Rape of Nanking toll disputed

A group of about 100 lawmakers from Japan’s ruling party said they determined that the number of people killed by Japanese troops during the Rape of Nanking has been grossly inflated.

Nariaki Nakayama, head of the group, said documents indicated that about 20,000 people were killed. He accused China’s government of inflating the numbers for propaganda purposes. China says about 300,000 people were killed.

Nanking, now known as Nanjing, suffered a rampage of killing, rape and looting in 1937. Historians generally agree that the Japanese army slaughtered at least 150,000 civilians and raped tens of thousands of women.