His reference to it at the trial is believed to have been accidental. The accusations of both the US and the USSR were true, and it is believed that the Japanese had also given information to the Soviets regarding their biological experimentation for judicial leniency. It was formally referred to as the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army (関東軍防疫給水部本部 Kantōgun Bōeki Kyūsuibu Honbu?). The Ministry for Education attempted to remove this passage from his textbook before it was taught in public schools, on the basis that the testimony was insufficient. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Imperial Japan. [16] In a further parallel, the corpses of "sacrificed" subjects were disposed of by incineration. In addition to the establishment of Unit 731, the decree also called for the establishment of an additional biological warfare development unit called the Kwantung Army Military Horse Epidemic Prevention Workshop (later referred to as Manchuria Unit 100) and a chemical warfare development unit called the Kwantung Army Technical Testing Department (later referred to as Manchuria Unit 516). [9][10], Unit Tōgō was implemented in the Zhongma Fortress, a prison/experimentation camp in Beiyinhe, a village 100 km (62 mi) south of Harbin on the South Manchuria Railway. Also, he warned them if the public learned the … Ministries in Tokyo ordered the destruction of all incriminating materials, including those in Pingfang. Unit 731 (Japanese: 731部隊, Hepburn: Nana-san-ichi Butai), also known as Detachment 731, the 731 Regiment, Manshu Detachment 731, The Kamo Detachment,[3]:198 Ishii Unit,[5] Ishii Detachment[5] or the Ishii Company, was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) of World War II. ... probably never really know what went down in the making of Men Behind the Sun but we do know that the actual story of Unit 731 is horrifying. In James M. Ludes, Henry Sokolski (eds.). ; Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity", "Pure Evil: Wartime Japanese Doctor Had No Regard for Human Suffering", "Unmasking Horror: A special report. Postwar reports have generally regarded the data as "crude and ineffective", with one expert even deeming it "amateurish". Unit 731 (731部隊 Nana-san-ichi butai?, Chinese: 731部队) was a covert organic and chemical warfare analysis and improvement unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook deadly human experimentation through the Second … The government of the Republic of China were none the wiser, and, … [9] On 6 May 1947, Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, wrote to Washington that “additional data, possibly some statements from Ishii probably can be obtained by informing Japanese involved that information will be retained in intelligence channels and will not be employed as ‘War Crimes’ evidence.”[10] The deal was concluded in 1948. "The Imperial Japanese Experiments in China". The Japanese government—which until then had never officially acknowledged the atrocities committed by Unit 731—rejected the request.[74]. From 1948 to 1958, less than 5% of the documents were transferred onto microfilm and stored in the National Archives of the United States, before being shipped back to Japan.[85]. [47] Once frozen, which testimony from a Japanese officer said "was determined after the 'frozen arms, when struck with a short stick, emitted a sound resembling that which a board gives when it is struck'",[48] ice was chipped away and the area doused in water, limbs brought close to fire and other "methods" used to determine the effect it had on frostbite. Presiding judge Koji Iwata ruled that Unit 731, on the orders of the Imperial Japanese Army headquarters, used bacteriological weapons on Chinese civilians between 1940 and 1942, spreading diseases including plague and typhoid in the cities of Quzhou, Ningbo, and Changde. Ap­prox­i­mately 30 kilo­grams (66 pounds) of bubonic plague bac­te­ria could be pro­duced in a few days. The Unit 731 com­plex cov­ered six square kilo­me­tres (2.3 square miles) and con­sisted of more than 150 build­ings. [24] Imperial Japanese Army surgeon Ken Yuasa suggests that the practice of vivisection on human subjects was widespread even outside Unit 731,[26] estimating that at least 1,000 Japanese personnel were involved in the practice in mainland China. [87][88], Also in 1981 appeared the first direct testimony of human vivisection in China, by Ken Yuasa. One was an article by Nicolas Kristof in the New York Times. The hypothetical possibility of vertical transmission (from mother to child) of diseases, particularly syphilis, was the stated reason for the torture. These bombs enabled Japanese soldiers to launch biological attacks, infecting agriculture, reservoirs, wells, as well as other areas with anthrax, plague-carrier fleas, typhoid, dysentery, cholera or other deadly pathogens. Such plague bombs are only one of the atrocities linked with Unit 731: the Japanese answer to Mengele’s Auschwitz. They may also have included a small number of European, American, Indian, Australian and New Zealander prisoners of war. Unit 731 was officially established in 1936. In a vast complex on the edge of the Chinese mainland, surgeons took turns at dissecting civilians alive, removing organs one by one until the patient died. The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal heard only one reference to Japanese experiments with "poisonous serums" on Chinese civilians. Part of IJN army, infamous for war crimes. The United States refused to acknowledge the trials, branding them communist