Writing a research paper on Rape of NankingWhy did japan torture so many chinese people without any rhyme or reason.

You really should look for books on this subject.  It's one where it really is a good idea to consult people who are truly experts.

I'm not an expert -- just someone who has taken a lot of classes on Japan, read books about it, speak the language fairly well.  But my opinion should not be substituted for that of a real expert.

My feeling is that the Japanese atrocities came from a number of sources, but the main two or three that I can think of are:

• Ancient rivalry with and conflicted feelings about China.  The Japanse got much of their culture from China yet had surpassed China in many ways.  So they felt superior yet they knew they owed a lot to the Chinese.


• The samurai/feudal ethos.  This helped them believe that those who were not warriors (or didn't live up to the Japanese view of what warriors should be) were less deserving of respect and didn't need to be treated well.  This showed up in their treatment of Allied POWs as well.


• Related to this is the militarism that was rampant in Japan at this time.  This was the idea that the military was superior to all civilians and could, therefore, sort of do what it wanted.