Pacific Atrocities Education
  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • 5-Year Visionary Plan >
      • Research
      • Inspire
      • Publication
      • Engage
    • Support Us >
      • Buy Us a Coffee
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
    • 2021 Summer Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
    • Fall 2019 Internship
    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
    • Summer 2018 Internship >
      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
    • Fall 2017 Internship
    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
  • Giving Tuesday
Contribute

Quick Facts on Unit 731

7/20/2020

0 Comments

 
by Isabel Shiao
Header graphic featuring photo of Unit 731 building.
Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army was established in the context of rapid modernization, the aftermath of WWI, and the global rise of fascism. The Meiji Restoration transformed Japan into a highly industrialized nation, eager to become as powerful as Western states. This process raised concerns about the lack of resources and habitable land, prompting Japan to expand throughout Asia and form colonies. Thus, in 1931, Japanese forces invaded Manchuria and created the puppet state of Manchukuo to obtain the land’s valuable resources and extra living space to solve Japan’s overpopulation problem. However, as Sheldon Harris notes in his book, Factories of Death, Manchuria was turned into “one gigantic biological and chemical warfare laboratory” (Harris 5) to fulfill the nation’s quest for hegemony. ​
It is important to note that it was not politicians or military agencies that led the movement towards biological warfare; in both Germany and Japan, the nations’ respective leading scientists initiated the research. Ishii Shiro was a graduate student at Kyoto University, studying bacteriological, serological, and pathological sciences. He traveled to 25 European and American countries and ultimately “observed that research on biological warfare had not advanced in Japan” (Wang Xuan 11). After being appointed to the Minister of Epidemic Prevention in the Kwantung Army, he enthusiastically promoted the development of biological warfare weapons. Like other prominent scientists, Ishii observed its potential in defeating entire armies in WWI. The Geneva Protocol of 1925 that called for the prohibition of such weapons was not ratified in Japan, and Japan’s withdrawal from the League of Nations in 1933 allowed Ishii’s network of over 10,000 scientists to secretly develop their research as early as 1931 without international restraint.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese prisoners and other allied POW’s were subjected to human experimentation in underground research facilities. Marutas, the Japanese term for “logs,” were subjected to intense pressure chambers, exposure to deadly diseases like the bubonic plague and anthrax, and live vivisection without anesthesia. It has been theorized that the term “marutas” was used to dehumanize the subjects, thereby allowing the scientists to conduct their research without hesitation. Unit 731 tested its weapons by releasing plague bombs and contaminating water sources in the Chinese countryside. Much of the local population was killed, and those who survived were left with rotten legs that often condemned the victims to a life of poverty. Between the years of 1939 and 1945, it is estimated that these experiments “killed and poisoned more than a million Chinese, Koreans, Mongolians, and Russians … The Chinese countryside alone suffered more than 250,000 deaths as a consequence of Japanese biological warfare” (Wang Xuan 4).
Despite the severity of these war crimes, most of the members in Ishii’s network were not prosecuted or even tried at the end of the war. The United States government granted scientists immunity in exchange for the scientific data collected during the experiments. This information would later be used to create deadly biological weapons in the Korean War. 

Sources
Harris, Sheldon, Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare, 1932-45 and the American Cover-Up (Routledge, 2002).
Chan, Jenny & Dybbro, Danielle, “Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731: Evidence Collected by Wang Xuan”.

Related Books

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Related Lesson Plans

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

Pacific Atrocities Education
730 Commercial Street
San Francisco, CA 94108 
​415-988-9889
About
Contact
​Internship
Write for us
​​​
Donate


Topics & Issues
Listen
Read  
Teach
​Archive
Copyright © 2020 Pacific Atrocities Education.
​We are a registered 501 (c)(3) charity. ​
  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • 5-Year Visionary Plan >
      • Research
      • Inspire
      • Publication
      • Engage
    • Support Us >
      • Buy Us a Coffee
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
    • 2021 Summer Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
    • Fall 2019 Internship
    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
    • Summer 2018 Internship >
      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
    • Fall 2017 Internship
    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
  • Giving Tuesday
Contribute