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The Beginning of Unit 731 and Ishii Shiro's Career

2/17/2022

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by Evan Thompson
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​In 1932, Surgeon General Shiro Ishii was in charge of the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory (AEPRL). Ishii, who had had a lengthy military career up to this point, had a prominent background in medicine. After earning his medical degree from Kyoto Imperial University in 1920, Ishii joined the Imperial Army under the rank of Surgeon Lieutenant. Ishii quickly proved to be a skilled social climber as he quickly rose through the army ranks. 
In 1926, Ishii completed a doctorate in microbiology from Kyoto Imperial University. During his attendance at Kyoto Imperial University, Ishii had involved himself with various secret societies, many of which exerted a strong influence over the Japanese military. In addition to participating in secret societies, Ishii became interested in biological weapons, believing them to be effective weapons for future warfare. 
After Ishii was appointed to the commander of the Army Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory, with the backing of Colonel Chikahiko Koizumi (who also helped Ishii become a professor of immunology at Tokyo Army Medical College), he established a top-secret biological weapons research group called Unit Tōgō. 
Unit Tōgō was located in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, about 100km away from Harbin, in Beiyinhe. It was meant for chemical weapons experimentation, biological weapons experimentation, human experimentation, and the production of deadly weapons. The army forced peasants to sell their ancestral land to be used to construct a massive facility. Ishii and his 300 laboratory staff conducted various experiments on the prisoners held in the facility. Experiments included horrific practices such as routinely taking large amounts of blood from prisoners, using electric currents to electrocute prisoners, hitting prisoners over the head with an ax, and immediately harvesting their organs for study. If these prisoners survived the experiments, they would eventually be "sacrificed," as the facility researchers saw no further use for them.
However, even before Unit Tōgō, Ishii had begun human experimentation with biological weapons during his tenure as a professor at the Tokyo Army Medical College. Ishii used his position as a professor in the Department of Immunology to hide his actions from his university colleagues, the general public, and foreign forces. As early as 1930, Ishii began his research on biological weapons before moving to Manchuria to continue his experiments since it was hard to conceal his activities in Tokyo. ​

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Photo of a building within Pingfang
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Aerial view of Pingfang
The Pingfan Facility
In 1936, after Unit Tōgō was compromised due to a prison break. After the prison break, the locals had realized the plans. After this incident, Ishii Shiro realized that he needed more funds to secure his research complex and expand his research interests. The amount of money he needed was something that someone in high power could have only approved. According to a document, Emperor Hirohito approved an expansion of Shiro Ishii's fund for his research. However, it is unclear whether or not the Emperor knew the true purpose of this new research complex. It was to be known as the Anti-Epidemic Water Supply and Purification Bureau, otherwise known as Unit 731. The main facility was constructed in the Pingfang district of Harbin. As head of the Bureau, Ishii had free reign to assign, plan, and build new "water purification factories" wherever he wished. These new "factories" did actually conduct legitimate water purification work, but they also had a much more sinister purpose: human experimentation and the creation of biological weapons, chemical weapons, and explosives. Most of the people who worked were prominent scientists of Japan and were known to be in the Ishii's network. 
The biological weapons research facility at Pingfang was the most sophisticated of its kind at the time. Some facilities within the Pingfang facility included an advanced laboratory, two prisons (segregated on the basis of gender), two brothels (presumably with kidnapped "comfort women"), pool areas, schools, living quarters, stables for horses, libraries, administrative buildings, incinerators and crematoriums, and soldier barracks. Pingfang was heavily guarded, being surrounded by 3-foot electric fences and watchtowers. Ishii made sure that the activities in Pingfan were closely monitored and never released to the public.


The Imperial Japanese Army had told the local villagers in the area that the Pingfang Research Facility was a logging operation. Doctors within the facility referred to human experiment candidates as "logs," otherwise known as marutas. Maruta is a Japanese term for log. Most of these marutas were used as brutal experiments, including vivisection and biological weapons testing. 
When Pingfang was complete, other smaller stations were built in the surrounding areas and other occupied parts of Asia to complement the main facility. At the peak of his power, Ishii controlled aircraft groups, thousands of medical officers and other medical personnel, and many army divisions.

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  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Support Us >
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos >
      • Black Hearts (2021)
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
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    • Summer 2021 Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
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    • Summer 2019 Internship >
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    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
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      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
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    • 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
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • 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
Contribute