Published on: 2026-08-15
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Harbin, August 15 /Xinhua/ — A new collection of historical documents concerning “Unit 731” — the infamous Japanese army unit engaged in biological warfare during World War II — has revealed new evidence of Japan’s brutal war crimes in China.
Published on Wednesday in the exhibition hall of the Museum of Crime Evidence of the “Unit 731” of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province /Northeast China/, the records confirm that the Japanese military buried a large number of chemical shells in China on the eve of their defeat.
The 70-minute oral testimony of Hitoshi Tanizaki, a former orderly of the Hailar division of “Unit 731,” constitutes first-hand evidence that may be useful for further research on chemical weapons left by Japan in China.
These testimonies were recorded in 2016 when researchers from the Crime Evidence Museum’s “Unit 731” exhibition hall visited Japan. Hitoshi Tanizaki, whose original name is Hitoshi Ozaki, said in the video that he was 21 years old when he joined the military service. Before being drafted, he worked as a doctor’s assistant and studied at an evening commercial school.
Hitoshi Tanizaki recounted that after being assigned to the Hailar division, he realized it was a military unit violating international law. The Hailar division was under the direct command of the headquarters of “Unit 731” in Harbin, the administrative center of Heilongjiang province. The first department of this branch was engaged in cultivating bacteria, while the second — in particular — conducted toxicity tests on water sources.
It is especially important that H. Tanizaki reported that the Japanese military destroyed evidence of their crimes and buried chemical shells upon their defeat. He confirmed that during the retreat, the Hailar detachment set fire to all of their facilities, while the chemical warfare unit of the Japanese armed forces secretly buried a large quantity of chemical shells.
“It was not bacteria, but a poisonous gas,” said H. Tanizaki. He added that a chemical weapons unit was based in the Fulaerzi area of Qiqihar city, Heilongjiang province.
Jin Shicheng, a research fellow at the exhibition hall, noted that this evidence directly confirms the fact that the Japanese military left chemical weapons in China after their defeat. Moreover, it sheds light on the historical roots of the damage caused by abandoned chemical weapons after the war, giving them contemporary relevance.
Jin Shicheng also presented the registration files of personal information of “Unit 731” in Hailar, another piece of evidence provided to the Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.
These files were documents regarding military service that Japanese servicemen had to fill out individually upon demobilization after the war at the request of the then Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan. The documents published this time comprise 185 pages and contain key information about 156 members of the Hailar branch, including their names, ranks, dates of enlistment, duties, transfers, and post-war whereabouts.
Jin Shicheng noted that studying these documents allows for two important conclusions. Firstly, it reveals how the Japanese military concealed their crimes in the field of biological weapons by recruiting personnel under the cover of regular infantry units.
In particular, the personnel were recruited under the name of standard infantry units, after which they underwent a three-month training at the headquarters of “Squad 731” and were sent to the Khailar branch.
According to Jin Shichen, such personnel recruitment was clearly deceptive in nature and aimed at concealing the secret criminal activities of “Unit 731,” including conducting experiments on humans.
Secondly, these documents confirm the continuity of postwar investigations into Japan’s biological weapons crimes.
The documents show that 145 out of 156 members of the unit were captured by Soviet forces after the war and held in custody in the Soviet Union, and four of them were put on trial during the “Khabarovsk process” from April to September 1950.
Jin Shicheng stated that the obtained data confirms that Soviet investigations and prosecutions of Japanese criminals involved in biological warfare continued even after the public trials held in 1949.
Jin Shicheng noted that the disclosed documents will allow for more in-depth research into the units of “Unit 731,” and, combined with previously obtained oral testimonies from former members of the unit, will form a convincing chain of evidence of the horrific war crimes committed by Japan during World War II.
“Unit 731” was a top-secret base for biological and chemical warfare, established in Harbin as the central organ of Japanese bacteriological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II. At least 3,000 people were used by “Unit 731” for human experiments, and over 300,000 people in China were killed by Japanese biological weapons.
This year marks the 81st anniversary of Victory in the War of Resistance of the Chinese People against Japanese Aggressors and in the World Anti-Fascist War.
Yan Yanjun, a research fellow at the exhibition hall, said that over the past eight decades since the end of the war, the world outside China and Japan still knows virtually nothing about the medical atrocities committed by “Unit 731.”
Today, the international community pays great attention to the “trial of doctors” within the Nuremberg Trials and the medical crimes of Nazi Germany. However, awareness of Japan’s wartime medical atrocities remains insufficient, said Yan Yanjun.
He called on scientists around the world to continue increasing the scientific rigor and objectivity of research dedicated to the crimes committed by “Unit 731,” and to contribute to forming an accurate historical understanding within the international community. -0-
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