China to release movie on Japan biological warfare unit in summer

There can be no denial that Unit 731 did some atrocious things during the war.

But as expected, China chooses the time that benefits it's own agenda.

And China wants to build better relations with Japan.

Talk about being two-faced!!

Unit 731 was so grotesque in its human experimentation and biological warfare that even the Nazis reportedly found it disturbing - and that’s saying something.

Tongue-in-cheek, of course - but let us know when it’s showing in the local or Toho or Aeon cinema. Might be the first time some folks actually learn what happened, since Japan’s schoolbooks tend to skim over the whole “vivisection without anesthesia” chapter.

The Japanese government maintains the view that it has not confirmed any evidence to indicate the unit's human experiments.

Stout denial and sweeping under the rug may work in Japan but it doesn't work internationally. If Japan had just admitted what they did before and during the war, things might be different. But the outcome from this is going to be massive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

That'll be a boost to diplomatic relations.

There is a chance that documentary could be very educational for many people around the world on this topic.

However I strongly suspect that China's movie will not be anything like that.

I await the movie they make on chairman Mao and the 'cultural revolution' that totally did not result in the loss of millions of Chinese lives.

When history comes back to haunt, and may be used as a precursor to do the whole world war thing over again. The whitewashing was real, and the ghouls and demons of the past are summoned once again, where they have been lingering all along. The timing however, couldn’t be worse and is obviously orchestrated for maximum effect and political benefit.

The movie will turn hate levels up to 11, and watch people go into a frenzy. The Chinese will scream for blood and the Japanese will be ‘perplexed’. Not saying it the film shouldn’t be made either, but it will be no doubt be made for maximum ‘effect.’

Happy times ahead.

Good! I want to see it. But I probably will not be able to see it in Japan.

There are direct flights between Tokyo and Harbin. The Unit 731 Museum is about an hour from the city center. I've been there, spent an afternoon viewing the exhibits and walking the huge grounds, and feel a hot fury toward anyone with the nerve to insinuate the atrocities didn't happen.

Sounds boring.

Oddly enough, despite the book’s explosive allegations, no legal action has ever been taken by Fauci or his associates. That’s curious, isn’t it?

Actual scientists do not abuse courts to decide scientific matters that is only the weapon of those that know they can't never prove anything scientifically, so they release books that don't undergo peer review instead of scientific studies.

The ridicule of the book in the scientific circles is enough to demonstrate its complete lack of value.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/11/15/rfk-jr-views-conspiracies-false-claims/

I mean, the book defends the theory of miasma (as opposed to the germ theory) to explain infections, it is really hard for anybody to be more wrong about a whole field

https://pauloffit.substack.com/p/understanding-rfk-jr

The miasma theory is a long-abandoned medical theory that holds that diseases are caused by poisonous vapors (i.e., miasmata) that are generated by rotting organic matter, such as trash sitting out on the street.

Read the book of the same name. The Japanese referred to their Chinese prisoners as "logs" so they wouldn't see any humanity in them. In winter, Unit 731 personnel forced Chinese prisoners to immerse their hands in cold water, and then Unit 731 personnel methodically watched and documented the effects of frostbite as the flesh rotted away down to the bones. Some Chinese had nothing except bones and ligaments left. No anesthetic, of course. I understand that the US Government seized the results after the war, which were widely used to advance the knowledge on progression of and treatment of frostbite injuries.

Perhaps only Japan and the U.S. know the reality - scale of harm - of Unit 731. Thus, the Chinese film may contain propaganda. Unit 731 did terrible things, but Japan provided a great deal of economic and technological aid in return for the damage it inflicted on the war. However, I think Chinese government has hardly told its people about the aid.

Actual scientists do not abuse courts to decide scientific matters that is only the weapon of those that know they can't never prove anything scientifically, so they release books that don't undergo peer review instead of scientific studies.

If someone published an entire book filled with highly damaging and completely false claims about you - attacking your integrity, accusing you of complicity in global corruption, and completely obliterating your reputation and legacy - you would sue them into oblivion.

The fact that Fauci hasn’t taken any legal action and has remained silent speaks volumes.

Trump says he’s going to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made movies. Will the US audience get to see the new Chinese movie on Unit 731?

The Japanese government maintains the view that it has not confirmed any evidence to indicate the unit's human experiments.

