Japan Focus has been providing incisive commentary and research on many issues relating to Japan. Some of the most recent include:

“Save the Town”: Insolvable Dilemmas of Fukushima’s “Return Policy” (“町残し”: 福島帰還政策の解決不可能なジレンマ)

The Mayor of Namie, Fukushima is interviewed.

From Nanjing to Okinawa – Two Massacres, Two Commanders

Satoko Norimatsu reminds us of the meaningfulness of formally remembering lessons from history. As well, it is important to connect the dots between outrages committed by Japanese soldiers towards the civilian population during the battle of Okinawa and those committed by the Imperial Japanese Army in naming and other parts of China. Norimatsu also asks whether men who avoided being tried for war crimes by taking their own lives can be given a place of pride in a commemorative setting.

Nanjing 1937: The Film

                                  Toho film on Nanjing Massacre made 1938; English subtitles

The next day they began shooting a documentary film, Nanjing [Nanking] that presents the battle as framed by the Japanese high command. The crew had just completed an earlier documentary, Shanghai, on the battle that paved the way for the advance of Japanese forces toward Nanjing. Dispatched to Nanjing without supplies, the reign of terror began en route with Japanese forces attacking villages en route to secure food and supplies. In Nanjing, shooting of the film continued to January 4, 1938 and the film was rushed to completion for release in Japan on January 20. (Can it also have been distributed for viewing in Chinese cities? Or for international distribution?) Long believed to have been lost, a print was discovered in Beijing in 1995, although with 10 minutes of the original missing. Nippon Eiga Shinsha made it available as a DVD. The present film superimposes primitive English translation . . . whether provided at the time of its release or years later, presumably for international distribution.

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