Page 31 - Unit 731

and had inseparable relationships with Unit 731.
The 2014 book is divided into pre-war and post-war sections. Shirō Ishii is nowhere in the album, only his teachers. As a graduate of bachelor,
master’s, and doctoral classes in the School of Medicinem, as well as a lieutenant-general, Ishii merits inclusion in the memoir greater than that of his
teachers. What is the reason for omitting him from the university history? Famous Japanese writer Seiichi Morimura once wrote: ‘… the truth should be
kept and history cannot be left empty’. What is the rationale for not including Ishii in the Centennial Memorial Album? It is clear that the School of
Medicine of Kyoto University deliberately omitted those graduates who served in Unit 731. Will this act make the school history more perfect?
Records in the Shirankai Name List
I received the document Shirankai Name List by chance; its former owner was Kai-ji Yang (楊開濟), a 1941 graduate of the School of Medicine of Kyoto
University. His personal information is recorded in the list: ‘Kai-ji Yang, Republic of China, internal medicine, lives in Republic of China Beijing Xicheng
District Shoubi Hutong No. 13’. The list was published on 20 December 1942. The editor and publisher was Toshio Nishimura (西村敏雄) and the list was
published by the Shirankai Corporation of Kyoto University’s Medical School, founded 1906, which served the alumni of the School of Medicine.
By 1942, there were forty sub-branches of alumni associations, including thirty-four in Japan, such as Tokyo sub-branch and Kyoto sub-branch, sub-
branches in various parts of China, including Taiwan, Dalian, Fengtian (Shengyang), Harbin, and Jiamusi, and a Gyeongseong (renamed Seoul in 1945)
sub-branch in Korea. The Harbin sub-branch was once located in the Medical University in Harbin. Ikuharu Narita (成田幾治), who wrote the first book
on medicine in Harbin, Medical History of Harbin, was in charge of the Harbin sub-branch.
The sub-branch in Harbin consisted of twenty-four persons in 1942: Susumu IKawakami (川上漸), Kinzo Takadome (中留金藏), Tarō Sonoda (園田
太郎), Hisato Yoshimura, Tachiomaru Ishikawa (石川太刀雄丸), Kōzō Okamoto (岡本耕造), Seiwa Tabe (田部井和), Masao Minato (湊正男), Hideo
Tanaka (田中英雄), and Hiroyuki Suzuki (鈴木啟之) were permanent members in Unit 731.
According to Shirankai records, members were graduates, current students, graduate students, professors, associate professors, lecturers, assistants, and
staff of the School of Medicine of Kyoto University. Other than that, professionals from a medical field could apply for membership in Shirankai with
permission of board members. From the record, PhD students such as Shirō Ishii and Keiichi Noguchi (野口圭一) from the School of Medicine of Kyoto
University joined Unit 731 with honours as graduates of a top ranked university.