Civic group urges Japan to face germ warfare atrocities

TOKYO, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Members of a Japanese civic group focused on investigating the human bones discovered at the former site of a Japanese army medical school gathered in Tokyo on Sunday, calling on Japanese society to confront and reflect on the country's wartime responsibility.

Participants said the germ warfare atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during its invasion of China have long gone unpunished.

During the event, organizers played an audio recording of the interrogation of Shunji Sato, a convicted Japanese war criminal involved in biological warfare, along with a video testimony by his subordinate Yoshio Kurihara.

In their testimonies, the two described how the invading Japanese forces had deliberately contaminated food intended for refugees with pathogens such as Salmonella and Vibrio cholerae, causing large numbers of deaths.

They also recounted human experiments conducted on prisoners of war, including providing them with nothing but drinking water to observe how long they could survive. Nearly 100 attendees listened in solemn silence as the testimonies were played.

Japanese investigative journalist Fuyuko Nishisato, who has long studied the Imperial Japanese Army's germ warfare and previously interviewed Kurihara, said postwar Japan failed to fully rectify the values formed during wartime.

She said the crimes committed by the notorious Unit 731 and other germ warfare units have never been thoroughly investigated or held to account, while many of those responsible escaped proper prosecution, with some even assuming prominent positions in postwar Japanese society.

This situation, Nishisato said, has persisted to this day, leaving many young Japanese with little understanding of this dark chapter of history, and making it increasingly difficult for Japanese society to confront and reflect on the country's wartime responsibility.

Katsutoshi Takegami, son of a member of Unit 1644, another Imperial Japanese Army's bacteriological warfare unit, has spent years collecting historical materials and working to uncover the truth.

He told reporters that related investigations face serious difficulties due to a severe lack of records, which may be linked to political interference. He called on more people to join efforts to uncover the truth and establish a full and accurate historical record.

Kazuyuki Kawamura, representative of the Association Demanding Investigation on Human Bones Discovered from the Site of the Army Medical College, told reporters that his father had been forced to take part in Japan's war of aggression against China. Hearing his father's experiences firsthand convinced him that "we must reflect on that war."

The association was established in 1990. In the previous year, a large number of human bones were found at a construction site in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, where the National Institute of Infectious Diseases now stands. The site was formerly home to the Imperial Japanese Army Medical School, where the notorious Unit 731 is believed to have operated.