Regarding the Feb. 23 article "Nagoya mayor won't budge on Nanjing remark": It doesn't matter how many people were killed in Nanjing in 1937 by the Imperial Japanese Army. Crimes were done and there's no going back on that. What matters is that the Nagoya mayor denies a fact that Japan's own historians have investigated.

If Japanese media were truly nonpartial and fair, they would concentrate on how to truly recognize this fact. This article fails to do that; it does not point in the right direction. Denial of the fact will lead only to more hatred between nationalists and between governments. If the media cannot make progress in guiding the public in the right direction, what good are they?

The Nagoya mayor should be sacked. His arrogance and ignorance fail to demonstrate international peace intentions. Once again, his statement translates to the world as "We are not friends, we are enemies." Are Japan's media doing the same?

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.

yang xiu