Photo shows former Japanese leader kneeling in apology in Seoul, not Nanjing

Published on September 2, 2025 at 10:56
4 min read
By Anne CHAN, AFP Hong Kong

China's announcement that former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama will attend a massive military parade on September 3 to mark the end of World War II was well received by Chinese social media users, but a photo of the ex-leader kneeling was not taken in eastern China's Nanjing city as claimed online. The picture in fact shows him paying tribute to victims of Japan's colonial rule in South Korea's capital, Seoul.

The photo of Hatoyama in a black suit and white gloves kneeling before a wreath in a courtyard was shared on X on August 28, 2025.

The caption states the former Japanese leader -- who was in office for just nine months between 2009 and 2010 -- was slated to attend events commemorating China's war against the Japanese, adding: "Yukio Hatoyama once knelt to apologise for the Nanjing massacre" (archived link).

Japanese troops carried out six weeks of mass murder, rape and looting after entering the then capital Nanjing in 1937, killing tens if not hundreds of thousands, with the Chinese putting the death toll at 300,000 (archived link). But some Japanese arch-conservatives have denied the massacre, despite overwhelming international evidence.

Screenshot of the false X post, captured on September 1, 2025

China has planned a massive military parade on September 3 centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since the end of World War II (archived link). Millions of Chinese people were killed during a prolonged war with imperial Japan in the 1930s and 40s, which became part of a global conflict following Tokyo's attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Hatoyama, along with more than 20 other leaders including North Korea's Kim Jong Un and Russia's Vladimir Putin, would attend the huge spectacle in which China will showcase its military prowess (archived here and here).

Chinese social media users also shared the photo of Hatoyama kneeling in Weibo and X posts praising the former leader for being willing to acknowledge Japan's past.

"The most conscientious Japanese prime minister, he is deeply respected by the Chinese people," one wrote.

"You could say that this pro-China prime minister is an old friend of ours," another said.

But the photo does not show Hatoyama in Nanjing.

A reverse image search using Google led to a photo story published by South Korean broadcaster KBS on August 12, 2015 (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false X post (left) and the photo published by KBS (right), captured on September 2, 2025

The caption reads, "Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited the Seodaemun Prison in Seoul Wednesday and knelt before a memorial monument."

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV published similar footage of Hatoyama's visit to the Seodaemun Prison History Hall, which was used by Japan to imprison Korean independence activists (archived here and here).

CCTV's report on August 13, 2015 said Hatoyama knelt in front of the memorial to pay tribute to those killed by the Japanese during World War II.

Google Maps imagery of the Seodaemun Prison corresponds to the circulating photo of Hatoyama kneeling (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false X post (left) and Google Maps, with similarities highlighted by AFP

Hatoyama paid tribute at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial on January 17, 2013, bowing to a monument there to apologise for Japan's wartime acts (archived link).

Former Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama mourns for the Nanjing Massacre victims at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing on January 17, 2013 (Photo by AFP) (AFP / AFP)

AFP debunked other misinformation about China's military parade here and here.

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