Page 27 - Unit 731

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Shirō Ishii and His Followers

On Wednesday 21 January 2015, Mr Chengmin Jin (金成民) and I were discussing this research project when he showed me a thick old album with the
Japanese characters ‘卒業紀念’ (Graduation Yearbook) inscribed in chrysanthemum yellow on the cover. The owner of the album was the president of
Kyoto Imperial University and later father-in-law of Shirō Ishii (石井四郎). Although the yearbook dates to 1920, it still looks presentable by today’s
standard. When I flipped it open, on page two were the stamps of Araki Torasaburō (荒木寅三郎), one written ‘京大学長’ (President of Kyoto University)
and the other ‘天高地厚’ (Immense World) in seal characters. The last page listed the publishing committee members. One of them was Shirō Ishii, and
this yearbook serves as a key to understand his life (see Fig. 4).
I wonder from time to time whether some people are born murderers, even those who are well-educated. According to the yearbook, Xiaokuan Sun, a
Chinese classmate of Ishii, returned to China after graduation. Ishii and Sun, from my point of view, should have shared motives for study at this reputable
school. However, their differing experience and destinies made them completely dissimilar. Xiaokuan Sun went on to open hospitals in Shanghai, Guiyang,
and other places in China. Dr Shirō Ishii became the prime culprit of biological warfare and human experimentation.
What experience turned Ishii evil? What transformed a well-educated doctor to carry on biological warfare and human experimentation? These
inhumane and cruel acts took place in many regions of China during the Japanese invasion in the Second World War—how could Ishii’s followers find this
acceptable?
Unit 731, biological warfare, and human experimentation are not well-known in the Western world, even though in Asian countries, such as Japan and
Korea, the issue has attracted significant public attention.
As a victim of biological warfare and human experimentation, China has been putting effort into encouraging the public to learn the historical facts. In
Deciphering the History of Japanese War Atrocities: The Story of Doctor and General Shiro Ishii by Kenneth L. Port, the author writes:

Even though Shirō Ishii’s activities in World War II cast a long shadow on Dr Mengele’s activities in Germany, Ishii is rather quickly being forgotten in the world and especially in Japan. He is no
longer taught in high school history or (when he is taught) it is so superficial that few young Japanese people even know the name. In America, no one knows of Shirō Ishii or the carnage he unleashed
during World War II. 1
Compared with national education regarding Auschwitz in Poland, the attack on Pearl Harbor in the US, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in Japan,
national education about Unit 731 in China still has a long way to go.

Culprits of Biological Warfare: Shirō Ishii
Shirō Ishii was born 25 June 1892 in Chiyoda village, Sanbugun, Chiba prefecture in Japan. Since Chiyoda village is in Kamo area, Unit 731 was also
known as the Kamo Butai (Kamo Force). The Ishii family is one of Japan’s kazoku (hereditary peerage) who enjoy the highest privileges bequeathed by the
Emperor of the Empire of Japan. Ishii’s father, Kei Ishii (石井桂), was a daimyo (feudal landholder), someone equivalent to a feudal lord in medieval
Europe. Kei Ishii had four sons: his first, Hyōyū Ishii (石井彪雄), died during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and his second son, Takeo Ishii (石井
剛男), was first a peasant in Chiyoda village and then became crematory operator at Unit 731 under the name Takeo Hosoya (細谷剛男) at Beiyin River,
Heilongjiang, China. Later, he was head of a special division that managed prisons at Unit 731, and he died on 4 July 1956. The third son, Mitsuo Ishii (石
井三男), graduated from a veterinary university in Japan. In 1939, Mitsuo Ishii arrived at Unit 731 where he was the head at the Ishii division that took
care of the animal feeding rooms. He passed away on 2 January 1958. The fourth son is Shirō Ishii.
The three brothers were permanent members of Unit 731, and Shirō Ishii used the relationship between family, intermarriage, clan, teacher-student, and
classmates to build Unit 731. This recruitment method enabled Unit 731 to continually strengthen its military power, confidentiality, and peculiarity.
Educational Background
Shirō Ishii graduated from Chiba Secondary School and was admitted to Kanazawa’s The Fourth High School (金澤第四高等学校) and later Mitoshi High
School (水戶高等学校). From 1916 to 1920, he studied medicine at Kyoto Imperial University, which paved a way for his future involvement in Unit 731.
He completed three papers in 1920, including ‘Study of Streptococcus pneumoniae: About bacteriology and biology, Study of Streptococcus pneumoniae:
About serology, and Study of Streptococcus pneumoniae: About toxicity and pathogenicity’. This became his graduation dissertation under the supervision
of Professor Kenji Kiyono (清野謙次).
From 20 January to 9 April 1921, Ishii was a probationary officer and lieutenant combat medic in Section Three of Japan’s Royal Guards. The
following year, on 1 August, he transferred to Tokyo First Military Hospital, where he was promoted to captain combat medic on 20 August 1924. He
pursued graduate studies at Kyoto Imperial University from April 1924 to April 1926; thereafter, he continued his job at Kyoto Eijyu Hospital (京都衛戍
病院). Under the supervision of Professor Ren Kimura (木村廉), he completed his doctoral degree with a dissertation titled ‘Study on Gram Positive
Streptococcus pneumoniae’. His excellent academic performance impressed the university’s president, Araki Torasaburō, whose daughter Ishii married the
year he graduated.
Ishii conducted fieldwork observation on biological warfare in Germany, France, and other countries from April 1928 to April 1930. According to the
oral narrative recorded by US Army investigator Thompson, ‘[Shirō Ishii] conducted observations in Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Italy, France, Switzerland,
Germany, Australia, Hungry, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Soviet Union, United States, Canada
and other countries’. 2
According to Professor Port’s investigation, however, Ishii had never been to the United States and Canada. Ishii fabricated this in order to divert the
attention of the US Army. The United States Army Forces Command, according to information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act, responded
to Ishii’s falsehood on 11 July 1991: ‘Ishii never visited Fort Detrick or the United States’. 3
Plague had occurred throughout European history, and the Plague of Justinian (AD 520 to 565) especially interested Ishii: ‘Plague continued for 50 to
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60 years, spread to almost all notable countries and took the lives of approximately a hundred million citizens’. Regarding the Black Death (1346 to 1665),
Ishii noted: ‘… plague crossed Europe, Asia and the northern shore of Africa, especially the European area. The population of Europe was approximately
one hundred million, and one fourth were killed by plague. Half the population of Italy and England died due to the spread of plague’. 5