Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

According to the caption of Photo 52, the dead body shown in it was a farmerkilled by the Japanese military in the Tunliu prefecture in the Shanxi Province.Whatever military operation the Japanese army may have conducted in the region shouldhave been an anti-guerrilla campaign or a counter-insurgency in nature. The militaryhistory series compiled by the Japanese Defense Agency’s military history divisionsummarizes the Japanese army’s activities in the area in its 18 th volume entitled Hokushino chiansen [Security Warfare in Northern China] (1):Photo 52: RBS photograph attached with a caption, “A farmer murdered by Japanese troops atTunliu prefecture in Shanxi Province.”119