3. Yomiuri Shimbun Newspaper
8) Interview with Mr. Futamura Jiro (二村次郎), Photographer for the
Hochi Shimbun Newspaper (Yomiuri Group newspaper)With the outbreak of the China Incident, the major newspaper companies dispatched theirreporters and photographers to the battlefield; the Hochi Shimbun (Yomiuri groupnewspaper) followed as well. At the time, the Shanghai branch of the Hochi Shimbun
had only three members, including Chief Hyakutake (百武), and this was insufficient, so
the Hochi Shimbun sent five reporters and photographers first, with the outbreak of the
Shanghai Incident; then two additional reporters were dispatched to Shanghai. And on
September 5, 1937, the third reinforcement arrived, that is, photographer Mr. Futamura
Jiro.
Mr. Futamura joined Hochi Shimbun at the age of 16, starting as a flush-operator, andwhen he was dispatched to Shanghai, he was still 22 years old, the youngest in thephotograph department. Like Robert Capa, who took pictures of the Spanish Civil War,
war photography was a most challenging job so he was envied by colleagues. He
followed numerous battles, including Zhabei (閘北), Dachang Town (大場鎮), andZoumatang (走馬塘). On November 11, 1937, the Japanese Army took control of Shanghai.
The Japanese Army moved to Nanjing and Mr. Futamura followed the Army.
Mr. Futamura stayed in Shanghai until the end of March 1938 and then returned to Tokyo.
In June, he was recruited by the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun. He kept his position at theMainichi Shimbun after the War, publishing numerous photos and eventually opened his
own studio.
I interviewed Mr. Futamura in April 1986, when cherry trees were full of bloom, at his
studio in Shibuya, Tokyo. Mr. Futamura showed me his last remaining album, whichnarrowly escaped destruction by American air raids during the War, as well as articles
concerning the so-called Nanjing Massacre published by Asahi Shimbun.
Mr. Futamura told me that he had nearly forgotten about the Nanjing issue but a decadeago, Mr. Suzuki Akira, who wrote the book, “Illusion of the Nanjing Massacre” (南京大虐殺の幻) (Nankin daigyakusatsu no maboroshi), visited him and informed him that the
Nanjing issue became a subject of public discussion. Since then, he has followed every
1and any discussion concerning the Nanjing Incident and kept an article, ‘Wanrenkeng’(万人坑), published by the Asahi Shimbun several years ago.
– What route did you take when you moved from Shanghai to Nanjing?
At first, I walked on the railway tracks to Kunshan (崑山); needless to say, there were no
trains. I didn't follow any particular group of soldiers. Then I went to Suzhou (蘇州),
where I took pictures of the troops entering the fortress. Suzhou was a big city and thepictures of the troops entering the fortress made headlines, so we sent the photos toShanghai immediately. Magara Akinori (真柄秋徳), the head of the photo section of the
Hochi Shimbun and photographer Miyakawa Katsumi (宮川克己), and Suzuki Jiro (鈴木二郎), a reporter from the Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun, and I, started for Shanghai.
The regimental commander, Fujii Sueyoshi (藤井末吉), I don’t remember his name very
well, came up to me and said, “We could have taken the area sooner, as the enemy was
asleep, but now they are awake, so your journey will be very dangerous. Take these.”
And he handed us weapons. We knew that they could not spare any soldiers to protect us.
The weapons we received were those captured from the Chinese army. I was given alight machine gun and the other three were given infantry rifles. I didn't know even how
to shoot so I was told to try it out first. When I shot it, I fell on my butt from its recoil. I
was far from hitting the target but just having the weapon might be useful, so I carried it
and headed for Kunshan.
Our luggage was carried by several coolies.
When we arrived at Kunshan there was a car waiting me, which was arranged by ourcompany Hochi, so I took the car, leaving the other three and went back to Shanghai.
We were comrades in the battlefield but, in the end, as journalist we were competitors,
so I didn't offer them a ride. I think rides were already arranged for them as well.
– Did you head for Nanjing from Shanghai again?
Yes, of course. Reporters wrote their articles later but photos cannot wait. You must be
there at the right moment. I departed right away, alone. I went to Wu-xi (無錫) and as far
I remember, delivered my photos to Shanghai as well. After that, I decided to follow anygroup of soldiers and departed Shanghai for the third time--I met the 47th Regiment of the2

6th Division. I was born in Oita, Kyushu, and this Regiment was the “Oita Regiment,” soI decided to follow the Regiment.
– According to my knowledge, the 47th Regiment suffered from cholera and stayed in
Jiashan (嘉善) for a while.
Did it? I don't remember that at all. Maybe I joined them after the cholera incident. I waswith the 47th Regiment for a week before we arrived in Nanjing.
I moved with Regimental headquarters but later went to the front line in order to takegood photos. As a matter of fact there was food at headquarters and they generously gaveme their portions. But when I moved to the front, I had to find food for myself. Soon, mystock ran out and I had to eat the last of my stock, a pickled plum. I put it in my mouthand found that it was not pickled plum but candy plum. After that, I entered a nearby
farmhouse and took some food. I think other solders had done the same.
– Did you move with other photographers?
For a while, I moved with Ishii Kiyoshi (石井清), a Mainich Shimbun photographer, but
we separated thereafter, so later I was alone most of the time.
I heard that photographer Konoyama Kunio (此山国雄) of the Fukuoka Nichinichi
Shimbun, had been accidentally shot by a Japanese soldier at Zhonghua Gate (中華門)—I was in the area as well--because he wore a Chinese soldier's steel helmet. In thosedays, Chinese soldiers hid in farms in the area, so using the enemy's helmet made nosense. But in any event, his death should be regarded as war-related.
– It was the 47th Regiment who first put up the hinomaru flag over the fortress, wasn't it?
Yes, it was. They climbed the rampart of Zhonghua Gate to attack and, being with thefirst wave, I took pictures. Actually, it was not easy to follow the first wave. Taking thebest shot of capturing the castle at the right moment was quite a rare opportunity so weusually made the soldiers pose again, for a good shot.
– When did you enter the castle?
3

I remember that the 47th Regiment climbed over the captured rampart. It was either the
12th or 13th.
– What did you see in the Castle?
No Chinese there. I separated from the 47th Regiment and moved alone. Our Hochi
Shimbun reporters moved to Nanjing separately so I tried to find my colleagues to makea temporary Hochi office and pictures of capture of the rampart were carried by airplane
to Shanghai.
– Where did you make your temporary office?
I don't remember. What I remember was, the Hochi brought staff from Japan who
handled carrier pigeons.
– Have you heard about the so-called Nanjing Massacre?
During my stay in Nanjing, I never saw anything like that at all. After the War, people
often asked me about this but I have no memory about it. For sure, I would want to know
about this. Unlike Auschwitz, there was no designated place to kill people. It was theTokyo Trial (IMTFE) when I heard about this for the first time after the War. I thoughtvery deeply and I remember that I saw a huge hole inside the Castle.
– When did you see this?
It was shortly after I entered the Castle. It was a rectangular hole, 20 to 30 meters long,more than 1 meter depth--it looked new. It was not located in the housing area but in thefields.
– Who made the hole, Japanese or Chinese soldiers?
I don't know. When I heard about Nanjing Massacre I felt that the hole might have been
somehow related. But this is just my guess; I know nothing about it.
4

– Did you go back later to check?
I was not concerned at all that time, so it never occurred to me to check again. After theWar, there were claims about the Nanjing massacre so I tried to remember anything, andI finally remembered that hole.
– Someone said prisoners-of-war were killed.
I saw prisoners walking--they were tied up in rows. It was daytime.
– Did you mention this with others in your office?
In the middle of battle, I watched one or two war prisoners being killed. We reporters
saw those things but it did not become a topic in particular. You might just call themprisoners but prisoners could turn to be enemy at anytime. And, practically it was
impossible to bring prisoners with us. We could not move with them. Several hundredprisoners I saw in Nanjing might have been killed because we did not enough foods forthem. If you can find the soldiers who led those prisoners, you might be able to findsomething about so-called Nanjing Massacre.
– How about civilians?
I don't believe Japanese soldiers had done any wrong with them.
– Did you not see bodies in Nanjing?
I saw almost nothing. Had I seen hundreds of bodies, I would not have forgotten. But for
the Yangtze River, I heard many reporters saying they saw countless bodies floating in
the river.
– Was this the so-called massacre?
They were not massacred--but the number of bodies was large so they might have5

mentioned this, I think.
– What places did you visit in Nanjing?
I visited the Yangtze River myself but what I saw with my own eyes were one or twobodies. I visited a depository which kept goods of abandoned property. There were hugebuildings and the inside was ransacked. Chinese soldiers or Japanese soldiers--I don't
know who did it--anyway, no valuables were left.
I visited the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum (中山陵), of which I have still pictures, together withmy colleagues from the Hochi Shimubun. There were hundreds of stone steps and thejourney took a whole day. I remember that there were Japanese soldiers acting
outrageously, throwing papers into a room and setting it on fire. So all of us had to carrywater to put out the fire.
Also I visited buildings of the Nationalist Party's Government and took a picture of theJapanese flag being hoisted there.
– Did you take pictures of the two ceremonies, the triumphant entry and memorialservice?
Yes, I did. The memorial service was especially impressive. At the time, it was not easy
to get near Commander General Matsui but I was able to take close-up photos of him. I
remember that I was trembling because I was so nervous, to see him so close.
Commander General Matsui Iwane, full of tears, mourned the dead and I found myself
crying as well. Even now, I have not forgotten the feeling.
– Were you back to Shanghai soon after the memorial service?
Maybe I stayed Nanjing for a couple of days. We returned to Shanghai by car, and the carfell into a rice paddy but luckily nobody was injured at all.
– Did you stay in Shanghai after that?

