Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

Another notable fact is that a soldier depicted in Photo 99 is wearing a turnovercollared uniform. Since no Japanese military men wore this type of uniform at the time,the soldier could have been Japanese.Photo KPhoto K: RON-YY, p. 142. Its caption says, “A Japanese officer practices swordwork on abound and blindfolded victim propped up on two sticks.”Although RON-YY captioned a similar photograph, Photo K, as “A Japaneseofficer practices swordwork on a bound and blindfolded victim propped up on two sticks,”the man is seen holding a sword with one hand and in the form of fencing, which would bean unlikely posture for the use of a Japanese sword.(5) Alleged killing contest and sword maintenance scenePhoto 100 made its debut in Zhongguo Kangri Huazhi [Illustrated History ofChina’s Resistance War] published in 1947. The publishing of this book appeared to havebeen timed with the opening of the military court in Nanking to try Mukai Toshiaki andNoda Tsuyoshi—two Japanese officers who had participated in the Nanking campaign assecond lieutenants and were indicted by the military court for the so-called “100-mankilling contest.” The court convicted them and sentenced them to death by adopting asevidence only newspaper articles that reported on the alleged killing competition. Theywere subsequently shot to death on January 28, 1948. Its caption says, “Three contestantsin a killing contest betted on their score, and triumphantly wiped bloodstains off their165