Page 117 - Unit 731 Testimony

house. When we spotted one of these, we would go in and try to remove
and isolate the patient. We used the opium dens as isolation centers, but
when we tried taking patients there they would run away. The Manchurians

even ran away when we tried to give them preventive vaccinations. With
young girls, pock marks on the face mean that they could not be sold at a
high price, so parents brought their daughters in for preventive
vaccinations. Males were not so concerned with appearance and did not
come in to be vaccinated.

We set up a vaccination post at a railroad crossing where the people
had to pass every day and forced vaccinations on them. We stamped the
hand of each person to identify him or her as having been vaccinated. While
the stamp was still wet, some people would transfer the stamp to the hand
of a friend who did not want the vaccination. Of course, the character would
come out backwards, so we were on the lookout for these. Later, local

newspapers carried stories about the smallpox rate having been reduced
through our efforts.
In the summer of 1941, five different teams from Unit 731 were
dispatched to different areas to treat outbreaks of disease. I was in a unit

sent to a town with an outbreak of typhus to treat patients and carry out
preventive measures. After that we were called back to Harbin, and then we
went to Dalian and boarded a ship. It was not until we were at sea that we
were told our destination. We were headed for Saigon. We were conducting
water checks in Saigon and just waiting for "X-Day," the opening of war
between Japan and the United States. At that time, the water wells in Saigon

were under the control and protection of the French army. The Japanese
army was very cautious about water supply from experiences in which
retreating Chinese had poisoned wells. We kept these thoughts in mind
when we moved into Saigon after Japan took over from the French.
In February 1942, Singapore fell to Japan. I was separated from my

unit, which went on to Palau, and I was transferred to help set up an
Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Unit branch for the Southern Army
in Singapore. I arrived less than one week after Singapore was occupied.
The oil tanks were still burning from the battles.

We established the unit at [the former] Raffles Medical University. The
unit was set up by Naito Ryoichi and designated Oka 9420 and staffed by
about one thousand persons. It was felt that such a large staff was necessary