feel so sad but I cannot hate the Japanese people. We just want to show that we can't let it happen again," said Zhong Haosong, another co-founder.
The team say they believe the images will be safer in China and help it to convince more people about the truth. They intend to evolve "Echoes of China" into "Echoes of the World" as they continue their efforts to bring historical injustices to light.
WWII photo exhibition in Tokyo uncovers Japanese military's atrocities against Chinese civilians
