Editor's notes:

Yoshio Shinozuka (1923–2014), born Yoshio Tamura, was a former member of Japan's Imperial Army Unit 731. He enlisted in the Kwantung Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department in 1939 as a teenager, where he participated in cultivating plague bacteria and breeding fleas. He later became involved in the production of lethal pathogens and took part in brutal human experiments, including live vivisection.

After WWII he was detained at the "Fushun War Criminals Management Center", where he came to acknowledge the gravity of his wartime atrocities. Released and repatriated to Japan in 1956, he joined the "Association of Returnees from China" and began giving public testimony about the crimes made by Unit 731.

This excerpt is drawn from a speech delivered by Yoshio Shinozuka in 2008. The full text was published for the first time in February 2026 in the book "Former Military Policeman Yoshio Tsuchiya — An Unceasing Walk on the Road to Atonement." In it, Shinozuka sheds light on previously little-known details of the atrocities committed by Unit 731 in China. With permission, CGTN has translated the speech for global release. The publication aims to preserve the historical record in full and without distortion, underscoring the importance of remembering the past as it is, so that such tragedies are never repeated.

"A Crop Preventing Farm" and "A Bacteria Launching Airfield"

This site is the remains of a farm once managed by Yagisawa Unit (Translator's note: Yagisawa Unit is a specialized sub-unit of Unit 731 responsible for research on plant-based bacteria). Although it was called a farm, it was never used to grow crops. In fact, it was the opposite of a normal farm. It was used to study how to prevent crops from growing. According to my understanding, the site was used to raise locusts in large numbers. In other words, the Yagisawa Unit conducted research on how to damage crops and how to stop them from growing altogether.

There was also an airfield here. The aircraft based here were mainly used to spread bacteria. After Japan's defeat, the commander of this aviation unit quickly fled back to Japan. He later joined the National Police Reserve, the predecessor of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, and went on to become a senior officer. Many others followed a similar path, entering the National Police Reserve and later the Self-Defense Forces.

"Don't look. Don't ask. Don't say anything."

After arriving in Harbin, we went to Jilin Street and were taken to the Harbin liaison office of Unit 731. Around the office, there appeared to be scattered dormitories for key personnel of the unit. There, we were issued identification papers before being loaded onto a vehicle and sent to Pingfang (Translator's note: Pingfang is a district in Harbin).

The vehicle drove across open plains. Upon reaching Pingfang, a large building suddenly came into view. There was a heavy iron gate, but no sign indicating it was a military facility. The only notice read: "No entry without the permission of the Commander of the Kwantung Army."

When we joined the unit, the dormitories had not yet been completed. We were housed in the building on the far left, still standing today, known as "Building 1". Our life in the unit began with forming up a so-called "Naimuhan". (Translator's note: Naimuhan, a residential unit made up of junior non-commissioned officers below the rank of sergeant and enlisted personnel. ) At first, military police assigned to us conducted training on the "Military Secrets Protection Law". The assigned military police emphasized: "This area is designated as a special military zone. Even Japanese military aircraft are not permitted to fly over it."

I later learned that the reason Japanese military planes were forbidden from flying over Unit 731 was because of "Building 7" and "Building 8." Inside these buildings, Chinese detainees were held for live human experimentation. People detained there were also taken outside for walks in the yard when the weather was good. It is likely that this was to prevent other Japanese military personnel from seeing the detainees being used in such experiments.

During the training on the "Military Secrets Protection Law", we were strictly ordered: "Don't look. Don't ask. Don't say anything. These are the strict rules of this unit." We were also later briefed on the "Army Penal Code", where we were told: "Anyone who escapes from this unit will be executed for fleeing the battlefield."

At the time, Japanese military regulations stated that soldiers who fled out of exhaustion or unwillingness to fight would be executed on the spot for "retreating in the face of the enemy." Soldiers were often described as highly disciplined and unwilling to retreat even in the fiercest battles. What was not known was that behind this behavior stood the enforcement of the "Army Penal Code".

"Loss of Humanity"

It was likely around late June, when "Building 7" and "Building 8" had just been completed. One night, we suddenly heard the sound of boots outside, mixed with the clanking of chains and a rustling commotion.

I tried to go out to see what was happening, but someone stopped me, saying, "They are moving maruta. Do not go outside." That was the first time I heard the word "maruta" (Translator’s note: In Japanese "maruta" means "logs".)

"Maruta," (logs) referred to the people detained there, who were to be used in vivisection and dissections.

Later, I also took part in work involving live experiments. I remember once, while taking a bath late at night, hearing other members talk as if they were discussing pieces of wood: "How many did you cut today?" "Two on my side." "Two on mine."

They spoke… as if taking human lives was no different from handling wood… asking how many they had cut.

I believe that within Unit 731, we had already lost our humanity. If there had still been even a trace of conscience, it would have been impossible to carry out such work.

