The Human Cost
Second Sino-Japanese War
21,255,700
estimated total dead
Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.
Military Dead
4,255,700 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.
Republic of China โ 3,800,000 military dead Imperial Japan โ 455,700 military dead Civilian Dead
17,000,000 civilians killed โ from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.
Civilian dead โ 17,000,000 Deadliest Engagements
Operation Ichigo (AprilโDecember 1944)600,000
incl. 100,000 civilians
Yellow River Flood (June 1938)500,000
incl. 500,000 civilians
Battle of Wuhan (JuneโOctober 1938)420,000
incl. 20,000 civilians
Battle of Shanghai (AugustโNovember 1937)310,000
incl. 10,000 civilians
Nanjing Massacre (December 1937โJanuary 1938)300,000
incl. 210,000 civilians
Battles of Changsha (1939โ1942)220,000
incl. 20,000 civilians
Chongqing Bombing Campaign (1938โ1943)25,000
incl. 25,000 civilians
For Perspective
How Sino-Japanese War's dead compare to other conflicts and events.
Sino-Japanese War โ total dead21,255,700
Chinese dead (all causes)20,000,000
Holocaust victims6,000,000
Japanese military dead (China)455,700
US military dead (all WWII)405,399
Yellow River flood victims500,000
Nanjing Massacre victims250,000
Milestones of Loss
1,000,000 dead
1 million dead โ exceeded in the first months of the war
6,000,000 dead
6 million โ equal to the entire Holocaust
10,000,000 dead
10 million โ more than all Allied deaths in WWII combined
20,000,000 dead
20 million โ the estimated total Chinese death toll
All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify โ these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.