Hideo Shimizu, a former member of Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ warfare detachment during World War II, acknowledged and apologized for the atrocities committed by the unit as he visited an exhibition hall in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin on Tuesday.

Shimizu, 94, was among the last batch of Unit 731 Youth Corps members sent by Japan to Harbin where he spent more than four months witnessing the war crimes committed by the unit, including the cultivation of pathogens, live human dissections and experiments. He fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on August 14, 1945.

"Hideo Shimizu is very likely the last former member of Unit 731 to return to Harbin to offer his repentance and apology," said Jin Chengmin, the director of the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army.

Shimizu once wrote, "The historical facts cannot be concealed. I am determined to return to the former site of Unit 731 during my lifetime to express my deepest apologies to the Chinese people who were harmed. I also hope to awaken more people's reflection and vigilance, to cherish the hard-won peace, and to avoid the recurrence of war tragedies."

(With input from Xinhua)