Japan’s Drive For An Empire Did Japan commit war crimes during WWII?

I. Invasion of Manchuria A. Emperor of Japan = Hirohito B. 1930s Depression: Military leader Hideki Tojo wins control of Japan (Supreme Military Leader from 1936-1944, Prime Minister from 1941-1944) – thinks war/expansion will fix economy C. 1931: Japan invades Manchuria, a Chinese Province which was rich in coal & iron 1. When China complains to the League of Nations, Japan claims they are trying to help Manchuria D. Japan creates a puppet government & Manchurians declare the independent country of Manchukuo E. 1937: Japan claims one of its soldiers is missing, wants to enter China to search

II. Nanking (Nanjing) Massacre aka The Rape of Nanking (Nanjing) F. 07/07/37 Marco Polo Bridge Incident: Chinese refuse Japanese entry, shots are fired  Japan invades China 1. After conquering Shanghai, Japan ready to invade the capital, Nanking II. Nanking (Nanjing) Massacre aka The Rape of Nanking (Nanjing) A. As the Japanese Army drew closer to Nanking, civilians try to flee city 1. Japanese say they will only target Chinese soldiers but start killing civilians when they enter the city

Map Time! 15 11 Color Japan’s Empire in key green, Japanese occupation striped green Color Japan (1), Korea (2), Taiwan (3) green Stripe Manchuria (4), China (7b) in green

2. Women were raped (as young as eight yrs old), many are forced into becoming “comfort women” (sex slaves) 3. One man who helped the Chinese was a Nazi businessman named John Rabe a. Japan had joined Axis powers, so using his position as a Nazi, Rabe set up a “safety zone” b. Rabe saved close to 200,000, BUT nearly 300,000 were killed in the six-week massacre 4. After the war, many in Japan denied genocide & war crimes = Forgotten Holocaust of WWII a. Saburo Ienaga, a textbook writer, sued the Japanese govt (1965-1997) for censorship b. Saburo won most of his lawsuits