Japanese scholars have detailed how Japan conducted archaeological surveys in China during wartime invasions, transferring what they found to Japan under the pretense of conducting research.
“This constitutes cultural aggression,” Ichinose stated. “Attendees were shocked – these long-concealed historical truths are rarely acknowledged in Japan. Such cultural aggression must not remain obscured.”
Key items targeted for repatriation include :
- three stone lions seized from Sanxue Temple in Haicheng, Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, two of which now stand at infamous Yasukuni Shrine’s outer garden and one at the Yamagata Aritomo Memorial Museum in Tochigi Prefecture.
- the Tang Dynasty Honglujing Stele, taken from Lüshun, Liaoning, after the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War and currently classified as “state property” in Tokyo’s Fukiage Omiya Palace of Japan’s Imperial Palace.
