TOKYO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese laborers and students who were killed in a massacre in Japan after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake were remembered at memorial events in Tokyo on Sunday, with participants calling on the Japanese government to squarely confront the country's history as a perpetrator.

This year marks the 103rd anniversary of the atrocity. On Sunday morning, a group of people gathered at Sakasai Bridge in Tokyo's Koto Ward to commemorate Wang Xitian, a leader of Chinese workers in Japan who was killed by Japanese soldiers during the massacre.

Wang was born in 1896 in Changchun City of northeast China's Jilin Province. In 1922, he founded and served as the chairman of the "mutual aid association of Chinese workers in Japan," dedicating himself to assistance work for Chinese laborers and confronting the Japanese government on their behalf.

Following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, Wang was killed by the Japanese military while working to help Chinese laborers and investigate the truth behind the massacre. He was only 27 at the time of his death.

Naoyuki Maniwa, a member of the Koto City Assembly, said, "Each of us bears responsibility for our own country's history. As a politician, it is absolutely unacceptable to show no reflection on the mistakes our country has made and the harm it has inflicted in the past."

In the afternoon, another memorial ceremony for the Chinese victims of the massacre was held at the Higashi-ojima Culture Center.

Speaking at the event, Zhou Chunhua and Zhou Songquan, descendants of Chinese victims, said efforts must continue to uncover the truth of this chapter of history and pursue fairness and justice. They also called on the Japanese government to confront historical crimes and responsibility.

Japanese political figures including Mizuho Fukushima, leader of Japan's Social Democratic Party, and Yoshifu Arita, a member of the House of Representatives, sent written messages to the event. They said Japan should face its history squarely, eliminate discrimination and xenophobia, and prevent tragedies from happening again.

On Sept. 1, 1923, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan's Kanto area, resulting in over 140,000 casualties. In the ensuing chaos, Japanese militarist mobs fanned xenophobic sentiment and fabricated pretexts to incite violence against Chinese and Korean laborers. Over 750 Chinese laborers and students, as well as more than 6,000 Korean laborers living in Japan, were brutally killed.

In 1924, Japanese authorities formulated a compensation plan for the victims of the massacre, but it remains unfulfilled to date.