"Execution Was Inevitable... It Took Years to Accept" (Part 2) [If You Know]

Testimony of 731 Unit Boy Member Shinozuka Yoshio
"Signs of Plague Outbreak: Rats Die and Humans Infected"
"Suspect Repetition of Pre-War Like Training"
Unclear Whether Allied POWs Were Used for Human Experiments

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*Ishii Shiro disseminated typhus, paratyphoid, cholera bacteria, and tetanus bacteria in August 1939 during the Nomonhan Incident (Battle of Khalkhin Gol) at a tributary on the border between Manchukuo and Mongolia as the Second Sino-Japanese War intensified. The Kwantung Army awarded Ishii a letter of appreciation, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 4th Class, and the Army Technical Merit Award in October of that year. Encouraged, they sprayed plague fleas from aircraft over Ningbo, China, killing 106 people. In the 1941 Changde operation, they sprayed 36 kg of plague fleas at low altitude, killing 100 people. The following year in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, they dropped plague fleas during rainy weather, causing over 2,000 deaths.

*Unit 731 and the Nanjing Sakae Unit (Unit 1644) sprayed plague, cholera, and paratyphoid bacteria in 1942 during the Operation Ichi-Kan in Chinese cities such as Weishan, Jinhua, and Fuzhou. They used 'plague fleas' and spread some bacteria through water and residential contamination, as well as by poisoning dumplings. The amount of paratyphoid and anthrax bacteria prepared at the time reached 130 kg. Even Japanese soldiers entering the infected areas suffered 1,700 deaths.

*Bacteriologist Ishikawa Tachio-maru, who volunteered and enlisted in Unit 731, returned to Japan in July 1943 with fifty-seven autopsy specimens of victims who died in plague bacteria spraying experiments.

*The Japanese military planned to load plague bacteria onto balloon bombs to use in decisive battles at Saipan, Guam, Iwo Jima, and other locations. However, the plan was not realized due to opposition from Prime Minister Tojo Hideki’s cabinet. Although it was a new weapon with proven lethality, the technology was not perfect and was judged to pose a threat to their own forces.

*Ishii not only established a system for human experimentation using prisoners through the Dogo Unit but also recruited numerous university researchers to introduce scientific technology. Another example of realizing such inhumane personal ideas through science and technology is the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas terrorist attack. The former was a public organization backed by the state, while the latter was a combination of religious fanatics and scientists. In both cases, the work was conducted secretly in places beyond society’s scrutiny.

*Next is the testimony of Shinozuka Yoshio, who worked as a boy soldier in Unit 731. "Ishii Shiro was a lieutenant colonel. At first glance, he did not look like a soldier. Normally, soldiers should wear boots, but he didn’t wear boots, and he had a beard with the tip of his military sword pointing down. He didn’t wear a hat either. He came up to us, glanced around, and the first thing he said was, 'There are people whose complexion looks bad. Conduct another physical examination.' I felt, 'He is indeed a doctor.' He emphasized to us, 'If you study hard, you can go to Harbin Medical University or Harbin Academy. You must study hard first.' Then he instructed the adjutant, 'Conduct a proper physical examination again.' Other than that, he probably said things like, 'Harbin is a good place. I will give instructions later about when you will go. Eat lots of delicious food.' I never imagined that such cruel acts would be done or commanded in Harbin. (Omitted) When I went to the lost-and-found, our ID cards had already been made. After receiving ID cards with photos attached, we took a military vehicle to Pingfang (the area in Harbin where Unit 731 headquarters was located). As soon as we got off the vehicle, the first thing I saw was a tall chimney. At the entrance, there was only a small sign saying, 'No entry without permission from the Kwantung Army Commander,' and nothing indicating the unit. The area was surrounded by barbed wire. Inside, there was a device for inserting time cards in front of the guardroom. We stamped our time cards when entering and checked the entry and exit times. (Omitted) Education started immediately the next day. We lived in the barracks with soldiers. The squad leader was a sergeant non-commissioned officer. The next day, military police gave education about the Military Discipline Protection Act. I don’t remember the details, but they said, 'This area is designated as a special military zone. Even Japanese military planes cannot fly over this airspace. Do not see, hear, or speak about anything. This is the unit’s principle.' (Omitted) The next day, we received education again from the same military police. He said his name was Tanaka, but I’m not sure if that was his real name. Tanaka said he had been with Unit 731 all along. That day’s education was about the Army Penal Code. I still remember the phrase, 'If you escape here, it will be considered desertion in the face of the enemy and you will be executed.' After two days of education, I wondered, 'What exactly is the nature of this unit?' I heard that the unit commander was a military doctor and many so-called 'medical scientists' from various universities had come, but I wondered, 'Why?' On the other hand, perhaps because I was educated in militarism at the time, I had the illusion that 'something worthwhile awaits.' I had no fear at all."