6

After I returned to Shanghai, I went to Hangzhou (杭州). After the New Year, in January
or February 1938, I went to Nanjing in order to take the Tianjin-Pukou line (津浦線).
– What was the situation in Nanjing then?
There were no Chinese soldiers and the town was quiet. Regarding Japanese soldiers,
only sentries were posted. I went to the Tianjin-Pukou line and stayed for a while, since
the Xuzhou (徐州) Operation was going to start, but there was no progress with theoperation, so I came back to Shanghai and later returned to Tokyo. I arrived in Tokyo on
April 1.
Thinking back those days, I feel strange – we didn't know how or when we will die.
During the battle of Somatou (走馬塘), I took pictures at the front and came back in one
piece. But my backpack, which I left in a shelter, was hit by a bomb. Later, in Tokyo, mybackpack was exhibited to the public as a backpack carried by a war correspondent, as
well as my light machine gun, as I previously mentioned.
Mr. Iwakura Tomomasa (岩倉具方) (painter and the third son of Duke Iwakura), whojoined the Navy as an artist/reporter for the Hochi Shimbun, was a very quiet person. He
said that he would never go to out to a battlefield because he was really afraid and neverleft Shanghai. However, the Chinese army bombarded Shanghai, and Mr. Iwakura, who
lived on Woosung Road (呉松路), where many Japanese lived and a supposedly safe
place took a direct hit by a bomb. I think he was the first reporter casualty in Shanghai.
At the time, I thought we would die wherever we were, in a town or on the battlefield,
when the time came.

9) Interview with Mr. Taguchi Risuke (田口利介), Reporter for the Hochi
Shimbun Newspaper
On August 13, 1937, at the outbreak of the Shanghai Incident, Mr. Taguchi Risuke was areporter from the social department of the Hochi Shimbun and was assigned to the
Ministry of the Navy. At that time, 7,000 Japanese citizens lived in Shanghai, and in orderto protect them, 4,000 members of Imperial Japanese Navy Landing Forces stood up
7

against 30,000 Chinese troops. Accordingly, the Kuroshio-kai (黒潮会), a reporters’
association which was assigned to the Ministry of the Navy, reporters were sent toShanghai, from the Domei Tsushin, Asahi, Mainichi, Yomiuri, and Hochi newspapers.
Reporters sent were Mr. Taguchi from the Hochi and Mr. Hayashi (林謙一) from theMainichi. Mr. Hayashi Kenichi , later wrote “Ohan-han,” which became a popular TV
program. They left Tokyo on September 12. Mr. Taguchi was 26 years old.
When they arrived in Shanghai, the Japanese Army had just arrived at Kunda (公太)Airfield as well. Thereafter, they attacked Nanjing from September 19 to 25, with a totalof 300 airplanes, 11 times. The Nanjing air-raid was internationally condemned.
– Did you go to Shanghai to report on naval activity?
Yes. Ten days after the attack, the Imperial Japanese Navy Landing Forces defended
Headquarters at all cost, and when we arrived in Shanghai, they confronted the Chinese
Army at North Sichuan Road (北四川路).
Military artist Iwakura Tomomasa (岩倉具方) (Duke Iwakura's son and Tomomi
Iwakura's great-grandson) from the Hochi Shimbun, took a mortar round to the head as
walked in the International Settlement. He died on October 14.
He was indeed dedicated to the Navy, so I asked the Navy to spare a couple of sailors forhis cremation. I guessed that the Landing Forces or its press section did not have any
sailors on hand, so I went to the Third Fleet. “We do not have anyone available for such
purpose,” they simply told me. They didn't care for war correspondents or militaryartists at all. After we died, we were nothing to them; chilly. So, in the early morning, weplaced Mr. Iwakura's body into a coffin, which the Japanese residents’ society prepared,
and went to a mulberry field near the airfield, and two persons, a Chinese and a driver,burned the coffin with petroleum.
– The fighting by the Landing Forces was over with the battle of Zhabei (閘北), is that
correct?
While the Landing Forces won the battle of Zhabei, the Japanese Army also won thebattle of Dachang (大場鎮). After that, the main force shifted to the Army. So I began

8

reporting news mainly on the Army.
A number of creeks and lakes dotted the suburbs of Shanghai and the Chinese militaryused them to build their pillboxes. Chiang Kai-shek called it the “Von Seeckt Line”.
German commander von Seeckt used these creeks to build a solid defensive line
connected to Suzhou (蘇州), which was regarded as firm as the Maginot Line. Japanese
Naval Aviation had command of the air but it was not easy to defeat the Chinese.
– When you went to Nanjing, you followed Japanese Army troops?
The Shanghai Expeditionary Army attacked from both directions, against Kunshan(昆山) and Suzhou (蘇州). We followed, but not with any particular unit. While we
moved to Suzhou and Wu-xi (無錫), we came across the 16th Division and after that wefollowed the 16th Division. We continued to move to Changzhou (常州), then Danyang(丹陽), and I wrote several stories about Colonel Katagiri (片桐), the Commander of the
9th Regiment.
In those days, I traveled by jeep and delivered my reports to Shanghai by jeep. But as we
got closer to Nanjing, we found that the Chinese military had burned down a bridge
before they disappeared, so our jeep could not go any further, and that report became mylast article.
– Did you move with divisional Headquarters?
I moved at the company level, so I didn't know anyone such as the Division Commanderor his staff officers.
On either December 8 or 9, we were at, if my memory is correct, Jiangsu (句容) –several consoling visitors from the House of Representatives came to Headquarters andleft Japanese sake for Prince Asakanomiya. That night, a staff officer, a lieutenantcolonel, in the Asakanomiya Army, brought the sake to us. We lit a candle in a small box,
trying not to leak the light out, and sipped the sake. “The Prince doesn't experiencehardships – it is you, reporters, who face the hoary front, who deserve the sake,” said thelieutenant colonel. I think then that the lieutenant colonel acted like yakuza or a gangster.
His name was Lieutenant Colonel Cho Isamu (長勇), who later committed harakiri
9(suicide) at the battle of Okinawa. This well describes his character.
– Did you move with Staff Officer Cho (長) after that?
No. I met him only once, that night.
The next day, I went to a place called Kirinmon (麒麟門.). It was called mon (gate) but it
was not one of Nanjing Castle’s gate. The place I stayed at hardly looked like a village--it
was just a cluster of several houses, where the front-line company was deployed.
Nanjing Castle stood firmly despite Japanese field gun attacks. We spent 3 to 4 days
there.
Incidentally, this is after the fact--at around the same time when we were there, theMainichi Shimbun printed a special edition on the start of the attack on Nanjing Castle. I
heard about this after I returned to Shanghai. “What have you been doing?” the deskyelled at me. But in fact, the Japanese military just reached Nanjing Castle!
Back to the story at Kirinmon--in the middle of night, a voice suddenly awakened me,“Okinto yakemasse--wake up or you will be burned!” in a Kyoto dialect that soundedsomewhat peaceful to my sleepy head. At first I didn't understood what had happened.
The next moment, my eyes caught scarlet fire past the windows. It was unlike thesituation of yakemasse, like a baked potato, so I rushed out of our lodging immediately.
The battle had started.
Several days like that passed. Then one morning, when I got up, I realized that there were
no more sounds of shooting. Nanjing fell that day.
Just over one night the world had completely changed. I entered Nanjing that day. What
I only had in my rucksack then was a handful rice and three dried sardines.
– Did you enter from Zhongshan Gate (中山門)?
Yes. There were a lot of sandbags clogged up the inside the gate. Those sandbags had
been partially removed before I entered so I climbed up. The inside of the Castle wasquiet, no sound of guns. I felt strange--only a short while ago we had been surrounded by10noisy gunfire.
Zhongshan Gate led to a big street, Zhongshan East Road (中山東路,), where I saw
nothing, not even a kitten. Walking along the deserted street, I found buildings of the
Nationalist Party's Government. I entered and was surprised to see that it remained
intact, as if Chiang Kai-shek was there. On his desk were pencils, pens and other things,
as if he were ready to go to work. I heard he had escaped around December 7 – it seemedthat he in fact ran away in a hurry.
What I found next was a bidet in the bathroom. At first, I wondered what it was, but thenI realized that this was bidet. I had heard of bidets but it was the first time I actually sawone.
– What was it like inside Nanjing Castle?
I saw just 2 or 3 bodies. I heard that the Chinese Military fled from Xiaguan (下関), so I
visited Xiaguan. Xiaguan was a harbor town along Yangtze River. To reach it, you havea lot of choices of gates to go through--I didn't know which gate they used.
I found nothing at Xiaguan. Maybe it was because they had long since fled.
– Did you find anything impressive in Nanjing?
One day, I visited the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum (中山陵) at Mt. Zijin (紫禁山). I climbed
up more than 300 spacious, gentle steps made with white granite. The Sun-Yat-sen
Mausoleum looked magnificent. Incredibly, I saw no traces of gunfire there and felt
relieved.
– It is said there was a massacre in Nanjing.
I never heard of that then--nobody mentioned such a thing.
– Did the 16th Division keep discipline?
As far as I saw, there were no big problems. Except on the way to Nanjing, a sergeant11

