Born Then
1937–1945

Life during the Second Sino-Japanese War

Be born in a place it hit, a few years before it began, and see what it did to five ordinary lives.

What it meant for ordinary people

Japan's full-scale invasion in 1937 took China's coast and cities, with massacres such as Nanjing, bombing of cities and famines behind the lines. Tens of millions became refugees, and the war weakened the Nationalist government ahead of the civil war.

Deaths: about 15–20 million Chinese, most of them civilians.

How hard it hits each person in the game (risk of death, of being conscripted, of leaving) comes from scholarly estimates.

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