*Shinozuka revealed, "The Nomonhan Incident occurred, and mass production of bacteria began." "Since I had not yet learned how to produce bacteria, my order was to go to the laboratory and receive the bacterial strains (purely isolated and cultured bacteria or fungi) used for mass production. The strains were usually inoculated on agar medium solidified in a large tilted test tube, and broth (soup boiled for a long time with loops inserted) was added for bacterial culture. (Omitted) Bacteria were mass-produced through division of labor. The daily routine was to scrape bacteria transplanted the previous day in the morning and transplant them in the afternoon. The scraped bacteria were placed in wide-mouthed empty bottles of peptone. I participated in transportation following a non-commissioned officer. The non-commissioned officer was armed from Harbin Station to Hailar. In the past, it was an international train that could go as far as Europe, but at that time, I remember it only went halfway to Nomonhan. Two or three people carried straw-wrapped boxes and boarded the train. We were instructed to 'go to a well-ventilated place and sit.' Upon arrival at Hailar, we received strict security. A truck loaded with a machine gun transported the boxes from Hailar to the forward base of Nomonhan called General’s Grave. I participated in transportation only once, and I do not know exactly how these bacteria were used. According to people who went directly to Nomonhan, they were dropped into a tributary of the Horsten River upstream of the Halha River. (Omitted) Many soldiers returning from Nomonhan became patients. Our unit was responsible for bacterial inspection, checking and isolating the feces of returning soldiers. I was also mobilized for that. I still remember clearly. We were ordered to spread feces covered with cellophane widely. I remember suffering so much from the terrible smell that I couldn’t eat for several days. I received a war service medal just for having been to Nomonhan once. The unit commander Ishii Shiro received the Army’s highest technical merit award. At that time, there were voices in the unit saying, 'How can you receive a medal after infecting Japanese soldiers?' Looking back now, I think the Nomonhan Incident was the event that proved bacteria could be used as weapons to kill people. From spring 1940, bacterial attacks on Chinese people began. (Omitted) This time, I was ordered to separate fleas. Fleas definitely increased. We transported fleas to the aviation unit only once. The Unit 731 aviation unit was led by Captain Masuda Yakuzai, but the real power was a military doctor named Hirasawa. He piloted the plane, and we brought fleas there. I am sure this was related to the bacterial warfare that occurred in Ningbo and other parts of China, but I only participated in transportation. We learned through basic education about plague that fleas and plague are deeply related. We were always taught, 'Before a plague epidemic, rats always die first. After rats die, people get infected. So the sign of a plague epidemic is rats.' Anyway, it seems certain that fleas were delivered to Ningbo and the Huazhong region."

*The boy corps was disbanded during the 1941 Kwantung Army special exercise. Many members fled south. Before that, many had died, volunteered for active duty, or were dispatched, so the number of boy corps members had already decreased significantly. Around that time, Shinozuka was hospitalized for appendicitis and assigned to Section 1, Unit 4, Karasawa squad. The squad leader was Major Kawashima Kiyoshi, who was later sentenced at the Khabarovsk trial. The squad leader was also Lieutenant Karasawa Tomio, who was sentenced. It is said that Lieutenant Karasawa committed suicide before his release ceremony in 1956.

