TOKYO, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- As dusk fell over Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district on Wednesday, streams of commuters and tourists hurried past the giant billboards and neon lights. Amid the crowds, two young men stood holding banners with stark messages:
"Japan's war of aggression against China took the lives of my relatives."
"Around 300,000 people were killed in the Nanjing Massacre. These blood and tears must not be erased, and this history must not be forgotten..."
By doing so, Frenchman Marcus Detrez and his friend Zhong Haosong sought to urge Japanese society to confront the history of its wartime aggression.
"This is an opportunity to take another look at history. Perhaps it can help people here gain a new understanding of some historical facts," Detrez told Xinhua.
Detrez's grandfather, Roger-Pierre Laurens, was working in east China's Shanghai in the 1930s. Two of his children were killed by the Japanese military during its invasion of China.
At the end of 2025, Detrez and Zhong held a photo exhibition in Tokyo, showcasing dozens of photocopies and some originals of historical photographs collected by Laurens.
The photos documented the atrocities committed by the Japanese army during World War II, including the bombing of Shanghai and the killing of civilians.
Zhong said that over the past few months, he and Detrez had accessed a large amount of material from French diplomatic and military archives, which recorded details of Japan's aggression in various parts of China during the war. They also organized peace marches, rallies and public speeches in Paris.
Their main purpose in coming to Japan this time, he said, was to collect evidence related to Japan's wartime aggression against China.
Zhong told reporters that, from Europe to Japan, he had observed a clear difference in how people in the two regions viewed historical issues.
"In Europe, even when people are not familiar with this part of history, they are often curious to learn more. Once they understand the truth, many come to recognize and support what we are doing. By contrast, some Japanese people may be aware of this history but choose to turn a blind eye to it, or even oppose our efforts," he said.
Zhong's observations reflect the broader attitudes toward history in Japanese society in recent years.
In March this year, Japan's public broadcaster NHK released the results of a survey conducted in 2025 on public perceptions of history.
Regarding the statement that "Japan waged a war of aggression against its Asian neighbors," only about one-third of respondents nationwide agreed, while the most common response was "don't know," accounting for 48 percent.
In Detrez's view, the phenomenon is closely tied to problems in Japan's history education.
In recent years, some Japanese history textbooks have used "word games," such as tweaking phrasing and blurring concepts, to further downplay or even whitewash both the nature of Japan's war of aggression and the country's responsibility for it.
In the latest batch of history textbooks approved for use in Japan's junior high and high schools, some avoid or soften the use of the term "aggression" when referring to the Sept. 18 Incident and Japan's occupation of northeast China.
When addressing the Nanjing Massacre, some textbooks obscure the number of victims and the responsibility of the Japanese military. In sections covering issues such as "comfort women" and forced labor, some textbooks use expressions such as "were mobilized," in an attempt to gloss over the coercive nature of these practices and conceal Japan's history of aggression.
"They (The Japanese society) should learn more about this history and better understand what victims and survivors actually went through," Detrez said.
Since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has taken a hard-line and deeply conservative stance, took office in October 2025, some far-right forces in Japan that advocate historical revisionism have once again become active, openly spreading views that deny or downplay the country's wartime aggression.
Detrez expressed deep concern over this trend. "It appears to be a recurring cycle -- what happened in the past may be resurfacing in a different form today, and could happen again in the future," he said.
Speaking about the original motivation behind their activities, Detrez said, "Our goal is not to create hatred. We simply want people to see that these historical events really happened."
Detrez and Zhong told reporters that they would take the materials they collected in Japan back to China and submit them to relevant institutions in Nanjing, Chongqing and Beijing, among other places. They also plan to visit more locations to carry out historical awareness activities.
As night descended, the two continued displaying their banners and explaining the messages to passersby. Some stopped to read the words carefully, while others took out their phones to capture the scene.
"We must keep going. The road ahead is still long," Detrez said. "It may be difficult, but we will continue to stand for peace and justice. That is the mission we believe in." ■
