| Masaaki Tanaka | |
| Native Name: | 田中 正明 |
| Native Name Lang: | ja |
| Birth Date: | 11 February 1911 |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Notable Works: | What Really Happened in Nanking: The Refutation of a Common Myth |
(February 11, 1911 – January 8, 2006) was a Japanese author notable for his book What Really Happened in Nanking: The Refutation of a Common Myth, which denies that the Nanjing Massacre as traditionally understood took place.[1] Originally written in Japanese in 1987, an English version was published in 2000 in response to Iris Chang's book, The Rape of Nanking.
A Japanese World War II veteran, Tanaka served as General Iwane Matsui's secretary at the time of Nanjing Massacre in 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[2] He was involved in a controversy in 1986 when he was found to have altered a key historical document,, in several hundred places when serving as the editor for its publication in 1985.[3] He suffered academic ostracism after the controversy but remained an active author for the non-academic market.