By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA)—Newly disclosed evidence from a former member of Japan's Unit 731 has emerged, offering additional insight into the infamous biological experiments conducted by the unit in World War II, Xinhua News reported on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Exhibition Hall of Evidences of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army released a 47-minute video featuring Hideo Sato, who served in the bubonic plague research division of the Japanese germ-warfare unit during World War II.
In the video, Sato describes the unit’s activities, including the breeding of plague bacteria, animal vivisection, and experiments performed on humans.
According to the exhibition hall, Japanese scholar Fuyuko Nishisato donated the video in 2019. The hall is located on the former grounds of Unit 731’s headquarters in Harbin, the capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang province.
Sato explained that the squad dissected plague-infected animals while claiming to be performing "disinfection duties." He said his main responsibility was to assess the bacteria’s lethality and mortality rates through animal experiments, with the aim of "turning the plague into a weapon."
He also shared information about human experimentation, noting that it took place in a specially constructed, heavily guarded, enclosed prison within the unit’s central area.
Sato noted that only highly experienced personnel were permitted to carry out experiments on living people and that younger members like himself were barred from entering the facility.
Jin Shicheng, a researcher at the exhibition hall, said Sato’s testimony further demonstrates Unit 731’s strict internal hierarchy and the extreme secrecy surrounding its crimes.
Unit 731 functioned as a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base and served as the central hub for Japan’s biological warfare operations in China and Southeast Asia during World War II.
At least 3,000 individuals were subjected to human experimentation by Unit 731, and Japan’s biological weapons caused the deaths of more than 300,000 people in China.