*After being assigned to the Karasawa squad in 1941, Shinozuka was appointed a chemical weapons handler. Here is his recollection: "When I received this order, I thought, 'Are we going to use poison gas?' But this unit did not handle poison gas. As a chemical weapons handler, I was supposed to receive an allowance of 25 yen. At that time, the basic monthly salary was about 45 yen, with a chemical soldier allowance of 25 yen and an overseas allowance of 45 yen. But I only received the basic salary every month. What I mainly did in the Karasawa squad was mass production of bacteria. I understood that this was carried out under operational orders. I heard that we produced cholera, plague, and Vibrio bacteria, but when we were assigned, we were producing anthrax bacteria. (Omitted) Toxicity tests had to be confirmed using animals. I also participated in live experiments and autopsies. I did not know exactly why we had to do this, but I heard at the time that 'using human bodies increases toxicity.' I think live experiments were necessary to obtain bacterial strains. There were no pathologists in Section 1, Unit 4, to which we belonged. The bacteriology staff were only military doctors. Anyway, for these reasons, I participated in experiments from late 1942 to 1943. The first task was to wash the bodies of people in a dying state. I was ordered to wash them with a brush with a handle and a rubber hose, but at first, my legs trembled, and I didn’t know what to do. But after two or three times, I gained courage. The squad leader said to me, 'You have become an adult now.' Murder may indeed be frightening at first. But after two or three times, you may gain courage. Some members of the Chinese Returnees Association (an organization established in 1957 by about 1,000 Japanese who had been detained in war criminal management centers in Fushun and Taiyuan, China, under the slogan of 'Japan-China friendship and anti-war peace') said that stabbing people with bayonets to kill was an essential part of rookie training. Surely, through such training, they became soldiers. Killing people was carried out casually in Unit 731, and I may have wanted to become like that. In this way, I gradually fell into heinous crimes. In fact, this was also dangerous for my own body. I thought that if I continued, I would eventually be infected and die. At that time, I had already been confirmed for active duty in the conscription examination. So I considered leaving this unit and transferring to a regular unit, but it was not allowed."

*Shinozuka confessed, "It took a considerable time after the defeat to admit responsibility." "In the past, I thought, 'It was an order, so I had no choice. If I didn’t obey, my life was in danger.' But then I thought, 'What if I think from the victim’s perspective? Would victims consider the executors had no choice because it was an order? If I were a victim, wouldn’t I naturally hold the executors responsible?' Gradually, I had such thoughts. Then I understood, 'What should the executors do? Executors should fulfill their responsibility as executors and also hold the orderers responsible. Isn’t that the right way?' With these thoughts, I testify with an apologetic heart to the victims. Since this was a policy promoted by the Japanese government, I think the state should take responsibility. I have been testifying for this purpose. In fact, it was not easy for me to accept that I had responsibility as an executor. I kept thinking, 'Still, I value my life. If I have responsibility as an executor, I might be executed.' Such thoughts kept swirling in my mind. It took several years until I finally admitted, 'I deserve to be executed. It is natural to be executed.' Some tried to commit suicide in the Fushun war criminal management center. I also remember having a very painful time there. War cannot be conducted with a sane mind. When you hold a gun, you kill, and you even want to kill. We all believed it was for the country. Also, we believed working for the country was for our parents and siblings. (Omitted) However, recently, there are signs that education similar to pre-war militarism is being conducted again. I am even afraid that people like us will be created again."

*Frostbite research in Unit 731 was handled by the Yoshimura squad. This squad, named after its leader Yoshimura Hisato, conducted various experiments under conditions that cause frostbite. After the war, Yoshimura denied involvement in human experiments. However, testimonies from many Japanese soldiers who served in Unit 731 revealed that cruel human experiments were conducted under the name of frostbite prevention research.

*In a 1982 interview with the media, Yoshimura Hisato explained, "Frostbite does not occur above minus 4 degrees Celsius, so we conducted human experiments at 0 degrees. This was internationally permitted because it was not dangerous." He explained why he published results of experiments at 0 degrees in the English journal of the Japanese Physiological Society. He also said, "I did not conduct human experiments that caused frostbite. Frostbite prevention research was entrusted to subordinates, so I don’t know much about it." However, on October 26, 1941, a year after the completion of the research facility in Pangpang, he gave a special lecture at the Harbin branch of the Manchurian Medical Association explaining that he conducted human experiments at minus 20 degrees. He argued that a correct understanding of frostbite is important. He emphasized that frostbite in the Japanese mainland and frostbite in the cold regions of Northeast China are completely different. Yoshimura also mentioned a theory that frostbite occurs because tissues freeze first due to cold, causing tissue destruction, inflammation, thrombosis, or vascular paralysis, leading to poor blood circulation and progressing necrosis. He said, "In the case of frostbite in severe cold, frostbite always occurs after tissue freezing."

