Basically, I've been diving down a rabbit hole about how Attack on Titan and its mangaka are pro-nazi, pro-nationalist, anti-korean, pro-eugenics, anti-jewish, yadda yadda it's not important to the question.
What IS important is that many people talking about these claims point to how a character from the series, Dot Pixis, is based directly on Akiyama Yoshifuru, a Japanese General from the time of the Port Arthur Massacre. They claim he was complicit to the event, if not directly responsible, and that his likeness being used for a character in the series is damning evidence.
Problem is, no matter where I look, I can't find any primary sources that support this claim. Granted, I'm VERY bad at looking for stuff like this, but from what I was able to find, General Yamaji Motoharu was reportedly responsible for this tragedy. The only link I can find between Akiyama and the massacre itself is in a Kotaku article and the bunch of tumblr posts, all of whom seem to loop back into each other?
So, what's the truth here? I have no real stake on all those allegations, but as long as I'm familiar with it, I want to know what the truth is. Thank you!
Hello. I went investigating the same question after 139 dropped.
The answer is yes, Akiyama Yoshifuru did participate in the conquest of Port Arthur. Here's the source (It's a Japanese history blog): https://ameblo.jp/jtkh72tkr2co11tk317co/entry-11954979672.html
11月18日、土城子という旅順近郊での戦闘では、秋山好古少佐の騎兵第一大隊が清軍と遭遇し、死者11名・負傷者37名を出すなど苦戦を強いられた。
November 18th, in the battle at Dairen(Dalian) near Ryojin(Port Arthur), major Akiyama Yoshifuru's 1st cavalry batallion encountered Qing army, and was forced into a difficult fight, losing 11 soldiers and getting 37 soldiers wounded."
(I'm not using "encountered" or " was forced" on purpose, btw. That's how the article phrases it).
この戦いは後々大きな影を落とすことになる。しかし11月21日の攻撃では旅順の大部分を占拠するに至った。
That battle will end up casting a big shadow in future. However, it was able to bring the larger part of Port Arthur under (Japanese army's) control, with an attack on November 21st.
↑Casting a big shadow means causing grievance - the wounded soldiers were brutally mutilated and murdered by the Chinese army, which caused the Japanese to unleash the revenge massacre on the town of Dalian.
・The campaign to take over Port Arthur was led by commander-in-chief of the Japanese Second Army, Ooyama Iwao. Motoharu Yamaji (division commander) and Akiyama Yoshifuru (major) were under his command.
・Did Akiyama Yoshifuru participate in the massacre itself? It's not explicitly documented, but he was there, in Dalian. It were his soldiers that were murdered. He was a direct subordinate of a guy responsible for the slaughter. I think that regardless of whether Akiyama actually participated on the massacre or not, it wasn't a good idea to base a character off of him.
・The article gives off apologetic vibes. It tries to explain that the Chinese army didn't actually lose its fighting spirit after being defeated and the town showed resistance too, so Japanese army had an excuse for its actions. It brings up Ooyama Iwao's explanation letter:
市街の兵士人民を混一して殺戮したるは実に免れ難き実況
"The slaughter of both townspeople and soldiers as one was a state of things that was difficult to avoid/something that had to be done."
So there's that.