Unit 731: Japan's Secret Biological Warfare in World War II

by Peter Williams, David Wallace

This book inspired by the TVS documentary of the same title, unlocks one of the last great secrets of the Second World War. For nearly half century, the Japanese Army Unit 731 has been shrouded in mystery. Set up in 1935 by brilliant bacteriologist Shiro Ishii, in a remote, high-security headquarters in a village in Japanese occupied Manchuria, the unit was where Japanese soldiers-scientists carried out freezing, ballistics and live vivisection experiments on Russian, Chinese, American, British and Australian prisoners.Ishii’s aim was to make a biological weapon that would win war for Japan. But, unlike his Nazi counterpart, Josef Mengele, Ishii had no reason to take refuge in the jungles of South America at the end of the War. For he and his colleagues pulled off the most incredible deal with their erstwhile enemies. The book charts the top-level deal under which Unit 731’s unique research data was secretly traded to the America in return for war-crimes immunity. Not a single mention is found of Unit 731 in the vast tomes of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.Emperor Hirohito, the only surviving wartime leader, could have known of this secret biological warfare unit. His seal is on the document establishing the “Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Unit”-Unit 731’s cover name. This book seeks to answer the many questions raised about Unit 731. How far did the Unit’s activities stretch abroad? Was there human experimentation elsewhere? To what use did the America put the Japanese scientific data? Was it used in the Korean War? Did Britain know the full extent of Japanese biological warfare activities?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War II, Science, Medical, Military History

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better of the relatively few books on Unit 731. It is flawed by the authors' innocence of bacteriology as a number of the quite unbelievable claims made by U.S. Dr. Murray Sanders remain un-rebutted.

[Stanley Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explored the fascinating and relatively unknown topic of Japan's Unit 731 program which involved extremely cruel cases of human experimentation. Although parts of the book were interesting, I felt that the book was overall incredibly dry. It was mainly just page after page of historical information like a history textbook. However, this book would be a very nice read for those who enjoy learning about history.

[Lori Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bring a strong stomach.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

- This book is a fantastic overview of the infamous UNIT-731, which is a shockingly obscure, yet deeply unnerving, series of events that took place in the earliest stages of WWII. I thoroughly recommend this book to be read by anyone and everyone who're interested in discovering the true breadth of the horrors that befell the world in the early 20th-Century and eventually culminated in TWO major World Wars. The book illustrates the "Total War" mentality that MOST of the "Major Powers" were working under and how this warped mindset allowed them to venture into avenues that are truly horrifying.
- The reason, however, as to why I am only giving this 3/5 stars is because although this history book details in astonishing details the facts surrounding the creation, rise, and eventual fall of this most-secretive branch(es) of the military and medical community; the high-profile personalities; the beliefs and ideals that supported these disgusting atrocities; and the acquiescence of the varied Allied Powers (America, Britain, etc.) that allowed many of the highest of those "leaders" involved to get away essentially "Scot free" with innumerable "crimes against humanity," despite arresting, trying, and passing (often death) sentences against Nazi doctors and other medical personnel for similar crimes. Unfortunately, this book DOESN'T go into as much detail about the crimes themselves, and it is why I highly-recommend you read Unit 731 Testimony: Japan's Wartime Human Experimentation Program by Hal Gold. With these two books read together; the horrifying picture of pre-and-post WWII Japan can truly be grasped and appreciated.

[निस्सीम बेडेकर · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for those who want to know Japan's dark side.

[Maggie]

That was upsetting.

[Anna Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes guts to read this, but everyone needs to know the history.

[Harlowe Archive's · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard read, but I do appreciate the citations. It definitely does not make me enthusiastic to trust governments.

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would recommend this book for adults. This book is too scary for young kids

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview read for personal research concerning Japan's Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii and Japan's Auschwitz-style concentration camps. A book for the researcher and enthusiast to add to their collection. The suppression of the atrocities by USA's President and General MacArthur, allowed those involved with these 'experiments' to just walk away in exchange for their 'informational reports and findings' handed over to the USA. Throughout the days of USA's Democratic Party Presidents: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman, we see these atrocities related to human rights violations maintaining a purposeful willingness to overlook them, more so than we do at other times during modern war history - that we are made aware of, of course.
Some of those include: the German Socialist Party's concentration camps and extermination centers (Auschwitz); the Soviet Socialist's Gulag facilities; Japan's balloon transported bomb tests, which produced deaths in North America; and the current Chinese government Turkic Uighur Muslims detainment centers and forced abortion practices.
Another related work of that my be of interest to readers of this 731 work: Chemical Warfare in Australia: Australia's Involvement in Chemical Warfare 1914-Today by Geoff Plunkett, Army History Unit

[Russ Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

a recommended read concerning the Imperial Japanese development of bacteriological warfare in the 1930s and 1940s and the use of human guinea pigs for experimentation, then the suppression of this information by the US under General MacArthur and the protection of Japanese scientists with blood on their hands to give them an advantage in the Cold War. The Americans then allegedly used the skills learned from the Japanese against Communist civilians in the Korean War.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not a happy read. Parts of it really made me squirm, but it's an important historical document and deserves attention. It's about medical experimentation on live human subjects, so be sure your stomach can handle it, it's not pretty.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

True story and scary as hell.

[Seth Augenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, harrowing stuff. Great history writing, too.

[D]

Unit 731 was a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) of World War II.