Analyzing the “Photographic Evidence” of the Nanking Massacre

such children playing in the presence of Japanese soldiers in a southern Chinese town.One may notice the smiling faces of those Japanese soldiers who were watching these littleart performers.(9) A Japanese tank allegedly incinerating a private residencePhoto 109 appears in RON-I as a New China News Agency photo with thefollowing caption: “Arson destroyed one-third of Nanking during the massacre. HereJapanese troops set fire to a house in the suburbs.” One should, however, reject thisexplanation for the following two reasons. First, the tank shown in the photograph is a“Type-97 light armored vehicle,” which was even not produced at the time of the Nankingcampaign. “Type-97” means that the Japanese army general staff authorized the adoptionof this type of armored vehicle in the Japanese imperial year 2597, that is, A.D. 1937.Some of the first 247 of this type, produced in 1939, were assigned to the 48th ScoutRegiment headquartered in Ōita Prefecture for the first time in November 1940.Photo 109Photo 109: RON-I’s caption of this photograph, credited with New China News Agency,reads, “Arson destroyed one-third of Nanking during the massacre. Here Japanese troopsset fire to a house in the suburbs.” The fact is, however, that the Type-97 light armoredvehicle depicted in this photograph was not even produced at the time of the Nankingcampaign in 1937-38.180