Japan can't buy pride by fabricating its history of war crimes

Toshio Motoya, president of Tokyo-based land developer and operator of APA Group, is again playing his favorite game of manipulating historical evidence through a new book, which hit bookstores on Friday. In his latest book, The Real History of Japan: Japan Pride, Motoya continues to deny that Japanese troops were responsible for the Nanjing Massacre in 1937-38. He even goes further to blame Chinese soldiers for the looting and killings.

His previous book, The Real History of Japan: Theoretical Modern History II, says the Nanjing Massacre is "fabricated" history. Motoya's books, along with other right-wing literature, are provided for free in the rooms of APA's 400-plus hotels in Japan, which infuriated Chinese people, especially those visiting Japan, early this year. In protest, China and the Republic of Korea pulled their athletes out of the APA hotels during the Asian Winter Games in Hokkaido in February.

On Friday, Motoya said he would not remove his books from the group's hotels when Tokyo hosts the Olympic Games in 2020. Such historical revisionism shows how rightwing forces eager to whitewash Japan's war crimes are becoming emboldened with the tacit help of hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.