Page 212 - MaterialsTrial-JapaneseArmy-1950
P. 212

Question: Tell us, when going through the papers of your predecessor, General Umezu, did
               you find in the safe the latest blueprint of the Ishii bacteria bomb?


                  Answer: It was only a report on the Ishii bacteria bomb, to which a blueprint of the bomb
               was attached. I should say that I received these documents from the Chief of the Operations
               Division, and I kept them in my drawer. I acquainted myself with these documents.


                  Question: Did the Ishii bacteria bombs which you yourself saw when visiting Detachment
               731 conform with the blueprint that was attached to the memorandum?


                  Answer: Yes, they were exactly alike. I don't remember the details, but the bomb on the
               blueprint  attached  to  the  report,  and  the  specimens  of  the  bombs  which  I  saw  in  the
               detachment were quite identical.


                  Question:  Will  you  tell  us  what  was  the  substance  of  the  report  which  General  Kitano
               made to you in the autumn of 1944?


                  Answer:  As  far  as  I  recall,  it  was  in  October  1944.  Major  General  Kitano,  Chief  of
               Detachment  731,  reported  to  me  on  the  results  of  experiments  and  research  in  the
               employment  of  plague-infected  fleas  as  a  bacteriological  weapon  by  dropping  them  from
               aircraft. The report was illustrated by a film.


                  Question: Who was present when Major General Kitano made this report?


                  Answer:  Lieutenant  General  Kasahara,  Chief  of  Staff  of  the  Kwantung  Army,  Colonel
               Matsumura, Chief of the Operations Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Miyata, a staff officer.


                  Question: Do you confirm the testimony you gave on December 1, 1949, to the effect that
               General  Kitano  dealt  in  his  report  with  the  experiments  and  researches  that  were  being
               conducted in the prosecution of bacteriological warfare with the help of plague fleas?


                  Answer: I do.


                  Question:  How  was  the  effectiveness  of  the  bacteriological  weapon  produced  by
               Detachment 731 tested?


                  Answer:  There  were  various  methods,  and  one  of  them  was  testing  the  bacteriological
               weapon on human beings and animals.


                  Question:  Were  you  aware  that  the  bacteriological  weapon  was  being  tested  by
               experiments on human beings?


                  Answer: I was.


                  Question: Did Colonel Tamura report to you after he visited Detachment 731 that people



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