Editing The Rape of Nanking (book) (section)

=== Reaction in Japan ===
''The Rape of Nanking'' has caused controversy in Japan.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070223a5.html |title = LDP-DPJ group plan to scrutinize 'Rape of Nanking' |newspaper = The Japan Times |date = 2007-02-23 |access-date = 2007-07-21 }}</ref> In 1999 Fujiwara said that:<blockquote>“A campaign to deny the Nanking massacre itself by presenting the weaknesses of Iris Chang’s book is being developed. The massacre denial groups have been using these kinds of tactics to maintain there was no massacre by presenting the contradictions in testimony quoted or by the use of inappropriate photos. Yet it is impossible to deny the occurrence of the incident itself because of these few mistakes. It is an illogical jump in reasoning to deny that the Nanking massacre ever happened by attacking her book.”<ref name=once/></blockquote> 

Associate Professor David Askew of [[Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University]] said that Chang's book ignited an interest in Japan about the massacre, increasing the amount of publications about the massacre in Japan. He opined that a unified Japanese view of the massacre doesn't exist because of the internal debates and contentions surrounding the massacre, and that the different views can be categorized into mutually exclusive thought groups. He alleged that some aspects of her book undermined the argument put forth by the "Great Massacre School of thought," which advocates for the validity of the findings at the [[Tokyo Trials]] and concludes that there were at least 200,000 casualties and at least 20,000 rape cases, and is considered to be the most sophisticated and credible thought group in Japan.<ref name="Askew">{{cite journal |url = http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/Askew.html |title = The Nanjing Incident |journal = Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies |date=2002-04-04 |access-date=2007-07-21 }}</ref>

In an attempt to prevent her Japanese publisher from releasing a Japanese translation of her book, right-wing Japanese groups threatened and pilloried Chang, her publisher and Japanese historians.<ref name="NewYorkTimes"/><ref name=once/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.japanreview.net/interview_ivan_hall.htm|title=Ivan P. Hall|publisher=Japan Review Net|access-date=2007-07-22|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811062736/http://japanreview.net/interview_ivan_hall.htm|archive-date=2007-08-11}}</ref><ref name="Hall">{{cite web |url = http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op28.html |title = Japan and the U.S.: Sidelining the Heterodox |publisher = [[Japan Policy Research Institute]] |date = December 2002 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040323044212/http://www.jpri.org/publications/occasionalpapers/op28.html |access-date = 2007-07-22 |archive-date = 2004-03-23 }}</ref> A Japanese literary agency informed her that several Japanese historians declined to review the translation; one professor backed out because of pressure placed on his family from "an unknown organization"; and her publisher said he was risking his life by publishing her book.<ref name="NewYorkTimes" /><ref name=once/> According to Japan scholar Ivan P. Hall, revisionist historians in Japan organized a committee of right-wing scholars to condemn the book with repeated appearances at the [[Foreign Correspondents' Club]] in Tokyo and throughout Japan.<ref name="Hall"/> Her Japanese publisher requested her to edit the book for the changes the right-wing Japanese scholars wanted made, which included deleting photographs, altering maps, and publishing a rebuttal to her book.<ref name="Hall"/> According to the email correspondence between Chang and Soni Efron of the Los Angeles Times, Chang defended the veracity of her research.<ref name=once/> She said that she corrected 10 errors, including incorrect dates and misspelled names.<ref name=once/> She rejected the publisher's attempt to annotate about 65 items in the book, stating that the suggested changes were additional details, interpretations or assertions by right-wing critics for which no evidence was provided.<ref name=once/> She wrote, <blockquote>“I can assure you that virtually none of these errors had anything to do with the historical description of the Nanking massacre itself.”<ref name=once/></blockquote> Since the editorial requests were against the publishing contract between Chang and her publisher, she decided to withdraw the Japanese publication of her book and criticized her publisher for capitulating to right-wing threats.<ref name="Hall"/><ref name=once/> A Japanese translation of her book was not published and circulated in Japan until December 2007.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=ja:「ザ・レイプ・オブ・南京」の日本語版が出版 |url=http://j.people.com.cn/2007/12/17/jp20071217_81293.html |newspaper=[[People's Daily]] |date=2007-12-17 |access-date=2007-12-18 |language=ja |archive-date=2007-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221074608/http://j.people.com.cn/2007/12/17/jp20071217_81293.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>ザ・レイプ・オブ・南京—第二次世界大戦の忘れられたホロコースト. Translated by 巫召鴻. {{ISBN|4-88683-617-8}}</ref>