*The Dugway documents have the following background. "Dugway, Utah, USA, has a US military chemical and biological warfare base, where traces of Japanese biological warfare research remain. This vast secret research center has a specialized library collecting various latest chemical publications related to biological warfare. There are more than twenty reports containing interviews conducted by American scientists after the war with Ishii, Kitano, and other surviving Unit 731 officers, stored in boxes. There are also three special reports on autopsies covering research topics on tetanus bacteria, plague, and anthrax. These reports were once classified as top secret but were declassified in 1978."

*From April to June 1947, Norbert H. Fell interrogated Unit 731 personnel in Japan and summarized new information about Japan’s biological warfare activities. The so-called 'Fell Report' was submitted to the Chemical Warfare Unit commander on June 20, 1947. The front of the report states, "We gathered nineteen key figures related to the biological warfare plan and spent nearly a month preparing a 60-page English report on biological warfare activities conducted on humans." It also states, "We found that there are 8,000 microscope slides made from over 200 victims who died from various biological warfare pathogens. (Omitted) This report is expected to be available by late August."

*With the discovery of the Kaneko paper by Nasu Shigeo, it became clear that the plague epidemics in 1940 in the Nong’an and Xinjin areas, previously considered general 'plague outbreaks,' were actually bacterial spraying operations conducted by Unit 731.

*Unit 731 also operated a gas laboratory. In collusion with Unit 516, they conducted multiple experiments using maruta (human test subjects). Most maruta used for gas experiments were people who had been involved in other bacterial experiments. Gas experiments were conducted to observe the death conditions and times of maruta. Animals such as chickens, dogs, rats, and pigeons were also subjects. The former site of the gas laboratory is currently used as the office of the Hualong Pencil Factory in Harbin. The structure itself is damaged.

*The Beigang corpse incinerator in Unit 731 was a place to conceal 'experimental materials.' It was mainly used to incinerate experimental animal corpses but sometimes also burned maruta corpses. Since the incinerator was located in Beigang, it was called the Beigang corpse incinerator.

*The atrocities of Unit 731 became widely known through the British TV program 'Unit 731: Did the Emperor Know?' produced by TV South, inspired by Morimura Seiichi’s 'Devil’s Feast.' This program, made over about three years, aired in 1985 on ITV, the largest private broadcaster in the UK. Five years after the broadcast, a book compiling the vast materials, interviews, and testimonies collected to produce this documentary was published. The book was translated into Japanese in 2003 under the title 'Unit 731’s Biological Weapons and the United States.' The translator Nishisato Fuyuko wrote, "According to the concept of 'crimes against humanity' established through the Tokyo Trials dealing with war crimes, the activities of the biological warfare unit themselves constitute serious 'crimes against humanity,' and all members, from medical doctors, scientists, military doctors to lower-ranked soldiers, are war criminals. However, no one was prosecuted or indicted. This was possible because the US military traded valuable scientific data obtained from human experiments using living humans as guinea pigs, pathological and physiological observations, and biological warfare in actual combat. It is well known that the maruta, or human guinea pigs, were anti-Japanese guerrillas or spies from Manchukuo, Red Army soldiers from Russia, and Korean anti-Japanese independence activists active in China. On the other hand, whether human experiments related to biological warfare using Allied prisoners of war were conducted remains unclear despite investigations by numerous researchers, historians, and journalists."

*Nishisato also raised the following issue: "Today’s Japanese youth, living Americanized daily lives, are largely unaware that Japan fought wars with the US, UK, and Australia, killing each other. Moreover, they cannot even imagine that these prisoners were forced to hard labor in coal mines or airport construction. Investigating prisoner issues and recording testimonies of prisoners to clarify past truths is important. Passing this on as social memory is necessary to develop awareness that firmly rejects wars that cause tragedy and slaughter."

*Japan established Allied prisoner of war camps in Manchuria. There are three hypotheses about this. One is that it was to serve as an example to Manchurian people that resistance to Japan would be severely punished. Two incidents support this. The first was in June 1944, when three US prisoners of war escaped 950 km toward the Soviet border. After walking for eleven days, they reached a Mongolian village 180 km away, killed a police officer, and injured villagers. They were eventually captured and transferred to Fengtian. According to fragmentary testimonies, the three escapees were forced to give speeches in front of camp inmates saying 'Escape will never succeed, so do not try,' then were tied to stakes at the camp entrance for three days. They were dragged through Fengtian city and shot in front of citizens. After being shot, they fell into a grave they had dug just before. The second incident involved a downed B29 crew. On December 7 and 21, 1944, Fengtian was bombed by US B29 bombers. Fengtian was a military strategic point with aircraft factories and coal mines. The South Manchurian Railway was also targeted. The B29 shot down on the 7th spiraled down and crashed. Ten crew members died instantly, and one barely survived. The Japanese army removed the motor from the plane and displayed it in a park in Fengtian city, tying the survivor to the motor and leaving him as a spectacle until he died.