propaganda. Unit 731 (731部隊 Nana-san-ichi butai?, Chinese: 731部队) was a covert organic and chemical warfare analysis and improvement unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook deadly human experimentation through the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. The first book published outside Asia which refers to atrocities committed in the unit. Not many evidence about the truth regarding Unit 731 were left. There have been several films about the atrocities of Unit 731. This term originated as a joke on the part of the staff because the official cover story for the facility given to the local authorities was that it was a lumber mill. It had around 4,500 con­tain­ers to be used to raise fleas, six caul­drons to pro­duce var­i­ous chem­i­cals, and around 1,800 con­tain­ers to pro­duce bi­o­log­i­cal agents. After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, sister chemical and biological warfare units were founded in major Chinese cities, and were referred to as Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Units. [82] This was evidenced by the Soviet Union building a biological weapons facility in Sverdlovsk using documentation captured from Unit 731 in Manchuria. "[50] The children of these women were tested in ways similar to their parents, with specific emphasis on determining how longer infection periods affected the effectiveness of treatments. [90] Harris speculates that the reason US scientists generally wanted to acquire it was due to the concept of forbidden fruit, believing that lawful and ethical prohibitions could affect the outcomes of their research.[91]. ; Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity" The New York Times(1995). Some prisoners had their stomachs surgically removed and the esophagus reattached to the intestines. The documentaries presented below reveal some impressive images and facts about the infamous place – Unit 731, the spot of one of the less known atrocities of the 20th century, committed by the Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731. [38], Due to pressure from numerous accounts of the bio-warfare attacks, Chiang Kai-shek sent a delegation of army and foreign medical personnel in November 1941 to document evidence and treat the afflicted. The Japanese doctors and army commanders who had perpetrated the Unit 731 experiments received sentences from the Khabarovsk court ranging from two to 25 years in a Siberian labor camp. Those limbs that were removed were sometimes re-attached to the opposite sides of the body. May 23, 2015 - 731部隊の真実 the truth of Harbin Unit 731(English Narration) 2/5 This part of the story primarily focuses on one soldier in particular named Ichikawa, assumedly no older than 13. [citation needed], In August 2002, the Tokyo district court ruled for the first time that Japan had engaged in biological warfare. The Medicine Business In December 1949, 12 members of Japan's Kwantung Army faced trial in Khabarovsk for the atrocities they'd committed while developing biological weapons and testing them on prisoners of war. Infected food supplies and clothing were dropped by airplane into areas of China not occupied by Japanese forces. Leśne morze) (1960), a novel by a Polish writer and educator Igor Newerly. [94], In 1997, the international lawyer Kōnen Tsuchiya filed a class action suit against the Japanese government, demanding reparations for the actions of Unit 731, using evidence filed by Professor Makoto Ueda of Rikkyo University. [33][34][35][36] Plague fleas, infected clothing and infected supplies encased in bombs were dropped on various targets. From August 1940, the units were known collectively as the "Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army (関東軍防疫給水部本部)"[13] or "Unit 731" (満州第731部隊) for short. Prisoners were also repeatedly subject to rape by guards. "[49], After victims were infected, they were vivisected at different stages of infection, so that internal and external organs could be observed as the disease progressed. [92][93] Saburō Ienaga's New History of Japan included a detailed description, based on officers' testimony. [20], Prisoners were injected with diseases, disguised as vaccinations,[21] to study their effects. Originally set up under the Kenpeitai military police of the Empire of Japan, Unit 731 was taken over and commanded until the end of the war by General Shirō Ishii, a combat medic officer in the Kwantung Army. At least 12 large-scale field trials of biological weapons were performed, and at least 11 Chinese cities were attacked with biological agents. [3]:60, 84, 124, 310, A medical school and research facility belonging to Unit 731 operated in the Shinjuku District of Tokyo during World War II. • Forest Sea (Pol. [53], At least 3,000 men, women, and children[3]:117[53]—from which at least 600 every year were provided by the Kempeitai[54] were subjected to experimentation conducted by Unit 731 at the camp based in Pingfang alone, which does not include victims from other medical experimentation sites, such as Unit 100. It was made clear that anyone resisting would be shot. [63][64] He was interviewed by the Imperial War Museum in 1981, and the audio recording tape reels are in the IWM's archives. He gave up the idea, left and locked the door, then later went on to his experimental work. In 2014, Jilin Provincial Archives discovered a large volume of records about the Unit 731 from a newly uncovered collection of archives left behind by the Japanese army invading China. She had several fingers missing and her bones were black, with gangrene set in. Humans were also tied to stakes and used as targets to test pathogen-releasing bombs, chemical weapons, and explosive bombs as well as bayonets and knives. Comments Off on The Truth of Harbin Unit 731 Unit 731 was based at the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city then in northeast China. [15], A special project code-named Maruta used human beings for experiments. "Terrorism and Weapons of the Apocalypse". Operations and experiments continued until the end of the war. He then received authorization to move to Pingfang, approximately 24 km (15 mi) south of Harbin, to set up a new, much larger facility.