China’s Asian Winter Games athletes unlikely to stay at hotel linked to Nanking Massacre book

The organising committee of the forthcoming Asian Winter Games in Japan is arranging to change accommodation for Chinese athletes from the APA Hotel in Sapporo, where copies of a controversial book denying the 1937 Nanking Massacre are placed in guestrooms, a committee source said on Tuesday.

Following a furore in China over the book’s placement in APA hotel guestrooms, the Olympic Council of Asia, the apex sporting body that governs sports events in Asia, and the Chinese Olympic Committee have both requested that Chinese athletes not be accommodated at the hotel during the sports event.

The athletes can stay at the Sapporo Prince Hotel, the other hotel within the city designated for athletes’ accommodation, or other hotels outside the area, according to the organising committee.

The 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games, featuring participants from 31 countries and regions, will start in February in Hokkaido. The APA Hotel in Sapporo was going to host the largest number of athletes.

The controversial book is a compilation of essays written by Toshio Motoya, head of the hotel chain operator, APA Group.