It was a laboratory conceived in hell. A place where death was routinely met. Those who entered never left. When the war was over the United States covered up the atrocities to get the medical data to further our own biological weapons program. The unit formed in Manchuria would later be compared to Nazi Germany death camps and to this day the war crimes have gone unpunished (Williams & Wallace, 1989).
The Japanese first entered continental Asia in 1895 with the annexation of Korea, then moved into southern Manchuria following the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 (Williams & Wallace, 1989). Japan finished their takeover of Manchuria with the Manchurian Incident of 1931 (Japan invades Manchuria, n.d.).
Unit 731 was started in Harbin, Manchuria after an imperial order by Emperor Hirohito 1936 (Harris, 2002; Mangold & Goldberg, 2000; Williams & Wallace, 1989). Commanded by then Maj. Ishii Shiro, the unit was referred to as an epidemic prevention and water supply unit (Williams & Wallace, 1989). Manchuria was selected because it was far from the eyes of the homeland of Japan and it would give them their “Maruta” (wooden logs in Japanese) or people to test on and perfect the new biological weapons program of Japan (Harris, 2002).
It took until 1939 for the construction of over 75 structures on an area of six square kilometers in the suburb of Pingfan to be completed (Williams & Wallace, 1989). The compound consisted of an immense administrative building, multiple laboratories, dormitories for civilian workers, barracks, stables, barns, an autopsy and dissection building, green houses, three furnaces to dispose of bodies, and more (Harris, 2002). A special railroad connected the facility to Harbin, along with an air field that would as...
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...s, 2002). American investigators and military officials did a great disservice to the subjects used by Unit 731 and their families through the cover up of the Japanese unit’s actions.
Works Cited
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Manchurian Incident. (2013, January 1). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Manchurian_Incident.aspx
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Williams, P., & Wallace, D. (1989). Unit 731: Japan's secret biological warfare in World War II. New York: Free Press.
3Brophy, L. (1959). The Chemical Warfare Service (1st ed.). Washington: Office of the Chief of
In 1937, Japan started a war against China, in search of more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America. This is when the Allies (Australia, Britain etc.) then declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese started extending their territory closer and closer to Australia and started taking surrendering troops into concentration camps where they were starved, diseased and beaten.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
Japan figured if it wanted to survive, it would have to expand to get more materials. o neal 410-413. Japan started trying to take over Asia. They landed on the east coast of China in Manchuria and stationed troops there in order to try to take over northeastern China. ("Japan Launches A Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor: December 7, 1941").
Sheridan, Michael. “Black Museum of Japan’s war crimes.” The Sunday Times. The Sunday Times, 31 July 2005. Web. 31 July 2005.
Plagues and Peoples. By William H. McNeill. (New York: Anchor Books: A division of Random House, Inc., 1976 and Preface 1998. Pp. 7 + 365. Acknowledgements, preface, map, appendix, notes, index.)
Already earlier, Japan followed the example of Western nations and forced China into unequal economical and political treaties. Furthermore, Japan's influence over Manchuria had been steadily growing since the end of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05. When the Chinese Nationalists began to seriously challenge Japan's position in Manchuria in 1931, the Kwantung Army (Japanese armed forces in Manchuria) occupied Manchuria. In the following year, "Manchukuo" was declared an independent state, controlled by the Kwantung Army through a puppet government. In the same year, the Japanese air force bombarded Shanghai in order to protect Japanese residents from anti Japanese movements.
"History of Bioterrorism." Chronological. Office of The Surgeon General, Department of the Army, 1997. Web. 22 July 2012. http://www.bio-terry.com/HistoryBioTerr.html
Lapaire, Pierre J. "The Plague: Overview." Reference Guide to World Literature. Ed. Lesley Henderson. 2nd ed. New York: St. James Press, 1995. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.
Miles, Rufus E. Jr. “Hiroshima: The Strange Myth of Half a Million American Lives Saved.” International Security (1985): 121-140.
The Second World War years saw Japan engaged in military operations throughout Asia with many significant victories. The dropping of Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki however brought Japan to its knees. The once feared and dreaded Japanese armies were defeated. In the years since, both Western and Asian historians have been able to compile detailed records gained from interviews with survivors and from analysis of Japanese documents themselves giving shocking evidence of the scope of atrocities committed by the Japanese armies and government officials. Regardless of their admirable achievements in industry and technology in the 21st century, the Japanese are must still come to ...
What is Biological Warfare? Biological Warfare is a way to cause chaos, fear, pain, and suffering to the enemy through the use of natural toxins. Biological Warfare has been around for a very long time ever since the first act of chemical warfare in 1000 BC, and even since America’s Revolutionary War. But, the first recorded events were in the times of Ancient Greece and Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire, for example, Mark Antony would hurl barrels of venomous snakes over onto enemy ships in Naval Battles, also Roman/Greek Officers would poison the rivers leading into the city they were invading, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by catapulting corpses caused and still carrying smallpox, and in America’s Revolutionary War British officers would hand out smallpox infected blankets to the Native Americans.
The Manchurian incident was a turning point in Japanese history in which it abandoned its somewhat general policy of cooperation and peace and instead chose to pursue their personal interests in Asia (S,191). The Japanese interest in China was evident even before its invasion in 1931. In both the Sino Japanese war from 1894 to 1905 as well as the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905 Japan secured specific locations in Manchuria and other areas in China (U,351). Overall, the consensus for the extensive needs of the empire ultimately drove its policy making until the end of World War 2. To take control of what they believed to be the most mineral rich section of China in which they controlled expansive holdings in such as the South Manchurian Railroad, officers part of the Kwantung Army that were stationed there hatched a plan that would become to be known as the Manchurian Crisis. On September 18th 1931, Japanese soldiers located at the South Manchurian Railroad set off an explosive that they blamed on China (launching both nations into hostile relations for years to come.?? (P,115)) The Japanese invaded Japanese Invaded Chinese controlled Manchuria in 1931 because they wanted to accommodate the rising of the Japanese population, obtain more natural resources, and to stimulate their nearly collapsed economy.
...cy on biological warfare. During his visit to Fort Detrick, he announced that the United States would terminate all research on biological weapons. By the year 1972 the United States had completely destroyed all biological weapon stockpile. In return of this act the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was held, As a result of 118 countries signed a agreeing not to develop, produce, or stockpile any form of biological weapon(Mayer p4). Unfortunately despite many laws passed over time, few countries have abided by them. Evidence of this came in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there were reports that the Soviet Union was using biological weapons in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan (Mayer p 4).
Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare is one of the most dreaded forms of attack on the battlefield. In the last century, we learned a great deal about how life works, how it is organized. We have used that technology to save many lives by curing diseases and vaccinating against viruses. But it seems that whenever we have a breakthrough in science, there is an ever-present danger of a form of weapon resulting from the discovery. Biological Warfare is defined as bacteria, viruses, fungi or rickettsia, which are used in wartime to cause disease or death in people (Hay, 1984).