日本作家村上春树新作承认南京大屠杀

Japanese contemporary best-selling author Haruki Murakami has earned plaudits from many Chinese citizens after releasing his latest novel, "Killing Commendatore," which acknowledges the large-scale loss of civilian life during the Nanjing Massacre.

在发布新书《骑士团长杀人事件》之后，日本当代畅销书作者村上春树赢得了许多中国人的一致喝彩，因为在书中村上承认了南京大屠杀。

During the massacre, Japanese troops committed mass murder and rape in Nanjing, then the capital of the Republic of China, in December 1937.

在1937年12月的南京大屠杀中，日军在当时中华民国首都南京犯下了大屠杀和强奸惨案。

To the fury of many in China and around the world, some conservative Japanese politicians and historians now deny that the massacre took place, or they put the death toll at a much lower number than most believe to be true.

但是让中国和全世界许多人都愤怒的是，一些保守派日本政客和历史学家现在都在否认曾经发生过南京大屠杀，或者他们认为南京大屠杀中遇难者人数要远少于大多数人认为的那个数字。

In the novel, which was published in Japan on Feb. 24, Murakami writes: "...for the exact number of civilian victims [of the Nanjing Massacre], debates existed among historians. But generally, it is not in dispute that the majority of residents were embroiled and killed in the war."

在新书中（该书于2月24日在日本出版），村上写道：“对于南京大屠杀遇难平民的确切数字，史学家之间存在争论。但总的来说，没有争议的是大多数平民都被卷入战争并被屠杀。”

He adds that some put the Chinese death toll at 400,000, while others say it was 100,000. "But what is the difference?" he wonders in the book.

他还表示，一些人认为南京大屠杀遇难者人数多达40万，但另一些人则说只有10万。他在书中发问：“但是这又有什么区别呢？”

The remarks have electrified Chinese netizens, leading some web users to hail Murakami as a "conscientious and upright writer of integrity."

这些言论使得中国网民非常激动，一些人致敬村上春树是一个“有良心、正直的作家”。

Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall posted a comment on the site's official Weibo account: "As Murakami said, there's no difference between 400,000 and 100,000 ... According to the verdict of the Tribunal for Tani in 1947, there were more than 300,000 victims in total. Eighty years have passed, yet many Japanese still eschew the appropriate reflection on and repentance of the country's militarism."

南京大屠杀纪念馆也在其新浪微博上发文称：“正如村上所说，不管是40万，还是10万，这其实没有区别。据1947年东京审判《判决书》指出，死难者人数总共超过了30万人。80年过去了，但是许多日本人仍然没有对日本军国主义进行反思和忏悔。”