was a Japanese academic of

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and self-trained

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

specialising in Japan's wartime role in the first half of the 20th century. Born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Nakamura studied

and graduated from

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

in March 1959. He worked as a senior high school teacher of English until he clashed with the school principal. From April 1964 onwards he lectured at the newly founded

Dokkyo University is a private university in Sōka, Saitama, Japan, which is a liberal, co-educational institution noted for its language education programs and international exchanges. The university was founded in 1964, its roots can be traced back as early as ...

on a full-time basis until his retirement in March 2005 to become an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. A representative of Showa History Research Institute, he frequently joined controversies surrounding Japan's wartime past, particularly the denialism or minimization of the

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanjing, the capital of the Republ ...

of 1937–38. He completely rejected the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

's claim of 300,000 death toll as mere

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

, giving his own estimate of around 10,000 deaths. He was also a supporter of the film '' The Truth About Nanjing'', containing apologism for Japan's wartime past, and which denied the existence of the Nanking Massacre. He detested what he viewed as "left leaning" mass media, especially The

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

newspaper and

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

public broadcasting organisation.

Award

Kikuchi Kan Prize The honors achievement in all aspects of Japanese literary culture. It was named in honor of Kikuchi Kan. The prize is presented annually by the literary magazine '' Bungei Shunjū'' and the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature. Histo ...

(1995)

Books

* * * ''Dissentient Judgment of Justice Pal'' (English) *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Akira 1934 births 2010 deaths University of Tokyo alumni 20th-century Japanese historians Japanese anti-communists 21st-century Japanese historians