Support rallied for Japanese compensation over WWII

People in Chengdu, Sichuan province, are collecting 10,000 signatures to show support for victims of Japan's air raids.

They are seeking compensation for Japanese wartime atrocities during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Invasion (1937-45).

From 1938 to 1944, the Japanese dispatched 921 planes on missions that involved indiscriminate bombing and resulted in heavy casualties in Chongqing, Chengdu, Leshan and Zigong in Sichuan province, according to a report in Chengdu Business Daily.

Since 2007, a court hearing regarding the air raids on Chengdu was convened five times by the Tokyo District Court.

On Oct 1, it will be convened for the sixth time.

The signatures will be presented to the court before the sixth session begins, said Wen Zhong, 75, a Chengdu resident who attended the fifth court hearing in Tokyo.

On July 27, 1941, 108 Japanese planes bombed Chengdu, turning Wen's home into rubble. The shock waves of explosions ruptured his left eardrum.

"Seeking the signatures is to let the Japanese government know the attitude of Chengdu citizens and let young people in Chengdu know this chapter in history," Wen told the newspaper.