This article recounts the trial and execution of Lieutenant General Hisao Tani, the Japanese commander responsible for atrocities during the Nanjing Massacre, who was executed by firing squad in Nanjing on April 26, 1947. The content is for educational and historical documentation purposes only, based on court records, witness testimonies, and historical archives. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for any political ideology.
General Hisao Tani: The ‘Monster of Nanking’ and His Execution Before Thousands
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During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army is believed to have been responsible for the deaths and executions of approximately 14 million civilians across Asia. Among the cities that witnessed unimaginable horror was Nanking (now Nanjing), where over a six-week period starting in December 1937, Japanese forces committed mass murder, rape, and destruction that claimed more than 300,000 lives.
One Japanese general who was inside Nanking and commanded many of the soldiers who committed these crimes was Lieutenant General Hisao Tani. A highly experienced military man who had served in the army for decades, Tani was brought to trial after the war’s end. He was found responsible for leading his men in committing numerous war crimes, sentenced to death, and taken back to Nanking—where, before a crowd of thousands, he was executed by firing squad.
This is the story of the “Monster General” of Nanking, from his crimes to his final moments.
1. Who Was Hisao Tani? A Career Military Man
Hisao Tani was born on December 23, 1882, in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, into a farming family. He graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903 and served as a second lieutenant in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) . He later attended the Army War College, graduating third in his class in 1912, and served as a military attaché in the United Kingdom .
Tani was known for his brutal military philosophy. While teaching at the Naval War College, he notoriously stated: “Plunder, robbery, and rape during operations are essential to maintaining troop morale.” This ideology would later manifest catastrophically in Nanjing .
In 1935, Tani was promoted to lieutenant general and given command of the Sixth Division—one of the most battle-hardened and brutal units in the Japanese army .
2. The Road to Nanjing: Tani’s Path of Destruction
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When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Tani and his Sixth Division were deployed to China. After participating in the Battle of Shanghai, Tani’s division was ordered to advance on Nanjing, the Chinese capital at the time. They landed at Hangzhou Bay on November 5, 1937, and began a rapid advance toward the city .
On December 12, 1937, Tani’s Sixth Division breached the Chinese defenses at Zhonghua Gate, becoming one of the first Japanese units to enter Nanjing . What followed would become one of the most infamous atrocities in military history.
From December 13, 1937, to late January 1938, Tani’s troops—along with divisions under Generals Nakajima, Yamada, and others—unleashed a campaign of terror. According to the post-war indictment presented at his trial:
Mass executions: Over 190,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed by machine gun fire, with bodies burned to destroy evidence. An additional 150,000 victims were buried by charitable organizations, bringing the total to over 340,000 dead .
Rape: Approximately 20,000 women were raped—many were then killed. Tani personally was accused of raping at least ten Chinese women .
Torture and mutilation: Victims were bayoneted, beheaded, burned alive, and subjected to other unspeakable cruelties. The court heard testimony of a Buddhist monk who was ordered to rape a young girl; when he refused, he was castrated and killed .
3. Denial and Arrest: Tani’s Attempt to Escape Justice
After the fall of Nanjing, Tani was recalled to Japan and placed in reserve status in 1939 . For years, he lived quietly in Japan, believing he had escaped accountability for his actions.
However, after Japan’s surrender in 1945, the Allies began prosecuting war criminals. In February 1946, Tani was arrested by the American occupation authorities at his home in Japan and extradited to China at the request of the Chinese government . He was held at the Tokyo Sugamo Prison before being transferred to Nanjing.
4. The Trial: Evidence That Could Not Be Denied
Tani’s trial before the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal began on February 6, 1947, at the Lijishe Auditorium in Nanjing . The courtroom was packed with journalists, foreign observers, and Chinese citizens. The prosecution, led by Chief Prosecutor Chen Guangyu and presided over by Chief Justice Shi Meiyu, presented overwhelming evidence:
Survivor testimonies: Over 80 witnesses, including Chinese survivors and Western missionaries who had remained in Nanjing during the massacre, testified. American professors Bates and Smith from Jinling University described the horrors they had witnessed .
Physical evidence: The court conducted exhumations at mass graves outside Zhonghua Gate, uncovering thousands of skulls and skeletons with bullet holes, bayonet wounds, and blunt-force trauma .
Photo album evidence: A yellowed photo album containing 16 photographs of Japanese atrocities—secretly preserved by a Chinese film developer named Luo Jin in January 1938—was presented to the court as key evidence .
