Tokyo [Japan], September 2: A ceremony has been held in Tokyo to commemorate the victims of a massacre in which over 6,000 Koreans and 750 Chinese were killed following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake in Japan.
As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the atrocity, about 1,800 people attended the ceremony on Thursday, including prominent figures from all walks of life in Japan and representatives of Chinese and Korean victims' families.
They gathered to collectively remember the victims of the 1923 massacre and call upon the Japanese government to acknowledge this dark chapter of history through apologies and reparations.
In a speech delivered at the ceremony, Yang Yu, charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Japan, attributed the direct causes of the massacre to maliciously spread rumors inciting societal panic.
The roots of this tragedy can be traced back to Japan's turn towards militarism and the prevalence of extreme nationalism and xenophobia during that era, he contended, adding that these factors eventually paved the way for Japan's aggressive actions in the following years, inflicting profound suffering on China and other Asian nations.
Yang emphasized that a century later, Japanese society seems to be forgetting this painful chapter of history, with the Japanese government taking a backward stance on historical issues.
With certain individuals openly distorting or denying historical facts, there have been negative trends within Japan where neighboring countries are viewed as threats, and there is a rise in divisive sentiments and hatred, he added.
Yang called for efforts to steadfastly uphold justice, prevent a reversal of history, and urged Japan to honestly reflect on its past and draw profound lessons from it, avoiding a recurrence of such misguided paths.
During the event, Mizuho Fukushima, head of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, Hideya Sugio of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and representatives from China, Japan, South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea took the stage to reveal the historical truths behind the massacre.
They said the Japanese government bears an undeniable responsibility and called upon it to respect history and facts, taking concrete actions to regain the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community.
Lin Zhoudi, a descendant of a victim from east China's Zhejiang Province, told Xinhua that his grandfather, Lin Yanjie, who arrived in Japan to earn a living in 1921, was killed in a premeditated massacre on Sept. 3, 1923, two days after he survived the Great Kanto Earthquake.
"As family members of the victims, we demand a clear response from the Japanese government. They must acknowledge the crimes committed in the past, offer apologies and provide compensation to the families of the victims," said Lin.
Atsushi Koketsu, emeritus professor at Yamaguchi University of Japan, expressed his anger at the ongoing denial and revision of history by the Japanese government.
"As a historian, I am greatly infuriated by the Japanese government's consistent denial and revision of history. Without a serious reckoning of past crimes, Japan cannot earn trust," he told Xinhua.
On Sept. 1, 1923, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan's Kanto area, resulting in over 140,000 casualties. In the violence after the quake fanned by Japanese militarists, over 750 Chinese laborers and students, as well as 6,000 Koreans living in Japan were brutally killed.
In 1924 Japanese authorities formulated a compensation plan which remains unfulfilled to date, and the fact that Japan engaged in the massacre of Chinese nationals has been consistently concealed by successive Japanese governments.
Source: Xinhua