The confessions of Japanese war criminal Tsutomu Nagashima

According to the written confession of Tsutomu Nagashima in May 1955, he was born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan in 1888. He came to China in December 1938 and served as a special agent in Central China Expeditionary Army. He became commander of the 54th Brigade of the 59th Division of the Japanese Army in April 1942. From June 1943 to April 1945, he was concurrently defense commander of Jinan City. He was arrested by the Soviet Army on 22 August 1945 in Hamhung, the Korean Peninsula.

Major offences:

From May to June 1942: in Shandong, commanding his forces in the "Tai'an-Laiwu-Mengyin Battles", "killing: 40 anti-Japanese soldiers and 20 civilians, burning down and damaging more than 100 civilian houses";

File photo of Tsutomu Nagashima

Mid-May 1943: commanding the forces to fight in the "Central Shandong Battles", "resulted in killing 130 anti-Japanese soldiers and 20 civilians, arresting 380 anti-Japanese soldiers and burning down and damaging more than 20 civilian houses";

June 1943: commanding the forces to fight in the "Donglindao Battles" (to the north of Liaocheng County), "resulted in killing 60 anti-Japanese soldiers, 30 civilians and 250 captives";

From July to August 1943: commanding the forces to fight in the "Summer 1943 South Tai-hang Mountains Battles", "resulted in killing 40 anti-Japanese soldiers and 30 civilians, taking 30 prisoners";

September 1943: commanding the forces to fight in the "Three Churches Battles" (Yucheng, Jiyang and Linyi), "resulted in killing 60 anti-Japanese soldiers and over 10 civilians";

From mid-November to early December 1943: commanding the forces to fight in "Autumn 1943 Central and Northern Shandong Battles", "result: killing over 30 anti-Japanese soldiers and more than 10 civilians; burning down 2 military camps and over 300 civilian houses"; and "plundering over 300 tons of grain";

From March to April 1944: commanding the forces to fight in the "Spring 1944 Communist Suppression Battles" (Laiwu, Changqing, Licheng, Qihe and Zhangqiu), "resulted in killing 210 anti-Japanese soldiers and 70 civilians, and burning down 300 civilian houses";

From June to July 1944: commanding the forces to fight in the "Summer 1944 Shandong Battles", "resulted in killing 270 anti-Japanese soldiers and 160 civilians, and plundering 5,700 tons of wheat";

Confessions of other criminals

From August to September 1944: commanding the forces to fight in the "Summer 1944 Shandong Battles", "result: killing 120 anti-Japanese soldiers and 70 civilians, arresting 250 civilians and plundering more than 1,000 baskets of peanut oil";

From September to December 1944: commanding the forces to fight in the "Autumn 1944 Shandong Battles", "resulted in killing 190 anti-Japanese soldiers and 110 civilians, burning down more than 200 civilian houses";

From January to March1945:commanding the forces to fight in the "Spring 1945 Shandong Battles", "result: killing 410 anti-Japanese soldiers and 230 civilians, damaging and burning down more than 300 civilian houses";

May 1945: commanding the forces to fight in the "No.1 Xiuling Battles", "resulted in killing 80 anti-Japanese soldiers and 210 civilians, burning down and damaging more than 1,000 civilian houses";

From April 1942 to July 1945: "conducted 15 battles of all scales, killing 1,660 anti-Japanese soldiers and 970 civilians, burning down over 2,220 civilian houses, arresting 970 anti-Japanese soldiers and 250 civilians, plundering 6,000 tons of grain, forcing labors to work for 120,000 work days"; "Besides shooting, other extremely cruel killing methods such as bayoneting, hacking, beheading, exploding, burning, hanging and sending to gas chamber were also used during the battles, and captives were often killed too. In early February 1945, under my command, the 111th Battalion killed 7 wounded captives with bayonets in an attack in Majiahaizi, Dong'e County. In July 1942, the 110th Battalion killed 15 civilians, old people and children, by gas shells in Jiudingshan, Laiwu County."