Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono stressed Sunday that it is an "undeniable" fact that Japanese troops committed slaughterings in Nanjing during World War II.

Kono made the remark in a telephone interview with Xinhua while referring to a gathering held by a small group of Japanese right-wing activists in Osaka, western Japan, earlier in the day to promote the claim that the 1937 Nanjing Massacre "never occurred."

There are many versions in regard to the what he called "Nanjing incident," but the Japanese government thinks that it is an undeniable fact that after the Japanese troops entered Nanjing in 1937, there were non-combatants killed, looting and other acts, Kono said.

The opinion of the private group which held the gathering is different from the Japanese government's opinion, so it could not gain support from most of the Japanese people, Kono added.

The Japanese government maintains its view on history as manifested by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995, and expounded in the 1972 Japan-China Joint Statement and the 1998 Joint Declaration, the Japanese foreign minister said.

There is no change in the Japanese government's view, and most of the Japanese people share the view, Kono stressed.

Some 200 members of the Japanese rightist group attended the rally held in the Peace Osaka museum on Sunday, claiming that the 1937 Nanjing Massacre "is a lie."

Several Japanese civic and overseas Chinese groups staged rallies around the museum, condemning the right-wing group's gathering for denying the Nanjing Massacre.

About 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were slaughtered by Japanese aggressor troops following the fall of Nanjing in 1937. (Xinhua)