The Tokyo District Court dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday filed by the relatives of two executed Japanese soldiers against two newspapers and a journalist over publications that said the two competed to be the first to behead 100 Chinese in 1937 during the advance on Nanjing.
Three relatives of the two Imperial army second lieutenants filed the suit seeking 36 million yen against the Mainichi Shimbun, the Asahi Shimbun and Katsuichi Honda, a journalist who formerly worked for the Asahi, saying the reports are false and defamed the soldiers and their families.
Presiding Judge Akio Doi said it is difficult to prove the news articles were based on a fabricated incident because one of the soldiers made remarks indicating his role in the contest.