An archive bureau in Northeast China is drawing together experts to decode a vast number of documents recovered from the Japanese aggression against China. The records describe the actions of the Japanese army during their invasion of China, and provide evidence of the various war crimes committed.
These are secret documents left behind by the Japanese Kwantung Army during their aggression of China in World War II. Many of them are letters written by Japanese soldiers stationed in northeast China.
"This is a typical document. It's a letter an ordinary soldier in the Tamura force wrote to his family. He said he is making bombs, including poison gas bombs, and his unit is about to head for the border," Zhao Yujie, researcher with Jilin Provincial Archives, said.
The documents also reveal information on secret military projects and the use of slaves. There are complaints from Japanese migrants on the deceptive policies of the Japanese government, and also records of economical plundering. In all there are 450 documents released this round, 200 are correspondence between Japanese.
"The most prominent feature of these documents, is that most of them are letters between ordinary Japanese soldiers and their families, describing their lives in China. They are vivid and authentic. And also these are the truths that the Kwantung Army was trying to cover up. If the army had never been defeated, these documents might never have been known to the outside world," Prof. Yi Baozhong with Center Of Northeast Asian Studies, Jilin University, said.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is a vast number of documents stored in the Jilin Provincial Archives... an estimated hundred thousand. Now the Bureau is calling for help from researchers around the country to do further analysis of the letters.
The study of these documents is to show the world the truth of Japan's war crimes. With the evidence in these documents, both sides can know the fact. On in that way, China and Japan can reach consensus on history and reconciliation.