Japanese hear from massacre survivor

Ai Yiying, one of the approximately 200 living survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, shared her memories of the events with Japanese residents at a testimony meeting on Sunday in Osaka.

Relics of the Japanese aggression against China are exhibited in the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders on Monday in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Cui Xiao for China Daily

The 86-year-old was a little girl when Nanjing was invaded by the Japanese army in December 1937.

"I was only 9 years old. One day, the Japanese soldiers came to my village, raped and killed people and burned houses," Ai recalled.

Ai's father, uncles and cousins were taken from their home by Japanese soldiers. Six of her family members were killed, and one was severely injured. The rest of the family hid in the woods to avoid the raping and killing.

"The atrocities continued in the following months. There were dead bodies everywhere. I was afraid of dead bodies. But my mother told me what was frightening was not the dead bodies but the Japanese soldiers who killed them," Ai said.

"My family members were not the only victims. As many as 300,000 Chinese people were killed in the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. What the Japanese soldiers did in China was horrible," Ai said.

Ai was invited by the Chinese War Victims Testimony Meeting Committee in Japan to share her story. More than 100 Japanese residents attended. All attendees stood in silence for the victims of the massacre after her speech.

"It's been 77 years. We shall always remember this history, and by doing that value peace and warn people never to let such a tragedy happen again," Ai said.