from the 16th Division declared that he would kill 100 Chinese with his sword on theway to Nanjing. I don't know if he actually did that. He said he would do it to avenge his
comrades and it was said that whenever he met Chinese he used his sword to kill them. It
was said that he killed not only uniformed Chinese soldiers but also ben-i, plain-clothedsoldiers.
– What did other soldiers think of him?
I am sure that no one else thought that this was good. In war, it is kill or be killed,
nothing more. The sergeant was obsessed by the idea of revenge but I felt he wassomewhat of a coward.
– It is said that Staff Officer Cho Isamu, as you previously mentioned, ordered his solders
to do this.
I don't know. I met Staff Officer Cho just once. But from my naval reporter's point ofview, generally speaking, I felt that those army Staff Officers didn't care much for orders
coming from above. Lieutenant General Sato Kenryo (佐藤賢了) and Lieutenant General
Tominaga Kyoji (富永恭次) were the typical. Cho Isamu (長勇) was one of them, I think.
– How long were you in Nanjing?
Until the entrance ceremony. I didn't know anything about the memorial service for the
next day. I heard about it later.
– When did you come to know about Nanjing-Incident?
Recently. I read a book written by Mr. Maeda Yuji (前田雄二), a Domei Tsushin
reporter. In his book, he said he saw bodies at Xiaguan, but when I went there, I found nobodies.
On the other hand, one of my colleagues, Mr. Iwata Iwaji (岩田岩二), a Navy reporter wholater came to Nanjing by gunboat, said that he saw many bodies floating in the Yangtze
River as the boat got close to Nanjing. But whether this was due to a massacre or not, I

12was not sure at the time.
– The Nanjing Incident was an agenda idem at the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE). Did you know
that?
I was drafted in 1943 and went to Harbin (哈爾濱), serving in the Special Duty
Organization. As the war ended, I was detained in Siberia by the Soviet Military. I cameback to Japan with the last evacuees in 1950. So, for 5 years after the War, my memory isblank. But after I returned to Japan, for long time, I never heard about a “Nanjing
Massacre.” It was only in these past 10 years that this kind of talk started.
According to my experience, I feel that any “massacre” was somehow exaggerated,maybe in order to oppose the Army’s fascism or for propaganda purposes for the
Chinese Communist Party's Army.
In 1940, Mr. Taguchi joined the Ministry of the Navy. At around the same time, Germany
established the PK (Propagandakompanie) under the RMVP (Reich Ministry for
Information and Propaganda). They realized the importance of news from the front aswell as the soldiers on the front lines. Later, the US Navy also followed in kind, but inJapan, journalists and war correspondents were not as highly valued.
Mr. Taguchi could not forget the Navy’s attitude as demonstrated by the death of Mr.
Iwakura, the military artist, in Shanghai. Therefore, he approached Colonel Hiraide
Hideo (平出英夫,) Chief of the Public Relations section in the Ministry of the Navy, whopreviously served as a resident military officer in Italy and had just returned from Italy.
Mr. Taguchi tried to persuade Hiraide to realize the value of information and propaganda,
and, eventually, Mr. Taguchi himself joined the Navy’s PR section to help them.
After joined the PR section, Mr. Taguchi was engaged in writing press releases andinspections. It was Mr. Taguchi who deified the nine sailors who served in the special
attack submarine, sacrificed themselves in Pearl Harbor Attack.
He was drafted in 1943 and went Harbin, assigned to the Special Duty Organization. As
the War ended, he was detained in Siberia and was finally returned to Japan 1950.
After returning from Siberia, he established the Marine Boy Scouts and was involved in13teaching this organization for the next 10 years. Then, he continued the program “Toki no
Kadai,” (Today's Issues) which was created by former Navy Commander Baba Kinji,
press section, Ministry of the Navy, continuing this until the present day. Additionally, hewrote several books, including “Fighting Navy Spirits,”(戦う海軍魂) and “History ofNaval Strategies”(海軍作戦史).

10) Interview with Mr. Higuchi Tetsuo (樋口哲雄), Film Operator for the
Yomiuri Shimbun Newspaper
Mr. Higuchi Tetsuo made films for Nikkatsu Motion Pictures.
In 1933, several people jumped, one after another, into Mt. Mihara on Izu Oshima Island,
to kill themselves. It was big news at the time, so the Yomiuri Shimbun and Nikkatsuplanned to make a film of the crater in cooperation with university professors.
Mr. Shoriki Matsutaro (正力松太郎), the president of the Yomiuri Shimubun, saw thefilm of the crater made by Mr. Higuchi, who was at the Nikkatsu then, recruited Mr.
Higuchi for his film department at the Yomiuri Company--thus, Mr. Higuchi ended up at
the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1935.
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred on July 7, 1937. Mr. Higuchi and threereporters were dispatched to Beijing (北京). On the night of July 11, he departed theTokyo station together with Mr. Magara (真柄), the head of the photographic section, andothers.
For a while, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident seemed to have subsided but it eventually
resulted in full-scale conflict. The film he took at the Marco Polo Bridge was soonreleased on July 17 as special edition news.
The Japanese military entered Beijing Castle and fighting expanded. Mr. Higuchi
followed the Army. On September 16, on the way to Baoding (保定,) during ariver-crossing operation, Mr. Higuchi jumped into the Juma (拒馬河) River naked, holding
his Eyemo camera high overhead. Photographs of him at the time entitled “Desperate
Photographer Crossing River,” were posted in newspapers and magazines and gain a lotof popularity.
On October 29, during the Taiyuan (太原) Attack, his left hand was injured by a piece of
14ammunition. Mr. Higuchi was 38 years old then--he was a really brave war photographer.
After this, he moved to Shanghai.
– Which troops did you follow to Nanjing?
None in particular. After leaving Shanghai, I went to Suzhou (蘇州) and through the Sun
Yat-sen Mausoleum I reached Nanjing and entered the Castle through Zhongshan Gate
(中山門).
– What was the date when you entered the Castle?
I think it was immediately after the capture. Zhongshan Gate was surrounded byramparts, and there was a moat in front of it. Japanese troops tried to enter by shooting
the Zhongshan Gate, but breaking the gate was very difficult because there were hugeamounts of sandbags and dirt stacked high--we didn't know that.
– Where did you stay in the Castle?
Walking from Zhongshan Road (中山路) toward Zhongshan North Road (中山北路) andturning left, there was a slope and after turning left we found a private house on the left
side of the slope. Mr. Kamahara (釜原), a member of our branch, and I decided to use thehouse as our temporary branch.
Chinese children were called shohai. We hired a shohai and we three managed well. It
was not real employment, just small jobs and giving food in return. I think the shohai
was satisfied with the arrangement because he was not able to find enough food for
himself.
– What was the situation inside of the Castle?
Walking along Zhongshan North Road from the temporary branch office, there wasRegimental Headquarters. In the headquarters' backyard a lot of guns and pistols, whichwere taken from Chinese Army soldiers, were piled up to one meter in height. One
Japanese soldier told me, “Take whatever you want,” but I declined. For journalists,
weapons were useless.
15

– How many guns were there?
Hundreds or thousands. Also there were piles of Hohei (法幣,) Chinese paper money.
– Didn't they use the money?
I think we were unable to use it. The money was left there long after. I think they burned
the Hohei in the end.
– Where did you go in the Castle?
We had a car so I went here and there, everyday. One day I visited Whampoa Military
Academy (黄埔軍官学校), where I found Chiang Kai-shek’s name card, 4 times bigger
than a Japanese name card.
– Where did you take pictures of the entrance ceremony?
I took photos of Commander General Matsui from the opposite side of the Military
Academy across Zhongshan East Road (中山東路). At the time of the entrance ceremony,
the Zhongshan Gate looked clean.
– Did you deliver the photos you took, by yourself?
No. A correspondent came up to us from Shanghai and he took the photos back to
Shanghai.
– What was most impressive thing in Nanjing Castle?
As I mentioned earlier, the countless number of guns and pistols at Headquarters.
– Around that time, it is said that the Japanese army committed a massacre.
I don’t know anything about that, whether that happened or not.
16