[11]. But Shiro Ishii, the head of the unit, never faced the tribunal. Detachments included Unit 1855 in Beijing, Unit Ei 1644 in Nanjing, Unit 8604 in Guangzhou and later, Unit 9420 in Singapore. They routinely conducted tests on human beings (who were referred to internally as "logs"). There were also twelve members who were formally tried and sentenced in the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials. Japan has disclosed the names of thousands of members of Unit 731, a notorious branch of the imperial Japanese army that conducted lethal experiments on Chinese civilians in … In 1936, Emperor Hirohito authorized by decree the expansion of this unit and its integration into the Kwantung Army as the Epidemic Prevention Department. Unit 731's sprawling headquarters were at Pingfan - completed with airport, railway stations and dungeons - on the outskirts of Harbin. These books purported to reveal the "true" operations of Unit 731, but falsely attributed unrelated photos to the Unit, which raised questions about their accuracy. In 1932, Surgeon General Shirō Ishii (石井四郎, Ishii Shirō), chief medical officer of the Imperial Japanese Army and protégé of Army Minister Sadao Araki was placed in command of the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory (AEPRL). Sanders' duty was to investigate Japanese biological warfare activity. During his captivity, he kept a secret diary. Takashi Tsuchiya. It had around 4,500 containers to be used to raise fleas, six cauldrons to produce various chemicals, and around 1,800 containers to produce biological agents. The Devil’s Gluttony – the Truth of Unit 731 Unveiled. [62], Imprisoned as a POW at the Mukden camp (housing American, British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers) Robert Peaty (1903–1989), a Major in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, was the senior ranking allied officer. Japan Confronting Gruesome War Atrocity", "Dissect them alive: order not to be disobeyed", "Interview with former Unit 731 member Nobuo Kamada", "Unmasking Horror – A special report. Table of Contents show Some have been arrested by Soviet forces and tried on the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials; others surrendered to the American Forces. Williams, Peter, and Wallace, David (1989). Xinhua via Getty Images Unit 731 personnel conduct a bacteriological trial upon a test subject in … Unit 731 presents a special problem, since unlike Nazi human experimentation which the United States publicly condemned, the activities of Unit 731 are known to the general public only from the testimonies of willing former unit members, and testimony cannot be employed to determine indemnity in this way. Many of the scientists concerned in Unit 731 went on to outstanding careers in post-war politics, academia, enterprise, and drugs. ... Yoshio Shinozuka, who has declared his remorse, and has vowed to tell the truth … Approximately 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of bubonic plague bacteria could be produced in a few days. Skeleton crews of Ishii's Japanese troops blew up the compound in the final days of the war to destroy evidence of their activities, but many were sturdy enough to remain somewhat intact. The complex contained various factories. It has been 70 years since General Ishii Shiro, a surgeon from Kyoto University's medical school, secretly established Unit 731 in Harbin, northeast China, to develop weapons prohibited by international law. In 1952, human experiments carried out in Nagoya City Pediatric Hospital, which resulted in one death, were publicly tied to former members of Unit 731. However, he rejected the victims' claims for compensation on the grounds that they had already been settled by international peace treaties. [96] In April 2018, the National Archives of Japan released the names of 3,607 members of Unit 731, in response to a request by Professor Katsuo Nishiyama of the Shiga University of Medical Science.[97][98]. While they have added over 60,000 names to the watchlist, they have only been able to identify under 100 Japanese participants. The com­plex con­tained var­i­ous fac­to­ries. Instead, he was offered immunity and taken to the US, where he masterminded biological warfare during the Korean War. Army Engineer Hisato Yoshimura conducted experiments by taking captives outside, dipping various appendages into water, and allowing the limb to freeze. – Mad In America – James Moore, Second stimulus check roller coaster: 14 important things you need to know, Sen. Toomey to Trump: ‘You don’t get everything you want’, Police investigating city's 169th homicide in West Columbus as deadly year nears end – ABC6OnYourSide.com, COVID-19 and collateral profits | News, Sports, Jobs, How Operation Christmas, leaflets in North Korea and CIA pop put a creative twist on propaganda, Living Antifascism: There Is No Health Without Freedom – OpEd, Former Indians Crowe