First to Kill 100 Men with a Sword

First to Kill 100 Men with a Sword

Reports say that on the way to Nanking two Japanese officers, Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyoshi Noda, held a killing contest to determine who could kill 100 men the fastest, using only a sword. The “contest was widely reported in Japanese newspapers, with some keeping tally and reporting scores as if it were a sporting event.

Osaka Mainichi Shimbun and its sister newspaper the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun covered the “contest.” Both officers supposedly surpassed their goal during the heat of battle, making it impossible to determine which officer had actually won the contest.

Therefore, (according to the journalists Asami Kazuo and Suzuki Jiro, writing in the Tokyo Nichi-Nichi Shimbun of December 13), they decided to begin another contest, with the aim being 150 kills. The Nichi Nichi headline of the story of December 13 read "'Incredible Record' [in the Contest to] Behead 100 People—Mukai 106 – 105 Noda—Both 2nd Lieutenants Go Into Extra Innings".

Many soldiers and historians have said the events were exaggerated and sensationalized by the Japanese press. Noda admitted as such in a speech he gave in his hometown: “Actually, I didn't kill more than four or five people in hand-to hand combat... We'd face an enemy trench that we'd captured, and when we called out, 'Ni, Lai-Lai!' (You, come on!), the Chinese soldiers were so stupid, they'd rush toward us all at once.

Then we'd line them up and cut them down, from one end of the line to the other. I was praised for having killed a hundred people, but actually, almost all of them were killed in this way. The two of us did have a contest, but afterward, I was often asked whether it was a big deal, and I said it was no big deal.” [Source: Honda, Katsuichi (1999), Main text from Nankin e no Michi (The Road to Nanjing), 1987]

Japanese veteran Shintaro Uno wrote an autobiographical account that he consecutively beheaded nine prisoners with his sword, comparing his experiences with those of officers involved in the killing contest.

In regard to this, Japanese historian Katsuichi Honda, noted: “Whatever you say, it's silly to argue about whether it happened this way or that way when the situation is clear.

There were hundreds and thousands of [soldiers like Mukai and Noda], including me, during those fifty years of war between Japan and China. At any rate, it was nothing more than a commonplace occurrence during the so-called Chinese Disturbance.”

[Source: Women Under Seige womenundersiegeproject.org]

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