Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

Forty-five years later, however, Nankin daigyakusatsu: Maboroshika kōsaku hihancarried this image again with a caption that incorrectly copied information in the originalLife magazine caption—it refers to December 14, 1937, as the date “prior” to the fall ofNanking. This triggered subsequent Nanking-related publications to include thisphotograph. These sources are QINHUA, NDG, SND, “Nanking 1937,” RON-YY, andRON-I. As for RON-I, its caption contains a passage that was not in the Life’s originalcaption, that is, “with a cigarette butt inserted between his lips as a joke.” On top of this,NDG hinted that “Mr. B”—the former owner of the “16 Photos” who testified to theJapanese origin of these photographs—had seen this image. Although the Japanese originof the photographs does not automatically implicate the Japanese for the atrocious actsshown in these images, such a story is likely to cause readers to strongly make thisconnection in their minds.Photo A Photo 96Photo 96: A photograph featured in the August 4, 1984, issue of the Asahi Newspaper as“undeniable proof” of the “Rape of Nanking.”Photo A: The Asahi Newspaper article with photographs, including Photo 96.155