Execution of 2 Brutal Japanese Soldiers who Competed over who Could Behead 100 People the Fastest

Execution of 2 Brutal Japanese Soldiers who Competed over who Could Behead 100 People the Fastest. 18 September 1931. Japan, seeking raw materials to fuel its growing industries, invades Manchuria - an industrial area located in Northeastern China known for its rich mineral and coal reserves.

In the following years, there will be various "incidents", or armed clashes of a limited nature between the Empire of the Rising Sun and the Republic of China but full-scale war will not break out between the two countries until the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937. This marks the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War that will end only with Japan's surrender on 2 September 1945.During this war, which is the prelude to the Pacific side of World War II, the Japanese army scores major victories, capturing Beijing and Shanghai and in December of 1937, the Japanese military invades Nanjing, then China’s capital.

In Nanjing, the Japanese soldiers commit unspeakable atrocities and engage in a campaign of mass killing which over the course of two months will claim the lives of as many as 300,000 civilians and numerous unarmed Chinese soldiers. However, the crimes committed by the Japanese army are not limited only to the period of two months as many atrocities were reported to have been committed as the Japanese army advanced from Shanghai to Nanjing. The most notorious of these atrocities is an infamous contest between 2 Japanese Army officers over who could behead 100 people the fastest using their sword.

Their names are Toshiaki Mukai and Tsuyoshi Noda.