日本酒店放置否認南京大屠殺書籍惹怒中國

TOKYO — She is the colorful face of Japan’s largest hotel chain, known for her garish fashion sense and business books with titles like “I Am a President.”

東京——她是日本最大連鎖酒店的活招牌，以炫目的時尚品味和《我是總裁》這樣的商業書籍著稱。

He is the darker side of the partnership: a right-wing polemicist who has leveraged the couple’s success to support contentious political causes, including defending Japan’s militarist past.

他是右翼辯論家，是夫婦倆中更加陰暗的那一個。他們利用商業上的成功來支持有爭議的政治事業，包括爲日本軍國主義的過去辯護。

Now Fumiko Motoya and her husband, Toshio, founders of APA Group, a Japanese real-estate and hotel empire, are facing a barrage of criticism in China. Their twin projects — business and conservative politics — collided this week in an uproar over right-wing historical books promoted at APA’s chain of 370 budget hotels, in which such publications are often distributed to rooms in much the same way as Gideon Bibles in American hotels.

現在，日本房地產和酒店帝國APA集團的創始人元谷芙美子(Fumiko Motoya)及丈夫元谷外志雄(Toshio)在中國面臨着一連串的批評。他們的兩項事業——商業和保守政治——本週在一片譁然聲中互相沖突，因爲APA集團在370家經濟型連鎖酒店裏擺放了推廣右翼歷史的書籍，就像美國酒店經常在客房裏擺放《聖經》一樣。

The furor over the books, which promote the claim that Japanese forces did not massacre Chinese civilians during a rampage in Nanjing in 1937, has prompted a rebuke from Beijing and threats of a boycott by Chinese travelers, a fast-growing and economically important group for Japan.

這些書中宣揚，1937年發生在南京的攻城略池中，日本軍隊並沒有屠殺中國平民。這些書引發的憤怒，使得北京對其進行了譴責，中國遊客也威脅要抵制APA的酒店。中國遊客人數正在快速增長，對日本具有重要經濟意義。

“This once again shows that some forces in Japan are still reluctant to look squarely at history, and even try to deny and distort history,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said on Tuesday, as the outcry took on international political dimensions.

中國外交部發言人華春瑩週二表示，“這再次表明日本國內一些勢力始終不願正視歷史，甚至企圖否認和歪曲歷史。”

The number of foreigners visiting Japan reached a record 24 million last year, fueled in large part by a surge of visitors from China looking for good food, clean air and quality shopping. Despite continued tensions with its neighbor, Japan has embraced the tourist rush in its effort to look for economic growth drivers, with many retailers hiring Chinese-speaking sales clerks. Last year, Japan approved plans to legalize casinos, with Chinese gamblers partially in mind.

去年到日本旅遊的外國遊客數量達到了創紀錄的2400萬，其中以中國遊客爲主，他們到日本尋求美食、清潔的空氣和優質商品。儘管中日關係仍然緊張，但日本已經積極擁抱這股旅遊熱潮，視之爲經濟增長的驅動因素，很多零售商都僱用了講中文的銷售員。去年日本還批准了博彩合法化的計劃，部分上就是考慮到了可以吸引中國賭客。

The Motoyas have shown how fraught that embrace can be. APA’s stance has touched off anger online in China and condemnation from official media outlets, along with calls for Chinese travelers to take their business elsewhere.

元谷夫婦已經顯示了這種展開懷抱可以變得多麼令人擔心。APA的立場觸發了網絡上的憤怒和官方媒體的譴責，有人呼籲中國遊客去其他地方旅遊。

APA has been unrepentant. In a statement, it said that “historic interpretation and education vary among nations,” but it defended Mr. Motoya’s claims about Nanjing.

APA並沒有悔改。在一份聲明中，它說“對歷史的解釋和教育因國家而異”，但它爲元谷外志雄關於南京的主張進行了辯護。

“Therefore, we have no intention to withdraw this book from our guest rooms,” the company said, adding that “no one-sided pressures” would force it to change its mind. APA invited readers to correct any inaccurate statements “so that we can seriously study about them.”