– Have you not seen or heard anything about that?
I know nothing about that. I did not see any traces of a massacre. People have said such athing occurred, but where and how? The Chung Shan Mausoleum (中山廟) was notransacked--it looked clean. Under wartime circumstances, if you don't kill, you will bekilled; some people say this was a massacre.
– How long did you stay in Nanjing?
After I entered the Castle, I stayed for a month or so. After the ceremony, I had nothing to
do in particularly--just killing time. At a road starting from the central rotary for China
Gate we found a place on the left side called Fushibyo (夫子廟), a red-light district.
The Sinjun (秦准河) River ran along the street, so it was also known as Sinjun. This wasjust like the Japanese Yoshiwara (吉原), where you could play with women and drink
alcohol. Kamahara, my colleague, and I waited for dusk and visited there frequently.
– How many places like that existed?
Around the area, a lot. We called the women working there chansy kunyan. Usually we
stayed a whole night there, leaving our car with our company flag flying high, so we got
an unfavorable reputation at times.
– Did Japanese soldiers visit there as well?
No, no soldiers at all. I think they were prohibited from going there. As far as Japanese
were concerned, the visitors were all reporters and news-related.
– How about other Japanese who were not news-related?
Japanese civilians had not yet entered Nanjing.
– Do you think Japanese soldiers visited comfort houses or brothels?

17

I don't know whether there were such houses or not.
– Where did you go after Nanjing?
Back to Shanghai, then Tokyo. So I didn't join Operation Xuzhou (徐州), whichhappened immediately after that.
Mr. Higuchi was born July 1899 and was 87 years old when I met. He had no healthproblem, except for his teeth–he said he just had five teeth pulled out before we met. His
speech and gait were very steady.
Before I visited Mr. Higuchi, he insisted that no massacre took place in Nanjing and hehad nothing to say about it. His statement concurred with his narration. Still, I asked him
to talk about anything, whatever he experienced in Nanjing, and he told me what heremembered by referring to the “100 Years History Book” of the Yomiuri Shimbun.
After returning to Tokyo, Mr. Higuchi joined the Army again in the Hankou（漢口）
Operation. In 1940, he moved to the Japan News Eiga-sha Movie Company. After theGreater East Asia War started, he went to Lourenço Marques, Africa on a repatriation ship,then served as Chief of the Hong Kong branch, then General Chief of the Manchuria
branch.
After Japan lost the War, Mr. Higuchi quit the Japan News Eiga-sha and worked at several
jobs with his friends. Then he joined Allied General Headquarters (GHQ) to make films.
After GHQ disbanded, he joined an advertisement agency, a company affiliated with the
Yomiuri Shimbun, and worked there until his retirement.

11) Interview with Mr. Mori Hiroshi (森博), Photographer for the
Yomiuri Shimbun Newspaper
Mr. Mori Hiroshi was a well-known photographer--he took the picture of a Navy
airplane that flew with a single wing at the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War.
On December 9, 1937, just before Nanjing fell, a Type 96 carrier-based fighter plane,
appeared over the Kunda (公太) airfield, Shanghai, which had lost one wing yet it kept
18

flying. The pilot was Staff Sergeant Kashimura (樫村) of the 13th Air Corps. The 13th Air
Corps had started an attack on Nanchang (南昌) and Kashimura's Type 96 fighter clashedwith a Chinese fighter over Nanchang and lost its wing. Yet the single-winged fighter
managed to fly back to Shanghai. Witnessing this, Mori started to film the scene with his
Eyemo, against the order of a naval officer.
In the end, the film was allowed to be shown and released to the public as a news reel,
which was welcomed with cheers by the Japanese people. From the film, a photo for thenewspapers was also made, which resulted in a scoop for the Yomiuri. The photo wasdisplayed at Yasukuni shrine and Vice-Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku (山本五十六), theUnder Secretary of the Navy (海軍次官) at the time, had long displayed this photo in his
office.
Mr. Mori went to Nanjing immediately after this scoop.
In the beginning of August 1937, one year after he joined the Yomiuri Shimbun, he wassuddenly assigned to the naval news section and went Shanghai. Several days later, inShanghai, the Japanese Landing Force confronted the Chinese Army, so he found himself
watching the second Shanghai-Incident from the very beginning. He was born in 1911
and 26 years old at the time.
– You came back from Hangzhou Bay (杭州湾) and after that you headed for Nanjing?
When I came back from Hangzhou Bay, Shanghai was quiet. Soon after, the JapaneseArmy headed for Nanjing and I followed them. I took films of Wu-xi’s (無錫) capture.
That time a reporter, Watanabe Mineo (渡辺峰雄) of the Yomiuri Shimbun, and aphotographer, Maeda Tsune (前田恒) of the Asahi Shimbun, were killed. Watanabe wasoriginally living in Shanghai and was hired by the Shanghai branch as a temporary
reporter. He was a brave man. I was shocked to hear that Mr. Maeda was killed only one
hour after we separated. He must have been the first photographer killed.
I followed the Army to Wu-xi but I came back to Shanghai later because at that time, it
was not yet clear when the Nanjing attack would start.
Under the rules of the Yomiuri Shimbun, after being on the battlefield for three months,
we had to go back to Tokyo. I had already stayed 3 months in Shanghai, so I returned to19Tokyo.
In those days, the Asahi Shimbun and Miyako Shimbun paid extra to war correspondents,
15 yen per day, and the Mainichi Shimbun, 13 yen per day.
The Yomiuri Shimbun paid nothing extra but there was a custom--when a reporter
returned to the head office Tokyo, Mr. Shoriki Matsutaro, the president of the Yomiuri
Shimbun, gave 500 yen, which he personally handed us. In those times, our standard
monthly pay was 60 yen. And Mr. Shoriki not only met with each reporter when reporters
returned to Japan but also came to see reporters off at Tokyo Station, when reporters wereleaving. Naturally, his manner gave us much encouragement.
After I returned Tokyo due to the rule, I went back to Shanghai soon after, then went toNanjing by car for the entrance ceremony. The Nanjing Castle entrance ceremony was
December 17, 1937, so I think I went there either on the 15th or 16th.
– How long did you stay in Nanjing?
To my memory the pictures of the entrance ceremony were taken by photographer
Oshima Genjiro (大島源次郎). I took films of the Memorial Service on the next day. So I
think I stayed in Nanjing until the 19th.
– What was the situation in Nanjing?
There was nothing in particular. I visited Nanjing several times after that. The next year,
January 1938, I went to take photos of Nanjing, which recovered its tranquility. At thetime of the entrance ceremony, I found quite a few Chinese people in town, but Japanesesoldiers had a lot of roles to play. But in this second visit in January, for which I caught a
train, Japanese soldiers did not have major roles, just minor ones. And at my third visit, I
found many Japanese civilians there, and in addition, a Japanese inn called Fukuda-ya
started operation.
– At the entrance ceremony, were Chinese citizens afraid of Japanese soldiers?
They didn't show any hostility and I think they were not scared of Japanese soldiers. On
20the contrary, Japanese soldiers were more alert toward Chinese because of ben-i-hei,civilian-clothed soldiers, hid among the citizens.
– It is said that Chinese soldiers were slaughtered by Japanese soldiers?
Yes, so I have heard.
– Have you seen this?
No. But I heard this from Japanese soldiers.
– How?
They brought prisoners to the Yangtze River and set them free, saying, go anywhere, but
eventually they killed them all, so I heard. I also heard that the shore was full of bodies. I
believed that it was true. They have did nothing to civilians but something happened to
the Chinese soldiers.
– Did you hear that story while you were in Nanjing?
Yes, in Nanjing. I heard it in several places.
– Why did they do such a thing?
They captured Chinese soldiers, but there was no food for them nor places to keep them.
If they released the Chinese soldiers, they would start fighting against Japan again, so
they were killed, that's what I heard. Unlike Japanese soldiers, the Chinese became
soldiers, without any feeling of patriotism, because they could not eat otherwise. As amatter of fact, if they were released they would turn around and start fighting. Also, there
were ben-i-hei, civilian-clothed soldiers, and Japanese soldiers were scared of them. That
was another reason.
– How many prisoners were killed?

