The Nanking Massacre, commonly known as the Rape of Nanking and known in Japan as the Nanjing Incident, refers to a six-week period following the capture of Nanking, capital of the Republic of China, on December 9, 1937. International military tribunals convened at the end of World War II determined that, during this period, the Imperial Japanese Army committed atrocities such as rape, looting, arson and the execution of prisoners of war and civilians rising to the level of war crimes.

These findings and other allegations are disputed by some Japanese historians and government officials.

As a result of the ongoing controversy over Japanese efforts to deny, explain away or minimize the scale of the massacre, the incident remains a stumbling block in Sino-Japanese relations.