Page 23 - Unit 731

Judgement Materials’, Ryūji Kajitsuka, Secretary of the Kwantung Army, testified when he was standing trial in Khabarovsk:

Unit 731 was set up based on the order of the Emperor Hirohito in 1936.… The place where the Unit was stationed was confirmed by the headquarters of the Kwantung Army. Before 1941, no official
number was assigned for the Unit, and it is usually called the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army as well as the Ishii Unit. 11
Kawashima Kiyoshi confessed in Khabarovsk:
Unit 731 was founded based on the secret order of the Emperor Hirohito in 1936, which was originally decided to station in Harbin and headed by the Colonel Shirō Ishii, the army surgeon appointed
by the Ministry of the Army. When I took office as the Secretary of General Affairs of Unit 731, I had personally read this order from the archives. 12
It is widely understood that Emperor Hirohito approved the founding of Unit 731.
In February 2015, we received a copy of a Japanese record mentioning, in a document of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office—‘The
Document Related to the Approval of Staff of the School of Army Surgeon to Work Part-time as Staff of the Epidemic Prevention Department of the
Kwantung Army’—that Prince Kan’in Kotohito (Chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff) gave Terauchi Hisaichi of the Ministry of Army, as
well as ‘No. 41, Section B of Army Order’ in September 1936.
The order stated: ‘I ordered to formulate and implement a proposal about staff of the School Army Surgeons working part-time as staff of the Epidemic
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Prevention Department of the Kwantung Army’. At the end, with approval of the Japanese Emperor, the Chief of Staff, and the Ministry of Army, staff of
the School of Army Surgeons could work part-time as staff of the Epidemic Prevention Department of the Kwantung Army. After that, Kotohito issued
Terauchi another order: ‘This is to inform you that the issue as named in the title was approved by the Emperor as attached. Also, please return the
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Emperor’s approval after reading’. The Epidemic Prevention Department in the document was the name Unit 731 had used.
Under interrogation by Lt-Col. Thompson, Shirō Ishii denied that the Emperor knew of Unit 731. The Emperor not only knew, but also supported the
Unit, as shown from the above document, from the personnel size of the Unit at its later stage, from the Unit’s budget, and from testimonies of core
members.
Barbaric Expansion: Transfer to Pingfang Military Zone

In spring 1936, the Kamo Unit began surveying land in the Pingfang area for a train station site. After the Marco Polo Incident on 7 July 1937, which
marked a full-scale invasion of China by Japan, the scale of the Kamo Unit’s base had been enlarging as the war went on. Pingfang, a rural village 20
kilometres south-east of Harbin, was also occupied by Japan after Harbin was seized. In 1932, when the Rafa–Harbin Railway was under construction, a
station was set up at the south of Pingfang, named Pingfang Station. This village was no different from other Chinese villages in which people had a
peaceful lifestyle, but the arrival of the Japanese forced several changes.
Order of the Kwantung Army
The headquarters of the Kwantung Army announced the 1,539th order on 30 June 1938, entitled ‘About Setting up a Special Military Zone Near
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Pingfang’. The zone was secretly called ‘the 17th military base’. The order listed several provisions: first, all houses of the Ishii Unit in Pingfang (inside
the wall) were designated special military buildings; second, according to ‘The Provisions of Implementing Military Affairs Protection Law of
Manchukuo’, the ‘A’ lot marked on the attached map was designated a special military zone, in which all prohibitions listed in the above provisions were
valid; third, it was prohibited to construct houses of over two stories inside the ‘B’ lot marked on the attached map; fourth, civil airlines (Manchurian
Airline Ltd Co.) had assigned flight routes and no-fly zones; fifth, areas of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ lots, as well as all prohibitions, were announced by the Security
Department of Manchukuo, while locations of military buildings were announced by the Chief Commander of Defence; and sixth, this order was directly
delivered to each related unit, and no circulation of it was allowed.
Afterwards, Harbin City Office set up the Office of Pingfang Special Area Affairs, the Association of Japan-Manchukuo Union in Pingfang Special
Area, and Pingfang Police Office. Under the Pingfang Police Office, three local police stations—Pingfang Town Local Police Station, the Third Town of
Plain Yellow Banner Local Police Station, and Xinfa Town Local Police Station—were directly administered by the Japanese. Japanese Kempeitai in
Harbin sent the Pingfang Kempei contingent to station Pingfang area, strengthening the uniqueness and concealment of the bacteriological research base.
From a common village to the Pingfang Special Military Zone, this area consisted of Pingfang Town, Unit 8372 of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, the
base of Unit 731, and other surrounding areas. This approximately 120-km-square area was divided into ‘A’ and ‘B’ zones. Centring at Unit 731 and Unit
8372, a zone was a special control area of approximately 32 km square under strict surveillance of the Japanese military.
Of twenty-five original villages in the ‘A’ zone, twenty-one located far away from Unit 731 headquarters were preserved, while the remaining four—
Huangjiawo Village, Liujiawo Village, Plain Yellow Banner’s Fifth Village, and Plain Yellow Banner’s First Village—were forcibly destroyed by Unit
731. ‘B’ zone was a common control area, in which nineteen villages were also under strict surveillance, but comparatively less strictly than those in the
‘A’ zone (see Fig. 2).
In order to strengthen control over the special zones, the Japanese military installed boundary noticeboards at every transportation hub, 1.5 kilometres
away from each village in the zones prohibiting unauthorised entrance. Residents living in Pingfang for generations found the Japanese limited their
freedom to enter their homes, and they had very limited freedom of speech (see Fig. 3).
Residents over fourteen years old in the special zones were required to carry a certificate of living, issued by the Police Bureau of Harbin City, and
were randomly checked by authorities. Outsiders had to register at the Police Bureau to obtain a temporary certificate of living when they wished to come
back and had to cancel their registration when leaving the zones.
One of the certificates issued by Xiangfang Police Station of the Police Bureau is now preserved in the 731 Museum. It was issued to Guo Gao, living
at 34, YifaYuan, Xiangfang district of Harbin. On the appendix page, eight items are listed related to entrance restriction:

1. Those living in the special zone over 14 years old must apply for this certificate.
2. This certificate must be carried wherever the holder goes.
3. Borrowing or transferring this certificate is prohibited.
4. Those who move within the special zone must inform police offices at their original places and report to police offices at new destinations within 20 days after arrival.
5. Those who move outside the special zone must apply through police offices at their destinations. After leaving the zone, they must return this certificate to the nearest police office.
6. If any loss or damage of this certificate occurs, holders have to report to and apply for a new one through the police office in charge within 10 days. If the certificate is lost while traveling, holders
have to report loss at the nearest police offices and obtain a testimony, and apply for a new one with the testimony after coming back. If anyone finds a lost certificate, he or she must report to the
nearest police office immediately.
7. If either the certificate is expired or any information changes, holders must apply for changes through the police office in charge within a month.
8. Violation of the above items would be detained or imposed a fine penalty. 16
City Within a City: 60 Miles of National Boundary