21

Many, so I heard.
– Did they do it under orders from the top?
I think some petty officer, such as squad leader rank, had done ordered this, on his own. It
is possible that higher ranking officers had known about it. Yes, there was international
law that said how to treat prisoners of war, but this grade of soldiers didn't know how tohandle them. You know, Japanese soldiers believed that they, themselves, had to die ifthey were captured, so they thought killing prisoners was a matter of course.
Some of the Army petty officers had long experience in the Army, they knew everything
about the Army, so they paid no respect to a newly assigned superior, a second lieutenant,for example. Also they treated raw recruits quite roughly by hitting them without reason.
I think that those kinds of officers did such things.
As a matter of fact, a couple of years later I myself came across the moment that aJapanese petty officer killed captured Chinese prisoners. He asked me plainly, “Why
don't you try it?” I knew it was a war, kill or be killed--that was inevitable--but they havedone unnecessary things, too.
– All petty officers behaved like that?
No, no. It was just a few of them. In the Army, anyone can be a soldier, and among themwere the “bad eggs” who could not fit into any ordinary community. They corrupted the
Army. I believe such men corrupted the Army. Luckily, I followed the Army asphotographer so I wasn’t involved in that kind of thing. I always hoped to avoid joining
the Army.
Unlike the Army, the Navy looked smart, I liked the Navy. Lieutenant Shigemura Minoru(重村実) often visited a dance hall in the International Settlement and enjoyed dancing.
On the other hand, if Army officers visited the hall, they drew their swords anddisplayed a swords dance. Just like that, there were significant differences between the
Army and the Navy.
– Did these officers feel guilty for the cruel acts?
22

I think Japanese soldiers didn't feel guilty killing prisoners during battle. We neverthought Japan would lose the war and thought that if we lost, then it was time for all of us
to die. War is win or to die, we genuinely believed that. Japanese soldiers believed this, sothat's why they did not hide the fact they killing prisoners; they didn't feel guilty, it wasdone for their survival.
– About a massacre, did you see something with your own eyes?
No, just heard the stories. I had seen nothing in Nanjing, but later during an attack
operation, I saw Japanese soldiers enter private house and pry the wooden floors out forcooking fires. And as they left the place, they intentionally trashed the house, sometimes
setting them on fire. I asked soldiers why they did that and they said that remaining
Chinese soldiers in the area would use them.
– I heard they ransacked sometimes.
I don't know about the case in Nanjing. But to tell you the truth, it was not only soldiers
but we reporters also stole food. When the operation started, we reporters, as well as thesoldiers, were given food for several days by division headquarters. The food stock was
heavy so we took stock only for 2 to 3 days and when it ran out, we entered private
homes, looking for food. We didn't feel guilty stealing foods, both reporters and soldiers
did this.
But among the reporters, I heard someone stole something more than food, from a
museum in Shanghai. Funny thing was that I heard that all of the stolen items were
imitations and that the genuine articles were kept in Chongqing (重慶).
– Which division was said to have committed the massacre?
I don't know. A powerful division, like the 6th Division, was well known by the Chinese
Army and the Chinese Army fled before the 6th Division got near them. I was born inKagoshima, so during the Hankou (漢口) Operation I followed the 6th Division, which
was organized in Kagoshima. After the 6th Division went through, some Chinese soldiers
may have still been active in the area, so the Japanese divisions dispatched thereafter23

might have attacked them.
– At that time did other reporters know about the incident in Nanjing?
We often took tea together but it was not raised as a subject. Nevertheless, I think theyknew about it.
– Why they didn't talk about it?
Because it was war, killing was normal and nobody minded about the bodies at all. It was
not news so no reporter tried to collect materials. And we were told not to take pictures ofbodies, whether Japanese or Chinese; corpses were off limits. So we didn't take the kindsof photos that could not be used in a newspaper article.
Maybe I talked too much about the wrong-doings of Japanese soldiers but I'd like toemphasize that there were many good stories of them, also.
– At the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE), the Nanjing-Incident became a issue. How many people
knew about it at that time?
Nobody knew, I think. I don't have a clear memory of the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE) but
maybe it was caused by people like Major General Tanaka Ryukichi (田中隆吉), who
made accusations.
Nevertheless, I knew about the “prisoners story” in Nanjing so I assumed that they talked
about that.
Mr. Mori stayed in Shanghai until the outbreak of the Greater East Asia War. He joined
many operations, so his memory could have been a little bit confused--dates and times
were not always accurate. However, during the interview, he showed photo albums fromthose times, trying to correctly place the facts. I visited him repeatedly and asked manyquestions when I felt his answers were not clear. He answered my questions in detailwhenever I visited him.
After returned from Nanjing, Mr. Mori stayed in Shanghai to continue to make news24

reels around Shanghai. He joined Operations Hankou (漢口) and Yichang (宜昌), thencontinued to make films showing the revival of Shanghai and peace returning to Nanjing,and so on.
In 1940, the news reel sectors of Domei, Asahi, Mainich, and Yomiuri were united into
Nihon News Eigasha and Mr. Mori moved to the new company as a matter of course. As
he stayed in Shanghai, he shifted positions, from an employee of the Yomiuri Shimbun toan employee of the Nihon News Eigasha. At the same time, Mr. Asai Tatsuzo (浅井達三),of the Domei, also stayed in Shanghai and moved to the Nihon News Eigasha.
In 1946, at the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE), GHQ asked Mr. Mori to take a film of the Trials
because the American photographers could not identify the Japanese defendants. At
Ichigaya Court, Mr. Mori took film of the Trials as representative of GHQ and Mr. Asai
took film as a representative of Nihon News Eigasha. (Refer to the section (13), Mr.
Asai.)
After taking films of the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE), Mr. Mori joined NHK and worked there
until his retirement. The monumental film of Staff Sergeant Kashimura with asingle-winged fighter is currently kept at NHK.

25

4. Domei Tsushin Newspaper
12) Interview with Mr. Arai Masayoshi (新井正義), Reporter for theDomei Tsushin Newspaper
When I asked Mr. Arai Masayoshi for an interview about Nanjing, he quickly said yes.
It was Autumn 1984.
“I had a war log during Nanjing but I lost it due to a US air raid during the War. Now I will
try to remember those days.”
In the reminiscences written by his colleague, Mr. Maeda Yuji（前田雄二）, he said that
Mr. Arai, a stout man, was a samurai type, on the other hand Mr. Horikawa was an
academic type. Mr. Horikawa (堀川) was Mr. Arai's colleague at the Domei Tsushin and a
war correspondent as well. When I met Mr. Arai I felt that his description was true.
At the time, Mr. Arai worked in the politics section at the Domei Tsushin and he was 32
years old. He was dispatched to Shanghai from Tokyo as a reporter. After the War, inNovember 1945, the Domei Tsushin was divided into two companies, the Kyodo Tsushin
and the Jiji Tsushin. He was appointed as chief of the politics department in the Kyodo
Tsushin, and then in 1958, appointed as executive director of the Kyodo Tsushin, an office
he retained until his retirement in 1964.
He started to talk in a brisk tone as soon as I took a seat. He was very aware of thesignificance of this interview so he opened his talk with the Nanjing massacre.
When we were in Nanjing, we never heard of any massacres. Several years ago,
Matsumoto Shigeharu (松本重治), then the branch manager of the Shanghai Domei
Tsushin, started to write his memoirs of those days, but he was in Shanghai during thattime and didn't know about Nanjing at all. So he asked the three of us, Fukazawa Kanzo(深沢乾蔵), Maeda Yuji (前田雄二) and I, who were reporters in Nanjing then, to tell himof those days.
Matsumoto invited us to dinner. At the dinner Maeda said he saw a massacre but I didn't
see anything like that at all. I saw bodies. Bodies of soldiers, including ben-i-hei, or
soldiers in civilian clothing and among them maybe there were some corpses ofprisoners. I didn't check all of Nanjing, but I guess the number of bodies was 30,000 to26