“因此，我們不打算從客房收回這本書，”該公司說，“來自單方面的壓力”不會迫使它改變主意。APA邀請讀者糾正任何不準確的聲明，“以便我們可以認真研究它們”。

The Motoyas may not be as well known as another divisive and politically minded hotelier, Donald J. Trump, nor are their midmarket properties as gilded. But in Japan, they come close to being stars. Ms. Motoya, in particular, has embedded herself in popular culture though books, television appearances and an intermittent singing career.

元谷夫婦可能不像另一個製造分裂、熱衷政治的酒店老闆唐納德·J·特朗普(Donald J. Trump)那麼知名，他們的經濟型酒店也沒有特朗普的那麼奢華。但在日本，他們也算是明星了。特別是元谷芙美子，出書、上電視節目、斷斷續續的歌唱生涯，在流行文化中佔據了一席之地。

Wearing the fanciful hats that are her trademark, Ms. Motoya appears in advertisements for APA’s hotels and “APA president” merchandise like curry and rice crackers. She judges televised karaoke contests sponsored by the company, and a CD of her singing nostalgia-tinged songs can be purchased on APA’s website.

元谷芙美子戴着她標誌性的奇特帽子，出現在APA酒店和“APA總裁”產品的廣告中，比如咖喱和米果。她是該公司贊助的電視卡拉OK比賽的評委，APA的網站上還可以買到她唱懷舊歌曲的CD。

The Motoyas are among the most prominent backers in Japan of rightist historical revisionism. While Fumiko Motoya represents the APA brand in public, her husband writes essays and books that seek to put Japan’s sometimes brutal imperial past in a kinder light. Their activism has put them at the center of controversies that have bedeviled Japan’s relations with China and South Korea for decades.

元谷夫婦是日本右翼歷史修正主義最知名的支持者之一。元谷芙美子在公衆面前代表着APA品牌，而她丈夫則在寫論文寫書，試圖把日本帝國間或殘酷的歷史描繪得更爲親切。這種行爲，讓他們站在了幾十年來一直令日本與中國和韓國關係備受困擾的爭議中心位置。

“As political patrons, they can’t be ignored,” said Tamotsu Sugano, an author who has researched Japanese rightist groups. “They spread money everywhere.”

“作爲政界資助者，他們不容忽視，”研究日本右派團體的作家菅野完(Tamotsu Sugano)說。“他們到處撒錢。”

The Motoyas have used a fortune estimated to be in the billions of dollars to court and support politicians, mostly on the conservative end of the spectrum — from the center-right establishment to the fringe. Guests at their long-running wine parties have included Shinzo Abe, the current prime minister, according to a record of an event in 2005 that includes a photograph and was circulated by APA at the time.

元谷夫婦用來招攬和支持政界人士的資金估計數以十億美元計，這些人大多數都屬於保守派——從中間偏右的建制派到邊緣派別。現任首相安倍晉三也參加過夫婦倆長期舉行的葡萄酒派對，APA在2005年發佈的當年活動記錄中有一張安倍晉三的照片。

A Japanese magazine, Shukan Gendai, has estimated that Mr. Motoya, who serves as president of the overall APA Group while Fumiko leads the hotel division, is Japan’s fourth-richest person, with assets worth 220 billion yen, or about $1.9 billion. Shukan Gendai made its calculation based on tax records and on published APA documents, but because the company is privately owned, its disclosures are scarce and a precise figure is difficult to obtain.

元谷芙美子領導着酒店部門，元谷外志雄則擔任整個APA集團的總裁，據日本雜誌《週刊現代》(Shukan Gendai)估計，夫婦倆是日本第四大富豪，身家高達2200億日元，約合19億美元。《週刊現代》根據稅務記錄和公開的APA文件進行了計算，但由於該公司是私有的，披露的信息很少，難以獲得準確數字。

The Motoyas hail from Fukui, a rural area on the Sea of Japan, where they met while working at a small local credit union, according to Ms. Motoya’s autobiography. They built APA from a small operation beginning in the 1970s, starting with real-estate sales before moving into hotels for budget-conscious business travelers. In 2015, they expanded to the United States by buying a 200-room former Hilton hotel in Woodbridge, N.J.

