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History is a controversial issue in East Asia today.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest daily paper in Japan, with a right of center editorial position, has recently completed a year-long project to clarify Japanese leaders’ responsibility for the Pacific War. Such an undertaking is very rare in Japan.

Why did the Yomiuri launch this campaign? To what extent was its conclusion different from the judgments of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East? How was it accepted by
Japanese?

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Takahiko Tennichi earned his B.L. at the Faculty of Law, University of Tokyo and his M.A. at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He began his career at Yomiuri in 1981 as a staff writer and later served as deputy editor of the Cultural News Department. He became an Editorial Writer in 2003.

讀賣新聞是日本最大的報章,也是全世界最大報章,銷路高達1000萬份。

報社80歲的總編輯渡部恆雄,二戰時在日軍部隊擔任小兵,親歷戰爭慘痛。

這兩年,他眼看二戰問題再度引發爭議,一方面小泉參拜神社,另一方面政府和右派迴避戰爭責任,老人家看不過眼,於是組織報社內的精英,在國內外進行14個月調查報導,然後在讀賣發表系列文章,再結集成書。

這本書挖了日本父祖輩的瘡疤,一些甚至連棺木都被翻出算賬。精確的科學調查,實事求是的寫作,使到日本右派和保守派雖然恨得牙癢,卻也無從駁斥。

讀賣新聞在日本的影響力實在太大,可想而知,這項調查報道對日本民間所造成的衝擊,遠遠超過中國、韓國政府100次的聲明,和千萬憤青憤中在網上的怒罵。

這本書已經有了日文和英文本,後者可以在雪隆主要書店購得。據知,中文本不久後將面市。