40,000 in total. Most were killed in battle and maybe some of them were not.
We, war correspondents, were treated well after the Xuzhou (徐州) Operation, butduring our time in Nanjing, we were not included as members. We had to prepare
everything by ourselves, including food and donkeys for transportation. It was really
tough.
In those days, the main story was which Division would reach Nanjing first, whichnewspaper would report this first–it was serious competition. So, we didn't mind thedanger, we just headed straight for the front. The three of us, Horikawa Takeo (堀川武夫),
who later became a professor at Hiroshima University, Maeda, who died recently, and I
made a team. One stayed at army headquarters and the other two went to the frontlines.
We made a schedule of our shifts. We brought a young Chinese man, whom we hired in
Shanghai, to the frontlines as a messenger. If something happened, we dispatched him toheadquarters. There was radio equipment at headquarters and we used this to sendreports to Shanghai. The radio equipment was very heavy--we couldn't carry it alone so
we used a donkey.
After the battle of Zhabei (閘北), I returned to Tokyo, then went to Shanghai again to
await further instructions. I was ordered to follow the Yanagawa Army. I caught up with
the Yanagawa Army around Suzhou (蘇州). The Army arrived in Nanjing without
engaging in any serious battles after they landed Hangzhou Bay (杭州湾). I don't thinkthey had done anything like slaughter people. A Division that fought in Shanghai latercaught up with us. They had experienced serious fighting in Shanghai, losing nearly halfof their comrades and were terribly agitated. If any slaughtering had occurred it might
have been done by them, I guess.
Once I had heard from Commander Lieutenant General Yanagawa Heisuke (柳川平助)
that the Nanjing Capital Defense Force was estimated at around 200,000 to 250,000
soldiers. And the Japanese force totaled 100,000, including Yanagawa Army of 50,000
soldiers.
I tell you, the Yanagawa Army arrived at Nanjing without significant fighting but it didn't
mean that there were no enemy soldiers. As a matter of fact, soon after Suzhou, a reporterfrom Asahi Shimbun was killed. We moved along railway tracks for Nanjing, while the
Yanagawa Army went around Lake Taihu (太湖). Walking on the railway tracks north, as
27

the railroad crossed with rice fields at right angles, we found Chinese soldiers hiding in
the rice field. Suddenly shooting erupted. This was repeated but we advanced.
On the way to Nanjing, we frequently met ordinary Chinese people. Some of the Chinese
showed us their arm bands, which read, “This Chinese is hired by the Japanese Army,”
which protected them and did not confuse them with ben-i-tai, civilian-clothed soldiers.
Around Mt. Zijin (紫金山), there was serious fighting. Between Mt. Zijin and Nanjing
Castle, the exchange of gunfire became intense. On December 13, 1937, we entered
Nanjing Castle through Zhongshan Gate (中山門). After entered the Castle, we began tolook for a place suitable for our Domei Tsushin's office. Every house was closed.
Eventually we settled in a place close to Zhongshan Gate that night. The Chinese who
remained in the Castle were only poor people--that was obvious.
We successfully entered Nanjing Castle, however, there were lot of stragglers outside so
we didn't feel like the battle was over. Fighting occurred here and there, it was still very
dangerous. According to my calculation, there were around 160,000 remnants of theChinese military.
On the 13th or 14th, I heard that Prince Asakanomiya was attacked at his headquarters inthe suburbs. I rushed over to headquarters; it took 40 minutes or so by car. Hurriedly, I
met the prince, His Highness murmured, “Well, well, we had a terrible night.” That was
the situation at the time.
On the 15th, we entered the old branch office of the Domei Tsushin. The office was
located in the middle of town and the Jin Ling Women's College (金陵女子大学) stood
nearby. The head of the College or the dormitory leader came to us, complaining that,“We accommodated female refugees and the Japanese soldiers made advances to thewomen, so I came here to ask for your help: Mr. Domei, can you help us?” So we took
her complain to army headquarters.
I myself hadn't seen any slaughtering or bodies from a slaughter. At Xiaguan (下関), there
must have been fighting while the Chinese soldiers crossed the Yangtze River. At
Xiaguan, my colleague Horikawa, or someone, said that he saw shooting or bodies
resulting from shooting.

28

My colleague Maeda wrote that he saw an execution on the 16th at the military academy
but I doubt that – it might have been the military administration (軍政部). Anyway, I
myself saw nothing. Several Japanese troops rushed in the castle at a time. They
somehow checked each other so they couldn't have done unreasonable violence. There
were Chinese prisoners and I saw Japanese soldiers put rice into the prisoners' canteens.
Soon after the entrance ceremony, we found Chinese people selling small articles andvery often saw them selling sweets because Japanese soldiers craved sweets. Under suchcircumstances, I doubt there was a massacre. I can't deny that there were somecausalities, but 200,000 or more—that is not possible. I can't estimate the number ofvictims because I didn't see any with my own eyes.
At the entrance ceremony my colleague Maeda and I ran after General Matsui Iwane,
behind of the soldiers who stood in line on the street. We still prepared for the worst,
which means that it was not totally safe. After the ceremony, I remained in Nanjing for acouple of days and returned to Shanghai by a Navy ship. So, I in the end I stayed in
Nanjing for a week.
I heard about the massacre for the first time in the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE) after the War.
Mr. Arai narrated his story without referring to memos or documents. He told me all thathe could remember. I didn't interrupt him and wrote the above verbatim.

13) Interview with Mr. Asai Tatsuzo (浅井達三), Photographer for theDomei Tsushin Newspaper
In July 1937, with the outbreak of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Mr. Asai Tatsuzo wasbeen employed by the Japanese branch of Metrotone News, as a press photographer.
On August 13, the Sino-Japanese War had spread to Shanghai and the Imperial Japanese
Navy Landing Forces fought a fierce battle against the Chinese Nationalist Army. The
Shanghai branch of the Domei Tsushin’s photo department was filming and considering
the extended nature of the fighting, they hired Mr. Asai and dispatched him to Shanghai.
It was late August 1937.
As soon as Mr. Arai arrived in Shanghai, he went to the frontlines. The result of his
29difficult work was titled “A News Camera Watched The Turbulent Showa Period,” andwas shown by NHK. Since then, Mr. Asai spent 8 years on the battlefield, the hardest ever.
He was 24 years old, the second youngest employed at the Domei Tsushin.
For the first 4 years, before the beginning of the Greater East Asia War, Mr. Asai took
news reels of several battles across China, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Xuzhou, Hankou,
and so on. The funny thing was that he remained in China during almost all this time, so
he hardly saw the Domei News reels released in Japan which he filmed. In 1940, as
several news reel companies were united into single company, called Nihon News
Eigasha, he joined the new company.
After the War, Mr. Asai was assigned to a new job--filming the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE), andfor three years he visiting Ichigaya-dai, where the Trial was held. After that he returned toMetrotone News, he then joined a film making company and produced the film, “Gate ofFriendship,” with China’s support. He visited China frequently before the restoration of
diplomatic relations between Japan and China in September 1972. In this manner, he kept
his ties with China after the War.
I interviewed him on October 21, 1985--it was the next day that Keio University won the
6-universities baseball game after several years of struggle. I interviewed Mr. Asai at his
office which was located in front of the main entrance of Keio University.
– You were not only in the battle of Shanghai but also in the Hangzhou Bay Landing
Operation conducted by the 10th Army, on November 5.
Yes. I had been filming the battle of Shanghai, then the Army told me to film the Landing
Operation so I took a ship from Shanghai over to Hangzhou. After I completed the task, I
carried the film to Shanghai escorted by a platoon. We were surrounded by Chinese
soldiers, so without an escort it was impossible to move alone.
– Did you go to Nanjing after that?
I stayed in Shanghai for a while and at the beginning of December, I went to Nanjing
together with Araki Shuzo (荒木秀三), a photographer.

30

Regarding the Domei Tsushin, you can see everything in the book “In The Flow of War,”(戦争の流れの中で) written by my colleague Mr. Maeda Yuji and published by Zenhonsha(善本社). He wrote in his diary every night. His book was based on the diary so every
detail is reliable. All names he mentions are correct--which we have already completely
forgotten. In addition, he wrote of some serious matters, which we could not tell to the
Army at the time. Also he wrote openly about arguments among our colleagues at theDomei Tsushin. Everything in it is true.
– Which Division did you follow?
There was no rule in deciding which division to follow, so I followed any group, here andthere. I tried always to be at the front. Every now and then soldiers would asked me,“Hey, Mr. Newspaper, do you have a cigarette?” In those days, Ruby Quinn was the mostpopular brand of cigarette. At the same time, the soldiers offered us food, “Take some
pig's feet.” We knew that the food must have been confiscated but we were longing formeat.
Like the soldiers, we reporters boiled rice in a canteen, and slept fully clothed on straw.
You know, straw is unexpectedly warm.
On the way to Nanjing, we found a bank. After blowing it open, a safe was full ofChinese paper money. Some soldiers used the money to make cooking fires.
– I thought using Chinese money to make cooking fires was just a story. But was this true?
Yes, it was. I didn't see them blowing open the safe but I watched them making fires withthe money. Pity, the money could have been used in the International Settlement. This
happened in Changzhou (常州), to my memory.
– Which route did you take?
We went through Wuxi (無錫), Changzhou, and Zhenjiang (鎮江).
In Zhenjiang, my colleague Haraikawa Chikashige (祓川親茂), a photographer, and I met
a Chinese man who was carrying something on his shoulder pole. As he saw us, he ran
31

away, leaving the pole there. We checked the carrier and found it filled with hand
grenades. Like soldiers, we reporters were constantly surrounded by danger. For
example, when we were moving from Zhenjiang to Mt. Zijin, my colleague Makishima(牧島) got injured. We had to carry him out by the Mainichi Shimbun’s car.
–When did you enter Nanjing?