Sentenced to Probation and Restitution, Meticore Reviews – Shocking Review Reveals Weight Loss Supplement Truth [2021 UPDATE] | Paid Content | Detroit. Since then many more in-depth testimonies have appeared in Japanese. Some children grew up inside the walls of Unit 731, infected with syphilis. But this one is just way too NSFW and grotesque you might need your eyes bleached out. Testimony from multiple guards blames the female victims as being hosts of the diseases, even as they were forcibly infected. They included infants, men, the elderly, and pregnant women. Among the individuals in Japan after its 1945 surrender was Lieutenant Colonel Murray Sanders, who arrived in Yokohama via the American ship Sturgess in September 1945. The February 23, 1943 entry read: "Funeral service for 142 dead. "[66] [67], In April 2018, the National Archives of Japan for the first time disclosed a nearly complete list of 3607 people who worked for Unit 731 to Katsuo Nishiyama of the Shiga University of Medical Science, who says that he intends to publish the list online.[68]. [6] Victim accounts were then largely ignored or dismissed in the West as communist propaganda.[8]. [78] The Americans believed that the research data was valuable, and did not want other nations, particularly the Soviet Union, to acquire data on biological weapons.[79]. The leader of the unit was Ishii Shiro, who held the rank of lieutenant general at the end of World War II. Official silence under United States occupation, Post-occupation Japanese media coverage and debate, Significance in postwar research of bio-warfare and medicine. Memories of Japanese war crimes continue to poison Japan's relations with its neighbours. Unit 731 was the common name of a secret unit of Japan’s Manchuria-based Kwantung Army whose official name was the Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department. With the coming of the Red Army in August 1945, the unit had to abandon their work in haste. [84], Shiro Ishii, as the chief of the unit, was granted war crime immunity from the US occupation authorities, because of his provision of human experimentation research materials to the US. Other suspected Japanese war criminals who were never indicted include three postwar prime ministers: Hatoyama Ichirō (1954–1956), Ikeda Hayato (1960–1964), and Kishi Nobusuke (1957).[70]. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi responded that the Japanese government did not then possess any records related to Unit 731, but the government recognized the gravity of the matter and would publicize any records that were located in the future. Ishii had wanted to use biological weapons in the Pacific War since May 1944, but his attempts were repeatedly snubbed. Men Behind the Sun is a disturbing ride into madness. [43][44], Some of the tests have been described as "psychopathically sadistic, with no conceivable military application".[45][46]. [5] This military aerial spraying killed tens of thousands of people with bubonic plague epidemics. Originally arrange underneath the Kempeitai army police of the Empire of Japan, Unit 731 was taken over and commanded till the top of the warfare by General Shiro Ishii, an officer within the Kwantung Army. NHK Documentary: The Truth of Unit 731 (2017)[49:00] - Unfortunately only for people who knows Chinese and Japanese. I generally like to put a few photos with my blog posts, especially with long ones. [30] The American historian Sheldon H. Harris states that over 200,000 died. In 2006, Toyo Ishii—a nurse who worked at the school during the war—revealed that she had helped bury bodies and pieces of bodies on the school's grounds shortly after Japan's surrender in 1945. Unit 731 was based at the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest gas chamber in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (now Northeast China), and had active branch offices throughout China and Southeast Asia. 日本弁護士連合会『人権白書昭和43年版』日本弁護士連合会、1968年、pp. [6] Other researchers that the Soviet forces managed to arrest first were tried at the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials in 1949. Some of Unit 731's … [23][24] Vivisections were performed on prisoners after infecting them with various diseases. Test subjects were gathered from the surrounding population and were sometimes referred to euphemistically as "logs" (丸太, maruta), used in such contexts as "How many logs fell?". Ishii ordered every member of the group to disappear and "take the secret to the grave". At the time of his arrival in Japan he had no knowledge of what Unit 731 was. [6] Close to 30% of the victims have been Russian. Most or all Units had branch offices, which were also often referred to as "Units". All Japanese court levels found that the suit was baseless. A … To study the effects of untreated venereal diseases, male and female prisoners were deliberately infected with syphilis and gonorrhoea, then studied. Estimates of those killed by Unit 731 and its related programs range up to half a million people. [22], Thousands of men, women, children and infants interned at prisoner of war camps were subjected to vivisection, often without anesthesia and usually ending with the death of the victim. During biological bomb experiments, researchers dressed in protective suits would examine the dying victims. [89], There was consensus among US researchers in the postwar period that the human experimentation data gained was of little value to the development of American biological weapons and medicine. 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