Nanjing Requiem (39 page)

BOOK: Nanjing Requiem

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When the judge asked Iwane Matsui whether he was guilty, he muttered that he was not. Still, the moment the death sentence was announced, the top general, skeletal and bespectacled now, sobbed and collapsed in his seat, unable to stand up. His bald head was bobbing. Two tall guards wearing white helmets and “MP” armbands stepped forward, pulled him up, and hauled him out of the courtroom.

We left Tokyo on a balmy morning in late August. As we walked out of the hotel and headed for the sedans that were taking us to the airport, I caught sight of Mitsuko and Shin again. They stood at the side of the gate, she wearing an apple-green cheongsam that set off her curvaceous figure, while he had on a white shirt and navy blue shorts. Behind them was a large bonsai in a stone planter, and beyond them seagulls were sailing above the turquoise river, letting out cries. Mother and son waved at me almost timidly while my colleagues and the officials turned to watch. There was no way I could go up to Mitsuko and Shin, so I just nodded at them. Slowly I climbed into a car. As we pulled away, I covered my face with both hands.

That was the last time I saw them.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. For the information, facts, and historical details, I relied on numerous publications and am indebted to their authors, editors, and translators.

In addition to the electronic version of
Minnie Vautrin’s Diary (1937–1940)
provided by Yale Divinity School Library, I found the following publications very useful in creating this novel:
Terror in Minnie Vautrin’s Nanjing: Diaries and Correspondence, 1937–38
(University of Illinois Press, 2008), and
They Were in Nanjing: The Nanjing Massacre Witnessed by American and British Nationals
(Hong Kong University Press, 2004), both edited by Suping Lu; Hua-ling Hu’s
American Goddess at the Rape of Nanking: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin
(Southern Illinois University Press, 2000);
The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe
, ed. Erwin Wickert (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998);
Eyewitnesses to Massacre: American Missionaries Bear Witness to Japanese Atrocities in Nanjing
, ed. Zhang Kaiyuan (M. E. Sharpe, 2001); Iris Chang’s
The Rape of Nanking
(Basic Books, 1997); Honda Katsuichi’s
The Nanjing Massacre: A Japanese Journalist Confronts Japan’s National Shame
, trans. Karen Sandness and ed. Frank Gibney (M. E. Sharpe, 1999);
Documents on the Rape of Nanking
, ed. Timothy Brook (University of Michigan Press, 1999); Mary Bosworth Treudley’s
This Stinging Exultation
(Taipei: The Orient Cultural Service, 1972);
Ginling College
, coauthored by Mrs. Lawrence Thurston and Miss Ruth M. Chester (New York: United Board for Christian Colleges in China, 1955);
The Rape of Nanking: An Undeniable History in Photographs
, coauthored by Shi Young and James Yin (Chicago and San Francisco: Innovative Publishing Group, 1997);
Qin hua rijun nanjing da tusha riji
[
Diaries by the Japanese Soldiers in the Nanjing Massacre
], ed. Guangyi Wu (Beijing: Sociological Documents Press, 2005); Zhaiwei Sun’s
Chengqing lishi
[
Clarifying History: Studies and Reflections on the Nanjing Massacre
] (Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Press, 2005); Tamaki Matsuoka’s
Nankin-sen tozasareta kioku o tazunete
[
Battle of Nanking: Searching for the Closed Memories—Witnesses of 102 Japanese Soldiers in China
], translated into Chinese by Meiying Quan and Jianyun Li, and edited by Weifan Shen, Zhaoqi Cheng, and Chengsha Zhu (Shanghai Reference Books Press, 2002);
Nanjing da tusha shiliao ji (7: Dongjing shenpan)
[
Historical Materials of Nanjing Massacre (vol. 7: The Tokyo Trials)
], ed. Xiaming Yang (Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Press, 2005);
Nanjing da tusha shiliao ji (28: lishi tuxiang)
[
Historical Materials of Nanjing Massacre (vol. 28: Historical Photographs and Graphics)
], ed. Bihong Cao et al. (Nanjing: Jiangsu People’s Press, 2006); and
In the Name of the Emperor
[documentary], directed by Nancy Tong and Christine Choy (Hong Kong, 1995).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My heartfelt thanks to my editor, Dan Frank, for upholding a rigorous standard; to Deb Garrison for her invaluable comments; to my agent, Lane Zachary, for her patience and unflagging enthusiasm; to Suping Lu for allowing me to reprint the map of Jinling Women’s College; to Rong Cai and Changsheng Li for helping me get some details right; to Aimin Chen and Yuen Ying Chan for sending me needed materials; and to Lisha and Wen for their constant love and support.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HA JIN left his native China in 1985 to attend Brandeis University. He is the author of five novels, four story collections, and three books of poetry. He has received the National Book Award, two PEN/Faulkner Awards, the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Ha Jin lives in the Boston area and is a professor of English at Boston University.

Ha Jin is available for select readings and lectures. To inquire about a possible appearance, please contact the Random House Speakers Bureau at
[email protected]
.