December 1696 Yoshiwara spree killing - 100 people killed by one person?

I was reading a list of massacres in Japan and got surprised by one such incident - called the "Yoshiwara spree killing" that ocurred in December 1696, where 100+ people were killed by Sano Jirōzaemon, a wealthy lord.

But, according to the Tsujigiri article (where it contains information about the incident) it says that only "dozens" people were killed. It were prostitues killed with a katana. Sano Jirōzaemon was treated by authorities as a spree killer and sentenced to death. Later, a kabuki play was made about the incident.

Links: Tsujigiri, the List of massacres in Japan

Could someone who understands Japanese clarify that to me? Greetings.

I understand a bit of Japanese. What exactly do you want to be clarified?

Onyx wrote:

I understand a bit of Japanese. What exactly do you want to be clarified?

Hello! Thanks for helping me. I want to the death toll be correctly clarified. Because the list says 100+ people were killed, while the article only cites "dozens" of people.

In Japanese this incident is known as "吉原百人斬り" (Yoshiwara hyakunin giri) which translates as "One hundred Yoshiwara slash" since the toll was around 100 people. Unfortunately, It seems the exact number is not known.

Btw, there is a movie inspired by this incident, Hero of the Red Light District (1960).
It may be interesting.

Onyx wrote:

In Japanese this incident is known as "吉原百人斬り" (Yoshiwara hyakunin giri) which translates as "One hundred Yoshiwara slash" since the toll was around 100 people. Unfortunately, It seems the exact number is not known.

Btw, there is a movie inspired by this incident, Hero of the Red Light District (1960).
It may be interesting.

Thanks for the help. I have seen a screenshot of the movie in this site and it seems in the photo that he was surronded by a number of soldiers. Maybe that were his companions? I am a bit confused, but I still think only Sano was involved.

You're welcome!

The movie is probably a loose adaptation, who knows what really happened

Quote :

100+ people were killed by Sano Jirōzaemon (...) It were prostitues killed with a katana.

God, bless this man's soul!

Sabrina_Kilic wrote:

It's almost certainly just a myth.

I think it's unreasonable to say that. Is the death count exaggerated? Probably, but there are records of Sano's killing spree dating back hundreds of years. At the very least, that makes it more credible than the 1938 Turkey shooting, which you put on your spreadsheet.