*Another hypothesis is labor. Fengtian had a fighter aircraft factory. The Japanese army expected prisoners with skills to work there, but all strongly refused. The Geneva Convention prohibited forcing prisoners to perform labor for the enemy’s war effort. However, most prisoners in the Fengtian camp were assigned to manufacturing parts for Manchurian machine tools. They engaged in deliberate sabotage through cunning methods. They secretly crushed properly made parts or inserted machine tool parts into concrete floors under repair. All were independent acts, not organized resistance. They fully understood the life-threatening nature but carried them out to express indomitable spirit as soldiers or to encourage themselves by not losing will to live. Those caught sabotaging were sent, along with 150 US soldier prisoners, to Kamioka zinc mine in Gifu Prefecture in May 1944.

*The last hypothesis is human experimentation for biological weapons. There is circumstantial evidence. Two medical facilities in Fengtian were led by Japanese military doctors suspected to be deeply involved in biological warfare. It is necessary to consider whether Allied prisoners were brought to Fengtian with these two facilities in mind. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Japan became hostile to Western whites and needed to test biological weapons, which were considered secret weapons, on white people. It was necessary to analyze not only the power of biological weapons against whites but also whether whites had unique immunity and, if so, what kind of immunity.

*The medical facilities in Fengtian were the Manchurian Medical University and Fengtian Army Hospital. The former was where Kitano Masaji, who succeeded Ishii Shiro as Unit 731 commander, worked as a professor of bacteriology for two and a half years. It is now operated as China Medical University but is presumed to have conducted various medical research based on data from autopsies and human experiments on Chinese. In fact, a huge number of pathological autopsy notices are preserved there. In 1943, a paper by Dr. Takenaka Yoshikazu of Manchurian Medical University titled 'Histological Study of the Cerebral Cortex, Especially the Temporal Lobe, of Northern Chinese' was published in the Japanese Journal of Anatomy. It mentioned, "The materials used were adult, especially healthy northern Chinese without a history of mental illness, and were collected within a few hours after death."

*The 1984 documentary 'Unit 731' included testimonies of prisoners and the diary of British Army officer Lieutenant Robert Petty. His February 1943 record mentions 'people in white clothes' visiting the Fengtian prisoner camp. Researchers speculate they were Unit 731 personnel. This was confirmed as fact when a Japanese translation of the Kwantung Army commander’s order, used as evidence by the British prosecution team at the Tokyo Trials but never publicly released, was discovered in 1995 at the London Public Records Office. The person who found the document was Arthur Christie, a British prisoner of war at the Fengtian camp. The original order was first discovered in 1984 at a secondhand bookstore in Kanda, Tokyo, along with papers written by a Unit 731 military doctor, including a 'tetanus bacteria human experiment paper' and a 'poison gas weapon experiment report' describing experiments tying maruta to stakes. These materials were purchased as a box by a Keio University student under the direction of Professor Matsumura and are kept in the Keio University library. They originally belonged to Lieutenant Inoue Yoshihiro, a poison gas warfare expert during the war. After the defeat, he served as the first restoration minister, the Minister of Health and Welfare, and even the head of the Self-Defense Forces Hygiene School.

Reference materials: 'The 15-Year War and Japanese Medical Research Association' edited by Saori Hasegawa - translated and published by Choi Kyu-jin, Health Media Cooperative 'Everyone Knows but No One Knows Unit 731 (2020)'; 'Accusing Japan’s Kwantung Army Unit 731' by Kim Chang-kwon, published by Nanumsa (2014); 'Unit 731 and Doctors' by the War and Medical Ethics Verification Promotion Association, translated by Suzuki Akira, supervised by Lim Sang-hyuk, published by Health Media (2015); 'Stories of Unit 731' by Nishino Rumiko, translated by the Korea Translation Institute, published by Yerimdang (1995); 'Japanese Army Biological Warfare Uncovered by Unit 731' by Jin Cheong-min, translated by Ha Sung-geum, published by Kyomunsa (Cheongmungak) (2010), etc.