Page 141 - Unit 731 Testimony

were there. Ishii wouldn't believe it. But he did give that order and if he had
lived to see it, he wouldn't have allowed it.

When I first entered Unit 731, I had no idea that it was that kind of
unit. I thought it was to help the people of China by providing clean water.
The Japanese enjoy drinking good water, so I naturally thought that water
supply would be our job. When I came to the Unit 731 Exhibition the first
time, I was shocked. I had heard rumors, but I never even knew the word
"maruta." I had heard rumors about the dissections, and I wondered if those

things really happened. I thought that if they had really happened, they were
wretched acts. But, personally, I feel no shame. I thought that I was really
doing a good thing.

Kenpeitai member (Iwasaki Ken'ichi)

[The water torture was used for the fifteen years that Japan spread its
"coprosperity" through China. Former kenpeitai member Iwasaki has
appeared many times before audiences to tell of the role his organization
played in supporting the occupation and supplying victims for human

experiments. The water torture was used mainly to force confessions from
those who resisted the Japanese invasion and occupation, and a replica of
the water torture system was built for the travelling exhibit.]

There were special tables such as the one at the exhibition built for this
purpose, but sometimes an ordinary bench or a ladder was used. I first saw
this device when I was assigned to the Harbin branch. I thought it was a
very handy system and was delighted with it. I used it for six years, until the
end of the war. Yet many officials who participated in the invasion never
saw one, and even some kenpeitai officers are seeing it for the first time at
these exhibits.

The victim is placed naked on the board face up. The head is held
immobile inside a wooden box frame fixed at the end of the board. The
arms and legs are strapped down. The victim is not able to move no matter
how great the suffering. If a hose is used to force water into the mouth, as

had been the case previously, the victim can evade some of the water. A
different system was devised, an easier one whose results are more
complete.