NHK, Japan’s most influential TV station, released a documentary titled “The Truth of Unit 731” on August 13, 2017. This is the first time that Japan publicly released the criminal behavior of Unit 731 of the Japanese army. The documentary talked about the unit’s secret development of bacteriological weapon and research on the bodies of the alive during the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. Some Japanese audience expressed their anger and astonishment toward the fact, saying that “This should never happen again among the Japanese.”

The bloodstained truth can't be concealed, no matter how hard some Japanese tried. The Japanese government has been denying the deed of Unit 731 in the past, using lack of historical materials as an excuse. In the recent years, the Japanese media even described Japan as a victim of the war. NHK’s documentary was based on the audio records of the criminal trial held in the then-Soviet Union after World War II. Interview materials of people going through the war were displayed to present the fact about Unit 731, which is a powerful counterblow against people who failed to face the fact.

History cannot be revised and tragedy should not be replayed. At the end of the documentary, a doctor who participated in the bacteriological research and committed suicide with guilt was introduced. The goal of the film is to use the fact to urge the later Japanese generations to face the truth and reflect on the history. As for the Japanese government, it shall adjust its perspective toward the history, regret its war crimes, and oppose the revival of militarism to win the trust and respect from the world.