A gruesome wartime newspaper contest that became a flashpoint for historical memory in Japan
In short: In 1937, two Japanese officers were celebrated in newspapers for a competition to see who could kill 100 people first with a sword. While modern historians view the reports as sensationalized propaganda, the story’s rediscovery decades later ignited a fierce, ongoing debate about the reality of Japanese war crimes.
During the 1937 Japanese invasion of China, the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun and Osaka Mainichi Shimbun published reports detailing a 'hundred-man killing contest' between two Imperial Japanese Army second lieutenants, Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyoshi Noda. The articles framed the killings as a sporting event, complete with competitive tallies as the officers advanced toward Nanjing. By December 13, 1937, newspapers reported that both men had surpassed 100 kills, prompting them to initiate a new contest to reach 150. While the original reports depicted these as feats of hand-to-hand combat, historians and even one of the officers later suggested the reality was far more brutal: the systematic execution of Chinese prisoners of war.
The story faded into obscurity until 1967, when historian Tomio Hora published documents regarding the Nanjing Massacre, followed by journalist Katsuichi Honda’s 1971 articles. These reports sparked intense controversy in Japan. For some, the contest became a symbol of wartime atrocities; for others, particularly conservative revisionists, questioning the veracity of the 'contest' became a way to cast doubt on the Nanjing Massacre itself. In 2000, scholar Bob Wakabayashi concluded that while the contest story was likely a journalistic fabrication, the ensuing debate paradoxically increased public awareness of Japan’s role as a victimizer during the war.
The legal legacy of the contest persisted into the 21st century. In 2003, the families of Mukai and Noda sued journalists and publishers for defamation, arguing the stories were false. In 2005, the Tokyo District Court ruled against the families, noting that while the original news accounts were 'extremely questionable,' the story was not necessarily 'completely false in an important part' because evidence suggested the officers did kill prisoners with swords. The Supreme Court of Japan upheld this decision in 2006. Today, the contest remains a contentious exhibit at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial, serving as a reminder of how wartime propaganda can complicate the historical record for generations.
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