Two guys dressed in Japanese military uniforms pose for photos at Nanjing memorial site

This was perhaps not the smartest photo shoot

A couple of guys apparently thought it would be a good idea to dress up as imperial Japanese soldiers and pose for photos in Nanjing.

Unsurprisingly, the pictures provoked quite the reaction when they were uploaded yesterday to Weibo. Making the shoot even more outrageous, the netizen who exposed the pics wrote that they were taken in front of a martyrs memorial site on the city’s Purple Mountain.

The photos show the two fuzzy-faced men posing in imperial Japanese military uniform, complete with accessories like a saber and a rifle with a bayonet.

At this time, it’s not clear who the men are or why they took the pictures. Some netizens believe that this is nothing more than a bit of cosplay, while others think that the men’s purpose was more sinister.

Last August, two guys who were dressed up as imperial Japanese soldiers began parading around in front of a train station in Bingyang county, Guangxi, waving a samurai sword and mumbling in fake Japanese.

The men were soon surrounded by an angry crowd and detained by police. They were later identified as two Chinese men who were trying to become internet celebrities by uploading a video of their antics to Kuaishou.

Earlier that August, photos also went viral on the Chinese internet showing four men wearing imperial Japanese military uniforms posing in front of the Sihang Warehouse War Memorial Hall in Shanghai.

The memorial commemorates the sacrifice of a group of Chinese soldiers who staged an heroic last stand inside the warehouse against invading Japanese forces in October 1937, holding out against numerous waves of attackers for six days, allowing the main force of the Chinese army to retreat.

The four men and the photographer were all tracked down by the end of the month by police. They turned out to Chinese out-of-towners.

Somewhat curiously, the photos were posted onto Weibo by the same netizen who has exposed the pics taken in Nanjing.

Of course, more than a month after retreating from Shanghai, Chinese forces were also forced to abandon their capital at Nanjing. In the six weeks after Japan captured the city on December 13th, 1937, China says that 300,000 people were killed in a brutal massacre that has been etched in blood in the country’s collective memory ever since.

Last December, China marked the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre with a state memorial ceremony that was attended by Xi Jinping and broadcast live by state media outlets.

[Images via Global Times]