The conference was held in the Museum of the Chinese People's Fight against the Japanese Invasion at Lugouqiao, and it aimed to recall the war, let young Japanese know about the war, and advance present-day Sino-Japanese ties.

Nagao Mitsuyuki, director of the Japan-China Friendship Association, said it was important to hold such a conference when "a small, yet not negligible, number of people in Japan have been trying to distort history, keeping people away from the true cruelty of the war. This is dangerous.''

Wang Xiaoxian, vice-president of the China-Japan Friendship Association, said only when people have learned lessons from past tragedies can they move ahead more wisely and more strongly.

"The wrong attitude of some Japanese towards the painful history of Japan's invasion of China has greatly hurt the feelings of the Chinese,'' she said.

"When most people from both countries have realized the importance of peace for the sake of valuable lives and the sake of further economic development, some people in Japan are trying to derail the friendly relationship between the two countries. But we should not let them have their way.''

The pain of the war is still vivid in the minds of Chinese survivors such as Zhao Jingtai and Song Yi. The pair, each more than 80 years old, told the conference clearly and touchingly the hardship they suffered in the war.

Kitagawa Eiichi, a 75-year-old expert on Chinese history from the Japanese city of Fukuoka, said: "I had not realized how terrible the war was until I got to China when I was around 30. The true face of the war has somehow been shaded from us.''

Eiichi then concentrated on Chinese history, especially the Japanese invasion of China. Earlier this year, he gave the Beijing-based Museum of Chinese History a list of Chinese who had been forced by the Japanese army to work in Japan during the war.

He has also devoted a lot of time to various activities aimed at enhancing the friendship between the two countries, such as teaching Fukuoka locals traditional Chinese painting, the Chinese martial art taijiquan (t'ai chi), and the erhu (a traditional Chinese two-stringed fiddle).

Eiichi expressed particular concern about the ignorance of today's Japanese youth about the truth of the Japanese invasion of China. "If many old people, even at my age, knew little about the war, how can those young people know when they were born long after the war ended?'' he asked. "It is important that more of our young people come to China."

Each year for the past few years, Eiichi has helped 15 young Japanese go to Peking University to study Chinese.

He Yahong, chief representative at the Beijing office of the Japan-China Friendship Association, said: "There are lots of kind, brave and upright people like Eiichi in the Japan-China Friendship Association. We have realized the importance of communication among ordinary Japanese and Chinese against the backdrop of some deliberate distortions of history in Japan, and we shall try our best to enhance this communication as an association and as individuals.''

(China Daily August 23, 2002)