On the 13th. I entered from Zhongshan Gate (中山門).
– What was the situation like inside?
Walking along Zhongshan Street toward the Yangtze River, we found the Safety Zone.
No Japanese were allowed to enter the Safety Zone. We wouldn't dare enter because it
was full of Chinese; too risky for us. The Red Swastika Society (紅卍字会), thecharitable organization, took care of the refugees. It seemed that mostly Chinese
civilians were in the Safety Zone and others stayed in their homes, daring not to ventureout.
– How many people were working at the Red Swastika Society?
I am not sure. But there were so many--that's why I remember this so well. I once sawthat the staff of the Red Swastika Society confronted Japanese soldiers and explained inearnest that their refugees were not soldiers.
For a couple of days after entering, I saw fires here and there in the Castle.
– Were the fires started by Japanese soldiers?
Japanese soldiers or Chinese soldiers, I was not sure.
– Were the Chinese civilians afraid of Japanese soldiers?
I think so. It was same when we were afraid of American soldiers when they landed inJapan after the War.
32

– It is said that a massacre occurred.
I hadn't seen one but heard so. I heard about it.
– Did someone witness the killings?
I heard a couple of reporters saw it. I suppose that Mr. Shirai Shigeru (白井茂), a
photographer from the cultural film section at Toho (a movie studio), saw many things
because unlike our place, his office was located in the middle of Nanjing. He mentioned
a massacre in his book “Camera and Life”.
– Where were the bodies left?
In his book, he said in Yangtze River and Yuhuatai (雨花台).
– Were those bodies casualties from the fighting?
I don't know. I heard they were slaughtered. I wonder how they could have cleared thebodies, but I heard the bodies were cleared before the entrance ceremony.
– Did you hear how many bodies there were?
I didn't.
– Did you witness a massacre with your own eyes?
In the Castle I, saw a number of lines of Chinese soldiers being dragged along. I could
not forget the scene. Among them were the ben-i-hei, plain-clothed soldiers who
discarded their uniforms and wore civilian clothes. There were others, farmers fled as
refugees. Someone with dark tanned wrists were caught as stragglers.
– What time did this occur?

33

Around noon. One line consisted of 200 to 300 people and there were 2 to 3 lines likethat.
– Did you take photos of the prisoners? Or other photos in the Castle?
I used a lot of film just after the Castle's fall but once it was captured, I didn't. Other
things had no news value. I took film of the entrance ceremony. I climbed up the
Zhongshan Gate and from behind took film of General Matsui Iwane marching throughthe gate, then hurriedly climbed down the gate and took film of him from the front.
– Did any news company take pictures of a massacre?
I do not think anyone did. There is no record at all. I didn't want to take photos of bodies,so I didn't even try even if I saw them. I had been in battlefields but never took photos ofcorpses.
And I had never done staged photos. The photos of cheering at Nanjing Castle werestaged. The moment of the capture of the city was in the middle of a battle. You could notcheer at that moment. Also, photographers were hardly at the right spot at the rightmoment. Cheers was done later in the day. However, I think this kind of staging was
acceptable in order to express excitement of the capture of Nanjing. The feeling was real.
– Among members of Domei Tsushin, did anyone talk about a massacre?
No. At that time Nanjing was full of stragglers and ben-i-hei plain-clothed soldiers andwe believed, well, that was war--kill the enemy.
– I heard that several foreign journalists stayed in Nanjing.
I never saw them. Except, during the Panay Incident on December12, four reporters
came to Nanjing on the 14th. They visited the Domei Tsushin to ask us to help them get toShanghai. Reporters for reporters. There was an option to go to Shanghai by car but it
was too risky because of Chinese soldiers, so we contacted the Navy and the four went toShanghai on a Navy ship. Later, I heard that some water splashed on their photos of34

sinking ships, the photos were not damaged.
– Did the foreign reporters see the massacre?
At the time, nobody mentioned anything about a massacre, so I don’t think they did.
– It is said that Mr. Arthur Menken, a cameraman for Paramount, stayed in Nanjing andtook pictures of the Fall of Nanjing .
I knew Menken. I met him in Shanghai. But I didn't see him in Nanjing. After I returnedto Shanghai in January 1938, I often went out to lunch with him. I always found him at a
shop called “Jimmy” in the French Concession. I have a picture of me taken with him.
– Did you heard about a massacre from him?
No, I did not.
– How long did you stay in Nanjing?
I remember that I took photos of the entrance ceremony, but after that my memory is notclear, whether I returned Shanghai soon or stayed there in Nanjing for several days.
Anyway, after I returned to Shanghai, the Hangzhou Attack began and I went toHangzhou at once.
When I returned to Shanghai in January 1938, I met Ishikawa Tatsuzo (石川達三), thenovelist. He and I have the same name “Tatsuzo,” and it happened that the Domei Tsushin
had another person who had same name, Murakami Tatsu (村上達). We called ourselves
the three Tatsus and drank a lot together. Ishikawa Tatsuzo wrote a story that took place in
China in his book titled “Ikiteiru Heitai (生きている兵隊),” or “Living Soldiers.” Also,
he wrote an introduction for the book, “In The Flow of War,” written by Mr. Maeda Yuji.
I think everything he wrote was true.
– Did you stay in Shanghai after that?

35

In February, I went back to Tokyo following General Matsui's triumphant return. Whenwe were leaving Shanghai, General Hata Shunroku (畑俊六) and Prince Asakanomiya
came to see off General Matsui. From Shimonoseki to Tokyo, we took a train called Fuji,
which was decorated with red carpet. It was a specially coupled two-vehicle train, in
which six to seven people sat, including General Matsui and his adjutant, Lieutenant
Colonel Mabuchi Hayao (馬淵逸雄), others and myself. On the way, several staff officers
joined us.
Before arriving in Tokyo, we stayed overnight at--to my memory--Atami. We cleaned off
our “dust from the war” before meeting the Emperor next day. When we arrived inTokyo, we found almost all of the important military staff came over to see us.
As soon as the train stopped, I got off the train before anyone else in order to take photosof General Matsui. Then I was yelled by a military policeman to stop, but it was my job so
I kept taking photos.
– What kind of person was General Matsui?
Oh no, I did not dare to speak with him. I was in the next car. But in Shanghai, especiallyat press interviews, I saw him several times.
– After the War you were assigned to film the Tokyo Trial (IMTFE). General Matsui wassentenced to death.
I had been filming the Trial from the beginning. When he was accused of the incidents
that occurred in Nanjing, I thought the accusation was reasonable. It happened to a certain
degree. General Matsui sat on the top of the military pyramid so it was his responsibility.
But concerning the number of victims I cannot believe it was 200,000. This means thatthe majority of the population of Nanjing was wiped out.

14) Interview with Mr. Hosonami Takashi (細波孝), Radio Operator for
the Domei Tsushin Newspaper
Mr. Hosonami was born in November 1905. He joined the Dentsu Company (Nihon
36

Denpo Tsushin-sha) in 1929 and joined the Army during the Manchurian Incident. In
1936, Dentsu merged with Rengo and became Domei Tsushin.
The next year, 1937, the North China-Incident occurred in July and fighting expanded to
Shanghai in August. At first, China coverage was managed by the staff of the Shanghai
branch of the Domei Tsushin, but as fighting expanded, additional reporters, radio
operators and photographers were dispatched from Tokyo.
Mr. Hosonami was dispatched to the Shanghai branch in October. In order to set-up aradio system, he arrived in Shanghai prior to other reporters. He was 31 years old at thetime.
Mr. Hosonami moved through Taihu Lake (太湖) and Wu-xi (無錫.). He used Wu-xi as thecompany's base lodging and stayed there for a while. From there, he transmitted articles
on Nanjing’s capture written by reporter Maeda Yuji and others. Naval Air Groups werebased in Changzhou (常州) and reporter Matsuo Tetsuo (松尾鉄夫), who was in charge of
naval news brought Navy-related articles to Mr. Hosonami. Mr. Hosonami transmitted
these articles to Tokyo as well.
Thus, in those days the radio system, which was operated by Mr. Hosonami, was thefrontline headquarters of the Domei Tsushin. Naturally, among war staff, he waspositioned farthest away from the frontlines.
– Which route did you take to reach Nanjing Castle?
Through Tangshanzhen (湯山) I entered Nanjing Castle from Zhongshan Gate (中山).
Coming close to Tangshanzhen, I was surprised to see many prisoners kept within walls
made of bamboo.
– How many prisoners were there?
I couldn't count them all, so to my guess, around 10,000. The place was not seen fromthe main road for Nanjing, but it was visible from a small path. I think I saw this byaccident.
– What date it was?
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I got through Tangshanzhen on the day after Nanjing’s fall, so it should be December 14.
The place was a field, it looked like a golf course surrounded by trees. The Chinese
soldiers were eating porridge-like food. After that we reached our frontline lodging forthe Domei Tsushin, which was situated in the Castle.
– It is said that at the Domei's lodging house, terrible fighting occurred among reporters,
between the Tokyo reporters and Osaka reporters. Was this true?
Yes. A reporter named Higuchi Kenkichi (樋口憲吉), who had a black-belt in Judo, loved
drinking and fighting. Others were same. I was not a drinker so watched them fightingfrom a distance.
There were all kinds of war correspondents and some collected the stolen goods.
Hangzhou was called a temple town and it held a lot of antique art. They wereabandoned, so some indiscreet persons took them freely.
– At which place did you see the entrance ceremony?
General Matsui Iwane entered through Zhongshan Gate for the ceremony and I stayednear the place where the ceremony was to be held. I think it was close to the Nationalist
Government’s building. Photographer Inazu Mikiji (稲津巳喜二) took photos around thearea.
– It is said that there was a massacre in Nanjing. Did you see this?
May I speak something?
– Sure, please do.
I have never spoken anyone if there was a massacre or not. There was a wide open spacecalled Xiaguan (下関) along the Yangtze River.
– Xiaguan was a wharf at Nanjing.

