Japanese pacifist makes China martyrs list

(ECNS) -- A Japanese pacifist has been included on a list of 300 martyrs and heroic groups who sacrificed their lives during the Japanese invasion of China, People's Daily Online reported on Tuesday.

The list was released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Monday ahead of the 69th anniversary of the country's victory, which falls on September 3.

The Japanese pacifist Hideo Miyagawa sacrificed his life in China to stop the aggressive war initiated by Japan's Imperial Army from 1937 to 1945.

He came to China in 1939 when only 19 years old, as a forcibly conscripted soldier. Hideo was later captured by the Chinese Communist army, from which he learned the truth about the war. In 1941, he joined China's "Eighth Route Army", and an alliance of Japanese anti-war activists.

The 25-year-old young man shot himself with the last bullet in his gun after being surrounded by Japanese soldiers following a battle in Shandong province in 1945.

The list includes names from the CPC-led Eighth Route Army, New Fourth Army, the South China Guerrillas, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, and other anti-Japanese militia resistance forces as well as famous officers and soldiers from the KMT.

It also listed some renowned representatives of Chinese patriotic personages and foreigners who supported China and died in the war.