SDHF Newsletter No.131 Tongzhou Masscre No.1

“Tongzhou Massacre” Series 1

“Bearing Witness to the Ravages of War in North China”

by Yoshiya Nobuko
July 21, 2014

This is the first of a series of articles pertaining to the Tongzhou Massacre submitted for inclusion in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register; it originally appeared in the September 1937 issue of Shufu no Tomo.)

Yoshiya Nobuko was an immensely popular, award-winning novelist. She was also an adventurous woman who, in 1928, traveled to Europe by way of Manchuria and Russia. She spent a year in Paris, and then returned to Japan via the United States.

In August 1937 Yoshiya arrived in Beijing. She then headed for Tongzhou, where Shufu no Tomo, a monthly magazine, had sent her to cover the aftermath of the Tongzhou Massacre, which had occurred during the previous month. Her account of the horrific sights she saw in Tongzhou appeared in the September issue of that publication.

We have submitted an English translation of this gifted writer’s observations for inclusion in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. We have obtained approval from the applicant, the Fund for Archives of the Tongzhou Massacre, and are sending a copy to each of you; we will also disseminate the article overseas.

Yoshiya Nobuko (1896-1973)

It was her novel Hana monogatari (Flower Tales), published in 1916, that brought Yoshiya Nobuko into the limelight. Her fame only increased with the publication of Yaneura no ni shojo (Two Virgins in the Attic), which describes a lesbian relationship. Otto no teiso (A Husband’s Virtue), issued in 1937, drew a great deal of attention and inspired debates about male fidelity. Ataka ke no hitobito (The Ataka Family) and Onibi (Demon Fire), both published in 1952, earned Yoshiya the Joryu bungakusha sho (Women’s Literary Prize). Toward the end of her literary career, she focused on novels about women’s history, among them Tokugawa no fujintachi (Tokugawa women) and Nyonin Heike (Women of the Heike).

English translation: URL https://www.sdh-fact.com/essay-article/761/
PDF https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Yoshiya-Senka-no-Hokushi.pdf

Questions are welcome.

MOTEKI Hiromichi, Acting Chairman
for KASE Hideaki, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact