Page 68 - Unit 731 Testimony

Unit 1855 in Beijing gave testimony that appeared in the (Japanese-
language) Okinawa Times.

Ito Kageaki, now living in Yokohama, was assigned to the Beijing unit
toward the end of 1943. His work there entailed raising fleas for spreading
plague. He told of the education he and his comrades received at the unit,
and how an officer advised them that "this kind of tactic was not permitted
until now, but if we employ it, it will be against the American landing at
Okinawa."

Ito recalled how his detachment had first consisted of only five or six
men. Then, from around 1944, personnel and facilities were expanded.
"Plague germs were brought in from other units," he recounted, "and

Chinese prisoners were experimented upon." Ito himself was never required
to carry out human experimentation, but as a member of the unit he was a
witness to it.
After the war, Ito never spoke to his parents or family about his
experiences in the unit. He worked for the Japanese National Railways, and

was afraid of losing his job if he brought up the subject. Then, in 1988, he
made a trip to China, met with citizens there, and gained a completely
different perspective.

"There was no reason for Japan to make China an enemy," he
commented, "and I should not carry my experiences to the grave. I want our
past to be an education for the next generation."
After returning to Japan from his China trip, he started telling his story.
The Unit 731 Exhibition's arrival in Okinawa gave him an opportunity to

tell Okinawans of the real position they occupied in the minds of the
Japanese military: "Tokyo was under air attack, Japanese were making
suicide stands in the Pacific, and there were other setbacks for Japan. The
situation grew progressively worse. Okinawa could be thrown away if
Japan could gain some military advantage." He added, "I question whether
the military would have planned for BW [biological warfare] if the landing

had been projected for Kyushu instead of Okinawa. I believe that behind the
military's thinking was the fact that this is the former Kingdom of the
Ryukyus [as distinct from Japan proper], and this shows the racial disdain
the Japanese military had for the Okinawans."

One of the local organizing committee members for Okinawa's Unit
731 exhibition, a high school teacher, gave his impression of Ito's