Iris Chang's controversial book "The Rape of Nanking," which came out last December in the United States, has rekindled debate in Japan over the incident.
In May and June, two controversial movies portraying Japan's wartime activities were screened: "Pride -- The Fateful Moment" and a joint Hong Kong-China movie "Don't Cry, Nanking." The former portrays the trial and execution of Gen. Hideki Tojo, the wartime prime minister. The film drew criticism both at home and abroad for its apparent glorification of the war.
The latter portrays a Chinese family in Nanjing during Japan's aggression into China in the 1930s. But on the first day of its screening in Yokohama, a man suddenly ripped the screen with a sharp blade near the end of the movie. The theater had been receiving letters from a rightist group urging it not to show the movie.