元谷芙美子的自傳稱，夫婦倆來自靠近日本海的農村地區福井，是在當地一個小型地方信用合作社工作的時候相識的。兩人從1970年代經營小生意，從房地產銷售開始，之後進入經濟型商旅酒店行業，就這樣逐步建立了APA集團。2015年，他們在新澤西州伍德布里奇收購了一所200間客房的希爾頓酒店(Hilton hotel)，把生意擴展到了美國。

Right-wing literature has long been a staple, if odd, amenity at APA hotels in Japan. Much of it is written by Mr. Motoya, who uses a pen name but acknowledges authorship.

長期以來，右翼文獻都被APA在日本的酒店作爲便利設施來提供，雖然這有點奇怪。其中大部分文獻都是由元谷外志雄撰寫的，他使用了筆名，但承認自己是作者。

The books and articles describe a kind of alternative historical universe, one where Japan fought entirely nobly in World War II and in which its alleged atrocities were invented by Chinese and Korean propagandists. The accounts differ sharply from those of mainstream historians, both in Japan and abroad.

在這些書和文章描述的那個歷史世界中，日本在二戰中完全是高尚的，所謂的暴行是中國和韓國的宣傳機構捏造出來的。這些描述與日本國內外的主流歷史學家的說法大相徑庭。

One piece of literature that was featured for years was an essay by a former air force general, Toshio Tamogami, which won a prize in an APA-sponsored contest in 2008. In it, Mr. Tamogami claimed that Japan had been duped into attacking the United States at Pearl Harbor in 1941, in a plot he said was hatched by Communists inside the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

其中有一篇常年在列的文獻出自前空軍將軍田母神俊雄(Toshio Tamogam)之手，該文在2008年APA贊助的比賽中獲得了獎項。田母神俊雄在文中聲稱，日本1941年攻擊美國珍珠港是因爲中了圈套，而這個圈套是富蘭克林·D·羅斯福(Franklin D. Roosevelt)總統政府中的共產黨人設下的。

Mr. Tamogami was fired for writing the essay, and subsequently campaigned unsuccessfully to become governor of Tokyo and for a seat in the national Parliament, before being jailed for campaign finance violations last year.

田母神俊雄因撰寫這篇文章而遭撤職，後來競選東京都知事和日本議會席位均未成功。去年，他因爲競選財務違規行爲身陷囹圄。

The latest controversy was touched off by a video on the internet. Posted by a couple describing themselves as an American woman and a Chinese man who stayed at an APA hotel, it shows excerpts from a book by Mr. Motoya denying the Nanjing massacre and the forcible recruitment of women into wartime Japanese military brothels. The video spread quickly through the Chinese internet this week, generating outrage and promises of a boycott.

最新的爭議是由一段網上視頻引發的。發佈它的是一對伴侶，女子自稱是美國人，男子自稱是中國人，他們入住了APA一家酒店。視頻中顯示了元谷外志雄一本書的摘錄，其中對南京大屠殺和強迫婦女成爲日軍“慰安婦”的事情進行了否認。這段視頻本週在中國互聯網上快速傳播，引發了衆怒，一些人發誓要抵制APA酒店。

For its part, the Japanese government appears to want to keep its distance. The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, declined to comment on the APA books when asked on Wednesday, saying only that Japan, China and South Korea should seek “forward-looking” ways to cooperate.

在日本政府這方面，他們似乎想和此事保持距離。日本內閣官房長官菅義偉(Yoshihide Suga)本週三拒絕對APA的書籍置評，只是說日本、中國和韓國應該尋求“前瞻性”的合作方式。