Former Unit 731 member admits to atrocities in newly released video

The Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army, in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, unveiled the complete video testimony of former Unit 731 member Masakuni Kurumizawa for the first time on Monday, the 88th anniversary of the July 7 Incident, an event that marked the start of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and China's whole-nation resistance against the Japanese invaders, China Central Television reported on Monday.

According to the Roster of the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army, Kurumizawa was born on May 25 in 1913, appointed as assistant technician on May 31 in 1944, and died in Japan in 1993. In the video, he openly confessed to crimes including human dissections, conducting experiments on human, and waging biological warfare during his service with Unit 731, the notorious Japanese germ-warfare detachment, during World War II (WWII).

Kurumizawa admitted in the video that in order to cultivate more virulent bacteria, the Unit 731 members of the Japanese invaders in China passed the bacteria through the blood of living human bodies to achieve the desired effect. The living human subjects were referred to as "marutas."

The term "maruta" was a codename referring to human subjects used in experiments. It was euphemistically employed to describe experimental materials. These were not only animals, but also human beings. As you may know, "Maruta" referred to people, captives in particular, who were subjected to inhumane medical experiments, Kurumizawa said in the video.

"I dissected 300 human bodies, about one-third of which were preserved as specimens, while the rest were burned. When we performed the dissection, the bodies were still warm, and blood spurted out," Kurumizawa said in the video.

In recent years, there has been a trend in Japanese society toward downplaying historical events and promoting historical revisionism. In this context, this full video testimony serves as new evidence and holds significant practical importance in proving that Japan waged a war of aggression against China and the brutal, savage, and inhumane acts committed by Japanese invaders against the Chinese people during the war, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at the Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday. He said that because it was recorded while the person was alive and contains many specific details, the testimony is especially persuasive.

According to Jin Shicheng, a deputy secretary general of the Harbin Research Institute on History of Bacterial, Gas War of Japanese Invasion in China, "maruta" refers to what the Japanese invaders called "materials," which literally means "log." In addition to animals, the subjects also included human prisoners. Comparing humans and animals to "marutas" demonstrated a complete trampling on human dignity and a total disregard for human rights. It was an utter denial of human dignity and interests - an atrocity against humanity, Jin said.

Kurumizawa said in the video that Chinese, Koreans, as well as Mongolians, and some Russians were used as experimental subjects. Normally, they kept more than 40 living people in stock at all times - maintaining a standing number of 40 - because when some people died due to the experiments on them, they could be replenished at any time.

According to Jin, citing the testimony of Kiyoshi Kawashima, head of Division 4 of Unit 731 at the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials, between 1939 and 1945, 400 to 600 people were sent to Unit 731's headquarters prison each year to become "marutas" to be experimented on. At least 600 people died each year due to these experiments, with the total number exceeding 3,000. Based on statistics from archives and oral testimonies, it can be confirmed that 1,549 victims were subjected to brutal human experiments at the "Square Building" of Unit 731.

Kurumizawa noted that due to Unit 731's strict secrecy regulations, even his own family was unaware of his activities. This secrecy was a major reason that the unit's crimes remained hidden after World War II.

The Roster of the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army lists a total of 3,497 personnel, the majority of whom are no longer alive. Jin said this document, along with Kurumizawa's video, offers crucial evidence that complements written records, artifacts, and historical sites, further revealing the full scale of Unit 731's atrocities.

Jin noted that after the war, only a few former Unit 731 members have come forward voluntarily. The majority were hiding and remained silent. Exposing the crimes of Unit 731 is a task for the global peace forces.

The newly released video was recorded in August 1991 and runs for 83 minutes. It shows Kurimiwa exposing the crimes of Unit 731 to the public during a war exhibition held in Iida city in Japan in August 1991.

In an effort to promote China-Japan friendship, it is important to unite the anti-war, peace-loving, and grassroots friendly individuals within the Japanese society. By making this material public for the first time in China through these people, it shows that there are peace-loving and anti-war forces within Japanese society, which holds not only historical significance but also practical value, Da said.

According to Da, oral history, also known as a "living fossil," should serve as a powerful tool to counter the push by Japanese right-wing groups to revise the WWII narrative within Japanese society.