"Continuous Cultivation"

We were also made to breed fleas. On wooden racks, a number of oil drums were lined up. Inside each drum were wheat grains still in their husks and a small cage containing rats infected with plague bacteria. Our assigned task was to inspect these drums once a day. If a rat had died, we would replace it with a live one. The fleas were sustained and continuously multiplied by feeding on the blood of plague-infected rats. This work was done on a rotating basis, but the conditions were extremely hot, making it a very exhausting duty.

To take the fleas out, a ceramic bathtub known as a "Western-style bath" was used as a container. We would pour the husked wheat along with the fleas into one side of the tub and turn on a red light. As fleas have a tendency to move toward darkness, they would gather on the darker side and fall through a hole at the bottom into a large glass cylinder placed underneath, where they accumulated in dense clusters.

These fleas were first used in the "Ningbo Operation". (Translator’s note: Japanese biological warfare in Ningbo from May to June 1940.) The fleas were released over Ningbo.

I did not participate in flea breeding many times. It was my first and last time. Later, as bacterial production was increased on a large scale (which reduced its potency), we were once again forced to take part in live human experiments.

"Live Human Experiments"

Repeatedly culturing bacteria alone would cause their virulence to gradually weaken and bacteria without sufficient toxicity were considered useless for biological warfare. To produce more virulent strains, Unit 731 would first vaccinate human subjects, and then, after confirming that immunity had developed, inject them with bacteria. If the subjects became ill, it was taken as proof that the bacteria we cultivated had overcome the vaccine.

When those used in live experiments fell sick, some personnel would raise a toast in celebration. I myself...took part in such live experiments on multiple occasions...and became increasingly accustomed to the outcomes...or even got excited about it.

Those who became ill were then subjected to live dissection. Practitioners who routinely carried out dissections would remove the organs they needed and use them in bacterial culture. This was something that could never be done by anyone who still retained even a trace of humanity.

"There's a Child"

It was a clear, sunny day. We were taking a rest on the rooftop when someone suddenly said, "Hey, there’s a child!"

I looked down and saw that among the group of "maruta" walking in the yard, there was a child. From that moment on, I kept thinking about it—why was there a child among the "maruta"?

After the war, I once asked a former member of Unit 731, "When the facilities were destroyed, what happened to that child?" I assumed they would not have killed a child.

However, he told me the child was also killed, burned down to bones, and the remains were discarded at a primary school.

Everyone held in "Building 7" and "Building 8"… not a single person was left alive. They were all killed.

"To Forever Conceal the Crimes in Darkness"

Near Japan's defeat in 1945, I was assigned to the medical department of the 125th Division. A colleague who had served with me in Unit 731 as the head of the plague section was also transferred, becoming acting head of the same medical department.

After we learnt about Japan's defeat, he immediately fled back to Japan. Before leaving, he handed me poison, telling me, "If you are captured, take this."

Shortly after Japan's surrender, the government brought most of Unit 731's core personnel back to Japan almost immediately, while completely abandoning the members of the "Manchuria-Mongolia Youth Volunteer Corps" and "Japanese Pioneer Corps".

The return of Unit 731's core members was driven by fear that their extensive war crimes would come to light. The Japanese government appears to have intended to forever conceal the crimes in darkness.

Afterword：

This article is an excerpt from "Former Military Policeman Yoshio Tsuchiya — An Unceasing Walk on the Road to Atonement," published in February 2026.

The author, Yasushige Hanaika, is a writer from Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, and a close friend of former Kwantung Army military police officer Yoshio Tsuchiya. During Japan's war of aggression against China, Tsuchiya committed a series of crimes, including the persecution of activists against Japanese agression and the killing of civilians.

After returning from the Fushun War Criminals Management Center, Tsuchiya decided to publicly reveal the harsh realities of the war. Yasushige Hanaika compiled his extensive oral recollections and testimonies and published much of them.

In this new work, "Former Military Policeman Yoshio Tsuchiya —An Unceasing Walk on the Road to Atonement," the book not only includes Tsuchiya's oral memoirs, but also, for the first time, publishes the speech delivered by Yoshio Shinozuka in 2008 in which he spoke about the crimes of Unit 731.

In May 2026, 78-year-old Yasushige Hanaika talked exclusively with CGTN. Speaking about Japan's wartime aggression against China, he stated plainly that Japan was, without question, an aggressor state during World War II, yet it has still failed to offer a genuine remorse on its past.

What troubled him even more was the lack of historical awareness among Japan's younger generations. He warned that they have only a limited understanding of their country's wartime aggression. With Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi now pushing to revise the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution, young people seem unaware of the danger. He argued that this growing gap in historical memory is quietly laying risks for the future.

Yasushige Hanaika hopes that younger generations could develop a clear understanding of history and recognize the reality in Japan today, where speaking the truth is getting more difficult. He also hopes that this book could reach a wide audience in Japan, leaving behind a clear and sober memory of that period in history.