News On Japan

Former Child Soldier Recalls the Horrors of Unit 731

Apr 22 (News On Japan) - During each conflict, children are invariably forced into the fray, a grim reality that remains lesser-known from World War II -- Japanese child soldiers involved in developing bacteriological weapons.

Each time war or conflict erupts globally, what we see are the images of children and youths as wounded and vulnerable victims of war. However, it is also true that youths are forced into participation. During World War II, it was not well known that Japanese child soldiers were involved in the development and testing of weapons. Dressed in military uniforms, these boys were brought into Unit 731, a unit created and commanded by Shiro Ishii, a graduate of the Medical Faculty of Kyoto University, known as Unit 731.

Unit 731 engaged in the production and deployment of bio-weapons and conducted human experiments. According to Keiichi Tsuneishi, the first person responsible for Unit 731's research, it is said that between 2,000 to 3,000 people fell victim to human experimentation. Ultimately, under the command of the highest military ranks, a gathering of elite university graduates, doctors, and researchers took place.

Boys as young as 14 were also drafted into this unit. We spoke to one such individual, Hideo Shimizu, now 93, residing in Miyata Village, Nagano. Shimizu vividly recalls the induction into the unit just months before the war ended on March 30, 1945, when even teenagers in Okinawa were being mobilized as 'Human Tanks'.

Shimizu was initially enrolled by a teacher who likely recommended him due to his interest in mechanics, though the exact nature of his duties remained unclear until he arrived at Unit 731's headquarters in Harbin, now in China. Here, his ordeal as a child soldier began, starting with a group photograph in front of a shrine on the day of his enlistment.

Child soldiers were separated and assigned different tasks, including confirming bacteria attached to the anuses of rats.

Shimizu and other child soldiers were also present at the site where Unit 731 was located in China's Harbin, where items used by Unit 731 for weapons experiments and research are exhibited. Various formalin containers were displayed. "What was inside?" Shimizu's eyes were seared with the sight that was arranged in Unit 731's room at the time. "The specimen room was truly horrific," he recounted being told by a superior officer that they were dissected 'Maruta,' a nickname for human guinea pigs.

Despite the passage of decades, the legacy of his harrowing experiences and those of his peers continues to weigh heavily, prompting him to speak out in recent years to educate the younger generation about these atrocities.

Source: TBS

News On Japan
POPULAR NEWS

Emperor Naruhito met with former U.S. President Donald Trump for the first time in six years at the Imperial Palace on October 27th. The two exchanged greetings in English, with the Emperor saying, "I’m pleased to see you again," as he welcomed Trump to the Imperial residence around 6:30 p.m.

An elderly woman was found dead in a roadside ditch in Akita City on October 27th, with police investigating the possibility that she was attacked by a bear. A local resident discovered the woman lying face down in a drainage channel around 11 a.m. and called emergency services.

The Defense Ministry is considering deploying the Self-Defense Forces to Akita Prefecture following a series of bear attacks that have injured residents in recent weeks.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed at 50,512 yen on October 27th, surpassing the 50,000 mark for the first time in history and setting a new all-time high. The benchmark index rose 1,212 yen from the previous trading day, driven by strong gains across sectors.

McDonald's Japan announced it will phase out the use of paper straws and introduce new lids that allow customers to drink directly from the cup without a straw starting on November 19th.

MEDIA CHANNELS
         

MORE Society NEWS

A 43-year-old former employee of Tsuda University has been re-arrested by Tokyo Metropolitan Police on suspicion of vandalism for spraying his bodily fluid on female students’ clothing on campus.

A 38-year-old man was arrested near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on October 24th after attacking a riot police officer with a knife, injuring the officer’s right leg.

A group in Sapporo achieved a Guinness World Record on October 25th for creating the world’s largest sentence made entirely from plastic bottle caps. The artwork, composed of around 80,000 caps, was officially recognized under the category “Largest Sentence Made from Bottle Caps.”

A Tokyo District Court has ruled that addressing a colleague using the 'chan' suffix constitutes sexual harassment, ordering a male employee to pay 220,000 yen in damages.

A 47-year-old man accused of possessing cannabis in Nagoya has been acquitted after the Nagoya High Court ruled that the procedures used to seize the evidence were illegal. The decision, handed down on October 9th, became final after prosecutors decided not to appeal.

A 38-year-old man was killed on October 24th in the village of Higashinaruse, Akita Prefecture, after attempting to rescue a couple in their seventies who were being attacked by a bear.

A memorial service marking 80 years since the end of World War II was held in Shari, a town in Hokkaido’s Shiretoko region, on October 22nd to honor those who perished in the Northern Territories and other areas.

Police in Osaka arrested a 48-year-old man on October 22nd after a tense 14-hour standoff in which he allegedly held a woman at knifepoint inside an apartment. A special tactical unit forced entry into the residence late at night, ending the standoff without injuries.