History's Unwelcome Lesson in Japan

Iris Chang, best-selling author of "The Rape of Nanking," last week challenged Japans ambassador in Washington to a televised debate. The 30-year-old writer threw down the gauntlet after Ambassador Kunihiko Saito described Changs book, which chronicles Japanese atrocities in China in the 1930s, as inaccurate, distorted and erroneous. The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo later said Saito was objecting only to the suggestion that Japan has never apologized for its actions and has tried to keep the incident out of textbooks used by schoolchildren.

Saitos attack on Chang has so far drawn fire from only a few organizations, but Tokyo is less concerned about Saito than about the damage the book may be doing to Japans image in the U.S. at a time of trade and economic tensions between Washington and Tokyo.

Last week the Japanese government hired Gallup to conduct a poll, apparently to see if friendship for Japan has eroded in the U.S. The results indicated that 60 percent of the American public views Japan as trustworthy. Changs publisher, Basic Books, says that before Saito made his remarks, only one Tokyo imprint had expressed interest in buying the rights; now several have jumped into the auction.