Documentary evidence: Two 16mm films were screened. One was footage secretly shot by American missionary John Magee during the massacre; the other was a Japanese propaganda film showing the aftermath of their own atrocities .
Despite this evidence, Tani remained defiant. He claimed that “no dead bodies were seen on the streets of Nanjing” and that Chinese soldiers who had not surrendered were legitimate military targets. He blamed atrocities on Korean soldiers in his division and insisted he was merely following orders .
However, the court was not convinced. On March 10, 1947, after five public hearings, Tani was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The death sentence was pronounced .
5. The Execution: A Monster’s Final Moments
Tani appealed his sentence, but on April 25, 1947, Nationalist government leader Chiang Kai-shek upheld the verdict. Execution was set for the following day .
On the morning of April 26, 1947, Tani was taken from Nanjing’s Tiger Bridge Prison. Ninety-four-year-old veteran Tang Zeqi, the driver who transported Tani to the execution ground, later recalled:
“The truck I drove was without an awning and Hisao Tani was escorted by seven or eight gendarmes. From Huangpu Road at the Ministry of National Defense to the execution ground at Yuhuatai, there were endless voices of people condemning his atrocities along the way.”
The route was lined with thousands of Nanjing citizens—survivors of the massacre, relatives of victims, and ordinary people who had come to witness justice. Witness accounts describe the crowd shouting “revenge” and “death to the murderer” as the truck passed.
At the execution ground on Yuhuatai (Rain Flower Terrace), a small hollow on a hillside, Tani was escorted off the truck. According to veteran Zhang Tao, one of the military policemen present:
“He was so terrified that his whole body had gone limp, and he couldn’t stand on his own, so we had to support him on either side to keep him upright.”
Tani was positioned facing the northern slope—looking toward the city of Nanjing, toward the site of his crimes. He was neither tied nor blindfolded .
Squad Leader Hong raised his Mauser pistol behind Tani’s head and fired a single shot. The bullet entered diagonally through the top of Tani’s skull and exited through his mouth, knocking out two of his front teeth. He died instantly .
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As the shot rang out, the crowd erupted:
“The entire hillside was packed with people who had come to witness the execution, denouncing this devil… When Hisao Tani was executed, the crowd on the hillside erupted in cheers and applause.”
Nanjing Massacre survivor Yu Changxiang, who witnessed the execution, recalled:
“After Hisao Tani was executed, the people of Nanjing cheered, saying, ‘Even the Japanese have this day,’ and it felt like a weight had been lifted off the common folks’ hearts.”
6. The Legacy: Justice Served?
Tani’s body was carried away on a bamboo pole, arms and legs bound, and buried in a pre-dug grave in what was then vegetable fields. He was 64 years old .
For the people of Nanjing, Tani’s execution marked the end of a decade-long wait for justice. The “Monster General” who had commanded the brutal Sixth Division—the unit responsible for the rape of countless women and the murder of over 300,000 civilians—had been brought to account on the very soil where his crimes were committed.
Survivor Pu Yeliang, who also witnessed the execution, recalled:
“That Japanese man looked quite old when he was brought up. Before he had barely taken a few steps, someone from behind shot him dead, and then they dragged him away.”
Hisao Tani was not the highest-ranking Japanese general to be tried for the Nanjing Massacre. That distinction belonged to General Iwane Matsui, who was sentenced to death by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. However, Tani was the only general executed in Nanjing itself—on the ground where his troops had committed their worst atrocities, before the people who had suffered under his command.
The firing squad that ended Tani’s life on April 26, 1947, did not undo the horrors of the Nanjing Massacre. It did not bring back the 300,000 victims or restore the dignity of the thousands of women who were raped. But it did send a message: that even the most powerful military commanders could be held accountable for their crimes.
For the people of Nanjing who watched him die—for the survivors who had lost families, for the widows and orphans who had carried their pain for a decade—Tani’s execution was not revenge. It was justice.
And as the crowd’s cheers echoed across the hills of Yuhuatai, one truth was undeniable: the “Monster of Nanking” had finally met his end.
Primary Sources:
Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall (19371213.com.cn) – Witness testimonies from Tang Zeqi, Zhang Tao, and Yu Changxiang
Wikipedia (en) – Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal / Hisao Tani
Baidu Baike – Hisao Tani biography and trial records
Wikipedia (zh) – Hisao Tani trial and execution details
ThinkChina – The long road to justice against Japanese war criminals
Second Historical Archives of China – Photo album evidence preserved by Luo Jin