Masaaki Tanaka (田中 正明, Tanaka Masaaki) (February 11, 1911 – January 8, 2006) was a Japanese author notable for his book What Really Happened in Nanking: The Refutation of a Common Myth, which denies that the Nanjing Massacre as traditionally understood took place.[1] Originally written in Japanese in 1987, an English version was published in 2000 in response to Iris Chang's book, The Rape of Nanking.

Masaaki Tanaka
田中 正明
Born(1911-02-11)February 11, 1911
DiedJanuary 8, 2006(2006-01-08) (aged 94)
NationalityJapanese
Notable workWhat Really Happened in Nanking: The Refutation of a Common Myth

Document Tampering Controversy

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A Japanese World War II veteran, Tanaka served as General Iwane Matsui's secretary at the time of Nanjing Massacre in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[2] He was involved in a controversy in 1986 when he was found to have altered a key historical document, Matsui Iwane Taishō no jinchū nikki (松井石根大将の陣中日記, "General Matsui Iwane's Battlefield Diary"), in several hundred places when serving as the editor for its publication in 1985.[3] He suffered academic ostracism after the controversy but remained an active author for the non-academic market.

References

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  1. ^ "Japanese Views of the Second Sino-Japanese War". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
  2. ^ Barnhart, Michael A. (April 15, 2008). "Chapter Eight: History as Victim: The Sorry State of the Study of US-Japanese Relations, 1900-1945". In Schultzinger, Robert (ed.). A Companion to American Foreign Relations. John Wiley & Sons. p. 122. ISBN 9780470999035.
  3. ^ Wakabayashi, Bob Tadashi (2001). "The Nanking Massacre: Now You See It, ...". Monumenta Nipponica. 56 (4): 527. doi:10.2307/3096672. JSTOR 3096672.