Unveil political manipulation behind Japan's historical revisionism

Editor's note: Lyu Jing, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate professor at the Department of Chinese History of School of History under Nanjing University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

During World War II (WWII), Unit 731 of Japan's Kwantung Army served as the central apparatus for the country's militarist regime to carry out germ warfare. Operating in flagrant violation of international law and basic human ethics, the unit systematically developed bacteriological weapons and conducted brutal human experimentation.

Unit 731: A dark stain on the history of human civilization

In secret research facilities located in places like Harbin, northeast China, the unit conducted live experiments on human subjects. Victims included not only Chinese civilians, but also Allied prisoners of war, as well as Korean and Soviet nationals. The atrocities they were subjected to included frostbite tests, deliberate infection with deadly pathogens such as plague and anthrax, exposure to toxic gases and even vivisection. Historical records estimate that more than 3,000 individuals fell victim to these experiments.

Between 1940 and 1942, Unit 731 also collaborated with other germ warfare divisions to conduct actual field deployment of biological weapons in Chinese provinces such as Zhejiang and Hunan. Methods included airdropping plague-infested fleas and contaminating water sources, resulting in mass civilian deaths and long-term public health disasters that defy quantification.

After the war, the United States, motivated by Cold War strategic interests, struck a deal with Japan. In exchange for exclusive access to Unit 731's germ warfare data, it granted immunity to key figures, including Shiro Ishii and Tomosada Masuda. As a result, these central perpetrators were never held accountable at the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Some even resumed or continued their careers in Japan's academic, medical and political spheres.

This political trade-off allowed the crimes of Unit 731 to remain systematically concealed for decades. Meanwhile, Japan's right-wing forces have exploited this historical vacuum to promote revisionist narratives that downplay or distort their wartime atrocities.

Japan's historical revisionism: A strategy of deception and evasion

In recent years, certain political factions and right-wing scholars in Japan have repeatedly sought to distort, downplay, or even deny the atrocities committed by Unit 731. Their efforts reflect not only a refusal to face historical truth but also a calculated attempt to evade responsibility and reshape public memory. These efforts have largely taken three forms.

Firstly, textbook censorship and the rewriting of historical narrative.

Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has long used the textbook approval process to suppress or whitewash references to Unit 731. One of the most emblematic cases is the lawsuit brought by historian Saburo Ienaga. In 1983, Ienaga included factual descriptions of Unit 731's live human experimentation in his history textbook New Japanese History. The ministry, however, ordered the content to be removed on the grounds that it "lacked credible academic research" and simultaneously demanded the downplaying of other war crimes committed by the Japanese military, such as the Nanjing Massacre.

Lenaga launched an administrative lawsuit in 1984, which went through Japan's three-tiered judicial system. Although the courts ultimately ruled that the government's actions were unlawful, the Japanese authorities have still never formally acknowledged state responsibility for the crimes committed by Unit 731.

Secondly, denial of germ warfare.

In both political and academic spheres, Japan's right-wing forces have adopted a systematic approach to questioning or downplaying Unit 731's wartime atrocities. Within the political establishment, some ultraconservative members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, such as former Defense Minister Tomomi Inada, openly challenged the legitimacy of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, thereby casting doubt indirectly on the criminal nature of Unit 731's activities. Meanwhile, right-wing commentator Yoshiko Sakurai claimed that allegations against Unit 731 were nothing more than "Soviet propaganda."

In academic circles, conservative commentators such as Shoichi Watanabe dismissed the evidence of Unit 731's crimes as "fabrications by the victors" and cast doubt on the reliability of survivor testimonies. Nobukatsu Fujioka, a leading figure behind the so-called liberal view of history in Japan, deliberately ignored declassified archives from China, the United States and Russia, insisting instead that there was insufficient evidence from domestic Japanese sources.

These revisionist claims have been refuted by the global scholarly community, which has drawn on a wide range of international archives and first-hand survivor accounts to confirm that Unit 731's crimes are well-established historical facts.

Thirdly, shifting blame onto "individual soldiers."

A frequently used argument by Japan's right-wing forces is the claim that the germ warfare conducted during WWII was the result of actions by "a few rogue soldiers," rather than a deliberate policy of the Japanese state. This line of reasoning is designed to sever the link between wartime atrocities and state responsibility.

However, official records from the National Archives of Japan paint a very different picture: They clearly show that Unit 731 operated under the direct supervision of the Ministry of the Army, received funding through the military budget and carried out its activities under secret imperial orders, one of which was personally signed by Emperor Hirohito in 1936.

This kind of historical revisionism is not simply an academic debate over historical interpretation. Rather, it forms part of a larger political trend in Japan to whitewash its wartime aggression. In recent years, this trend has manifested in political actions, including repeated visits by Japanese politicians to the Yasukuni Shrine, ongoing efforts to amend the pacifist constitution, the push for military expansion and the propagation of the so-called China threat theory.

At its core lies a desire to break free from the postwar international order and rebrand Japan as a "normal country" unburdened by its militarist past. The denial of Unit 731's crimes fits neatly into this agenda. It provides ideological cover for those seeking to shift wartime responsibility away from the state.

History is not to be tempered with: A shared responsibility of the international community

The historical revisionism pursued by Japan's right-wing forces is not just a renewed affront to the victims of its past aggression; it is a calculated deception aimed at all of humanity. The post-WWII international order was built upon the reckoning with wars of aggression and the defense of humanitarian principles. Any attempt to deny or falsify history constitutes a direct challenge to the principles of international justice.

Archives from Japan, China, the United States, Russia and other countries have declassified a substantial body of evidence documenting the crimes committed by Unit 731. These include Japanese military documents, experimental logs and survivor testimonies. Together, they form a comprehensive and irrefutable chain of evidence proving that the war crimes committed by Unit 731 were not the actions of isolated individuals but systematic acts carried out under the authority of the Japanese state.

The international community must remain highly vigilant against Japan's ongoing historical revisionism. Suppose such distortions are allowed to go unchecked. In that case, they will not only legitimize broader denial of wartime atrocities around the world but also seriously undermine the foundations of the international peace and order that have been in place since the end of WWII.

The global community must reach a shared understanding: Japan must be encouraged to face its history with a responsible attitude and fulfill its obligations to historical truth. The international community should stop allowing Japan's continued evasion of its wartime culpability.

A genuine awakening of historical consciousness among the Japanese public is crucial. The web of falsehoods woven by right-wing groups not only misleads the international community but also systematically deceives Japan's own citizens. Today, most people in Japan have only the sketchiest knowledge of what Unit 731 actually did. While a handful of principled scholars and independent media outlets are struggling to reconstruct the historical record, the government has never shouldered its responsibility for truthful historical education.

Consequently, an accurate collective memory of the past has struggled to take root in Japanese society. This combination of official indifference and the public's lack of awareness now stands as the greatest barrier to Japan coming to terms with its history.

As a textbook case of violations against the core principles of the Geneva Conventions, the atrocities committed by Unit 731 represent a total collapse of modern wartime ethics. The brutality and cruelty of its actions crossed the moral threshold of what human civilization can tolerate. Any attempt to whitewash this chapter of history is not only a profound insult to the victims but also a looming threat to the future.

History is not to be tampered with, and justice must be upheld. Only by facing up to its past with honesty can Japan achieve genuine reconciliation with its Asian neighbors and other victimized countries. Only then can it truly break free from the shadow of militarism and avoid relapsing into the historical mistakes of the past.

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