2/15 Discussion

What does Yoshida’s discussion of the way that the media’s reporting on the Nanjing Massacre downplayed its atrocities tell us about the role that non-state and non-military actors played in Japan’s total war?

Yoshida’s discussion of the media downplaying the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre tells us that non-state and non-military actors played a big role in facilitating the war for Japan. They incited public outrage against China by emphasizing the cruelty of Chinese guerilla soldiers and stressed how large of a threat China was to the nation in order to increase public support for the war. They also downplayed how gruesome and inhumane the Nanjing Massacre was in order to prevent people from backing out of the war and losing their moral support. Even though there was a lot of skepticism and distrust towards the media, there was still a lot of censorship that prevented the spread of important information and awareness. Had they accurately reported the incident and viewed the war with an unbiased perspective, there would most likely have been significantly less support for Japan’s war against China.