Imperial Japan’s War Criminals: Instruments of Death
Gunkichi Tanaka: From Imperial Officer to War Criminal
15m
Born in Tokyo in 1905, Gunkichi Tanaka rose through the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army, trained in discipline, loyalty, and the art of the sword. During Japan’s invasion of China, he commanded a company of the 6th Division that entered Nanjing in December 1937.
There, Tanaka used his sword “Sukehiro” to behead more than 300 Chinese prisoners and civilians during the massacre that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Praised in wartime propaganda as a heroic soldier, he was photographed mid-execution — an image that later condemned him.
After the war, Tanaka was extradited to China, denied all charges, and called the stories about him “imagined.” In 1948, he was found guilty of mass murder and executed by firing squad in Nanjing.
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