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Yes. It was the embankment of the riverbed leading to the Castle Gate. There wereseveral trenches and tochkas. The tochkas mostly faced the Yangtze River but some ofthem were facing Nanjing. The tochka was made with concrete and looked like a squarewatermill. In China, they made one or two tochkas at every important place for defense
purposes.
It seemed that the Chinese Nationalist Army tried to fight at that point but they
eventually ran away. Chiang Kai-she also fled from Xiaguan. When I arrived at Xiaguan,
I saw burning furniture, traces of killing, or so I thought.
–Did you see the killings?
No. I just assume that the killings were just completed. They wouldn't show killings. I
think they kept prisoners in the tochika and set it on fire. I have not forgotten a Chinese
soldier who saw me from the crenel of a tochika, twitching his nose in agony.
– How many people were in the tochika?
It could hold 20 to 30 people. Some furniture was packed in there and there were 3 or 4
tochikas like that. I think they were burned by spreading oil over the furniture and setting
it on fire. Bullets were precious, that's why. Not only in the tochika but also along theshore of the Yangtze River, I saw bodies. Some of them were bound with wire.
– How many bodies did you see?
I am not sure. One-hundred or so. I think they were prisoners whom I saw inTangshanzhen.
– Were they brought from Tangshanzhen ?
I think so. After I entered Nanjing, I saw Chinese prisoners who were forced marched. I
think that they were the prisoners who were kept in Tangshanzhen.
– They were made to walk in Nanjing Castle?

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Well, yes that was the case. I think it was down a street leading to the Zhongshan Gate. It
was at night. Someone said prisoners were being moved and I went out to watch. Eight
persons per line, each line separated by 50 meters. The prisoners were walking slowly,
escorted by Japanese soldiers in the front and rear of the lines.
–All of the prisoners in Tangshanzhen were moved?
What I saw was just a part of them. I watched only once but I suppose they were moved
separately, little by little. Moving them all at once was not easy.
–According to your story, there must have been around 10,000 bodies found in Xiaguan.
Is this correct?
No, it is not.
– Did you watch the 10,000 prisoners being killed?
Under the circumstances, what I saw was the end part--maybe. Considering thesignificant difference between high and low tide in the Yangtze River, the bodies whichwere left at the shore must have been washed away by the strong central current and sent
into the Yellow Sea without surfacing. That's what I imagined happened.
Later, I heard around 20,000 prisoners were killed. So in Xiaguan, considering the place
and time, it might have been 10,000 or fewer.
In Tangshanzhen, there were unseen places like hollows and some of the prisoners were
killed in such areas. But this is also hearsay. When I saw the prisoners being pulled along
I thought they were just being moved, but thinking back to Xiaguan, the prisoners I
watched seemed pale and looked like they were prepared to die.
– Do you remember the exact date of the Xiaguan Incident?
Maybe it was the day before or the day of the entrance ceremony.
– Did you see it alone?
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We went to Xiaguan by car, including a driver and other colleagues.
– What time was it?
Early in the morning. So maybe they were killed during the night.
– According to the book, “In The Flow of War,” written by Mr. Maeda Yuji, reporter
Fukazawa Mikizo (深沢幹蔵) went to Xiaguan alone on the evening of the 17th and saw a
number of bodies there.
Was it? Fukazawa and I always moved together and, to my memory, we went to Xiaguan
together. Other than us, there were a driver and one other, someone else.
– Did you mention what you saw to other members of the Domei Tsushin?
No, I didn't talk about it.
– Why not?
During those times, we were numbed to corpses.
– When you saw the bodies, did you think they were massacred?
I thought of International Law, that it said not to kill prisoners. This might have been aviolation of International Law, but on the other hand, I thought they were casualties froman ongoing battle. Until the very last moment, before the entrance ceremony, Japanesesoldiers continued mopping-up operations. Chinese soldiers who were not prisoners but
stragglers and deserters would very likely try to attack us again, given any chance, at any
moment.
Thinking back those times now, the bodies in Xiaguan remain with me. But in thosedays, if you didn't kill, you will be killed. Fukazawa and I always kept guns. Just likesoldiers, we could be killed at anytime, anywhere. Already, colleagues and other41

reporters were killed. Do not think about the Chinese soldier's wife or children, do notthink that they have family just as we do. In war, kill or be killed.
– Did you talk about that among members of the Domei Tsushin?
Not in particular. It was just one aspect of war.
– Did you see any other slaughter or something like that?
Around the same time, Matsumoto Shigeharu (松本重治), the manager of the Shanghai
branch, arrived in Nanjing from Shanghai. Matsumoto told us something happened at auniversity in Nanjing City so the four of us went over. Matsumoto was very active ininternational society, so we thought he heard something in Shanghai. He had plenty ofnews sources. However, we found nothing at the university, no trace of anything at all.
There were many people within the university.
– Were Chinese people staying in certain areas?
Yes. There was an area for women only, an area for men only, and family areas. There
were many people that we couldn't distinguish between soldiers and civilians. As soon as
the entrance ceremony was completed, we found that the city’s Chinese population
suddenly increased. We didn't know where they came from, from the suburbs or fromhiding places.
– Were they afraid of the Japanese soldiers?
Maybe this was so in Shanghai but in Nanjing, they didn't seem scared. And even in
Shanghai, the Chinese living in the International Settlement were not afraid of Japanesesoldiers or other foreign soldiers. The Chinese living in the suburbs seemed afraid ofJapanese soldiers. As a matter of fact, there were not many Chinese in suburbs, where thebattlefields were.

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Nanjing citizens remaining in the Castle gathered into areas on Zhongshan
Road in the central part of Nanjing, and on the western side of Zhongshan
North Road. They lived in barracks-style huts. In the background are thedeserted homes of the wealthy. (December 15, 1937)– How many days did you stay in Nanjing?
Four to five days, or a week. I went back to Shanghai together with my colleague
Fukazawa. On the way back to Shanghai, we went through Tangshanzhen, but we saw no
prisoners anymore. We then went through Wuxii, did some sightseeing in Suzhou andwent back to Shanghai.
After one or two days in Shanghai, I was dispatched to Hangzhou as the attack started. At
the end of December, I left my responsibilities to my colleague Ohoshi Ishimatsu(大星石松), who was at Domei's Hangzhou branch, and I returned to Shanghai.
– What was the situation in Nanjing then?
Anyone who tried to pass through the gates needed a certificate. The certificate was43issued by the military. I saw a Chinese with a certificate which read “I am a spy.” Maybe
the Japanese soldier wrote it in jest.
It was October 1985, when I visited Mr. Hosonami's house in Hodogaya, Yokohama city.
Mr. Hosonami waited me with his documents in Domei Tsushin period. He was almost 80
years old, very active and chatty. While speaking, he smoked one cigarette after another.
Mr. Hosonami hadn't read Mr. Maeda's memoirs, “In The Flow of War,” and he had
hardly took notice of the controversial subject, the so-called Nanjing Massacre. He
simply told me what he had seen and what he had heard. There were, under thecircumstances of the war--kill or be killed--unforgettable things he himself had
experienced.
Mr. Hosonami went back to Nanjing in January 1938, and thereafter joined the Zuzhou(徐州) Operation. From Nanjing he returned to Tokyo. After that, he joined the Bias Bay
Landing Operation. Later, he was assigned to Imperial Headquarters and worked under
the Chief of Press Section, Mr. Matsumura Shuitsu (松村秀逸). After the War, he joined Jiji
Tsushin, and lived in Saga, Kyushu for a while, where he had been evacuated, thenreturned to Tokyo in 1949. H worked at Jiji Tsushin until his retirement.
After I met him in person for the first time, we spoke on phone several times. On thethird call, he surprised me by mentioning that Mr. Fudo died. Mr. Fudo Kenji (不動健治)
was the head of the Domei Tsushin‘s photo department. After the War, he published many
photos of the era.
Mr. Hosonami recommended that I meet Mr. Fudo, because Mr. Fudo also went toNanjing and he still seemed to be active. I said, yes, I would do so at once.
After the call, I checked a newspaper and saw Mr. Fudo's obituary.

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