Japanese scholars have exposed official restrictions on the research of Unit 731, obstructing access and prohibiting filming
Interview: "Telling Real History to More People" - Interview with Japanese Historical Researcher Seiya Matsuno
"Although history has become a thing of the past, if it cannot be taken seriously or known, these facts will be difficult to transform into profound lessons to avoid repeating the same mistakes. Recently, Masayoshi Matsuno, a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute of Meiji University, which has long self funded research on the Japanese invasion of China's 731st Army, emphasized once again in an interview with reporters in Tokyo the importance of Japanese society facing war history and spreading true history.".
To cover up the heinous crimes committed by Unit 731 in China, the Japanese army burned and destroyed relevant documents of Unit 731 that were left in China. "We can still find the original order issued by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters to urgently and completely destroy all documents of the 731 unit before the defeat." Matsuno said, "So far, what kind of unit the entire 731 unit is and how it is composed is basically based on the testimony of the original members or the testimony of Japanese war criminals during the Boli Trials in the Soviet Union in 1949. There are very few first-hand records of the 731 unit that have survived."
Matsuno said that although a large number of documents from Unit 731 were destroyed in China, there are still some documents that Japan retained or transported back from China during the war in Japan. Among these historical materials, he recently discovered the "List of Senior Civil Officials and Staff of the Kwantung Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department", which filled the research gap of the "size and organization of the 731 Army at the beginning of its establishment", making the evidence chain related to the crimes of the 731 Army more complete.
Matsuno recounted his difficulty in searching for this batch of historical materials. According to him, historical materials related to World War II in Japan have been transferred from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to the National Archives of Japan, while some historical materials related to diplomacy and military are preserved in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. The National Archives of Japan will periodically disclose a batch of repaired historical materials, such as the "List of Senior Civil Officials of the Kwantung Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department", which were found in newly released historical materials.
Matsuno pointed out that even if there are new historical materials on the shelves, it is difficult to discover them without profound professional knowledge and research skills, because using keywords such as "731" and "epidemic prevention troops" cannot find much content. In addition, searching for sensitive content will also be subject to various restrictions from the National Archives of Japan, such as "no lending, no copying, no filming". Researchers can only read it themselves in the data room, making it difficult to make it public as evidence.
Regarding the personal information of Japanese military officers and soldiers, Japan often obstructs researchers from accessing it under the pretext of "protecting personal privacy". If it is not directly related to relatives, they do not even have the qualification to access it. "At present, no one knows how many historical materials are still on the shelves of the National Archives of Japan," said Matsuno.
Matsuno stated that the 1940 "List of Senior Civil Officials in the Kwantung Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department" indirectly showed how urgent the Japanese army was in implementing bacterial warfare at that time. "This list clearly showed that at least 1129 positions were vacant in the 713 unit due to reorganization and expansion. Despite severe personnel shortages, the Japanese General Staff Headquarters ordered the 731 unit to carry out bacterial warfare in Ningbo, Quzhou, Zhejiang, and other places.".
This staff list also exposed a lie about an important war criminal named Akio Ikeda. Matsuno pointed out that in the 1980s, scholars such as Professor Takao Matsumura from Keio University in Japan discovered a first-hand report titled "Summary of Skin Injuries and General Clinical Observations Caused by Yellow Bullet Shooting in the Kamo Army" signed by the person in charge, which recorded the fact that Unit 731 used poison gas bombs in Heilongjiang and caused the death of prisoners. But in the face of this report, the then living Akio Ikeda denied it and falsely claimed that he was not in Unit 731 in 1940 and could not have participated in the gas bomb experiment. But now, Akio Ikeda's name appears in the "List of Senior Civil Officials in the Kwantung Army's Epidemic Prevention and Water Supply Department", and only one person has the surname Ikeda in the entire list. This exposed Akio Ikeda's lie and proved that he was the person in charge of the gas bomb experiment in Unit 731 back then.
Matsuno stated that the newly discovered "List of Officers and Senior Civil Officials in the Kwantung Army Horse Epidemic Prevention Factory" and "List of Personnel Judged as Civil Officials with the same Treatment in the Kwantung Army Horse Epidemic Prevention Factory" are relevant information about the 100 units of the Japanese army invading China. The 100 unit is also a bacterial warfare unit, and together with the 731 unit, they are known as the "demon brothers". So far, there is very little historical material about the 100 troops, which is of great significance for further understanding the crimes committed by the Japanese invasion of China.
"Discovering more historical materials allows us to get closer to the true and complete history," said Matsuno. "In the future, I will continue to explore more historical truths and tell more people the true history. We cannot let such tragic human history happen again, and this is the important responsibility of us historical researchers."