Astounding position. There has been overwhelming photographic evidence and first person testimony from both sides. Taking such an official line damages Japanese leadership credibility, and indicates a denial that make people qustion the sincerity of appologies of the past, and brings into question whether those individuals understand and accept that Japan's war of aggression was wrong, cruel and was Japan being the bad guy all across the region.

The Japanese government maintains the view that it has not confirmed any evidence to indicate the unit's human experiments.

The Surgeon General Shirō Ishii, in charge of Unit 731, was captured by the Americans and spared the death penalty for a full confession and details of the unit.

Ishii and his colleagues engaged in human experimentation, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 subjects, most of them civilians or prisoners of war.

It is impossible for the government not to know.

Trump says he’s going to impose a 100% tariff on foreign-made movies. Will the US audience get to see the new Chinese movie on Unit 731?

Yeah, it will cost $50 a ticket. Welcome to trump America.

Nearly all educated adults in Japan are aware of this IJA program. The book "Unit 731" was in all the Kinokuniyas at least 15 years ago, up front with all the other popular sellers. The only drawback is that almost all the gory details come from the USSR with their pleasant questioning methods of POWs, instead of from actual Japanese documents. The United States has them too although I don't know if they are available to the public. Far more Americans do not know that the US took all the data and protected the participants, than Japanese who don'tknow of U731's existence.

Claims by China (PRC) are all based on USSR information.

If someone published an entire book filled with highly damaging and completely false claims about you - attacking your integrity, accusing you of complicity in global corruption, and completely obliterating your reputation and legacy - you would sue them into oblivion.

No, I would no, there, your whole argument has been defeated.

The worst thing that can happen is for as much people as possible to read the book and know that the author can honestly believe completely ridiculous things as the references clearly prove. No amount of money could buy the amount or ridicule for the author that comes from having the book available.

The government of China nauseating hypocrisy, is by shameful definition shallow political propaganda at cesspool levels, lacking any genuine substance.

It implies such hypocritical behaviour, superficial, a despot dictatorship proven genocide of its own people is a masterclass to deceive,

The horror, atrocity committed by Imperial Japanese Army are, will continue to be an appalling unspeakable crime.   

For a tyrannical 21st century government of China to weaponize such wickedness cruelty is brutally unjust.

To engage in political smear campaigns to “tar and feather” Japan’s next generation is despicable.

I think there should be a movie made about Tiananmen Square massacre and the Uyghur torture and kidnapping lol

Shiro Ishii, the medical superintendent who commanded Unit 731, was recalled to his home country by the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff due to the invasion of the Soviet Army near the end of the war.

He was charged with war crimes at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trials), but due to his detailed confession and details of Unit 731, which was an epidemic prevention unit, he was not prosecuted after consultation between Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur and Major General Charles Willoughby of GHQ.

There is no record of him being arrested, nor was he found guilty or sentenced to death at the Tokyo Trials.

Unit 731 became famous after the Second World War, when a novel called "The Devil's Gluttony" was written by Seiichi Morimura.

Many of the photographs published in "The Devil's Gluttony Continued" in 1982 as evidence of the atrocities of Unit 731 were found to be repurposed from archival photographs in the 1912 publication "The 43rd and 4th Years of Meiji: South Manchuria 'Plague' Trend Magazine," and Seiichi Morimura officially apologized.

Incidentally, the leading cause of death among Japanese soldiers in mainland China was disease.

The role of quarantine units like Unit 731 was to find the cause of death from disease and prevent the spread of infection. Naturally, this included autopsies. So it was only natural that they handled the plague and cholera bacteria that were already present in mainland China.

The fact is that the plague bacteria, which originated in China, raged all over the world in the second half of the 19th century.

The fact that the US military did not prosecute is all the more significant.

If they had killed tens of thousands of Chinese people in human experiments, the death penalty would have been certain.

So is there any evidence to overturn that?

BertieWoosterToday  04:55 pm JST

The Japanese government maintains the view that it has not confirmed any evidence to indicate the unit's human experiments.

Stout denial and sweeping under the rug may work in Japan but it doesn't work internationally.

Fact Check:

The Japanese government does not officially deny the existence of Unit 731.

Some Japanese nationalists have downplayed or denied the atrocities committed by Unit 731, but this is not the mainstream or official government stance.

United States Responses to Japanese Wartime Inhuman Experimentation after World War II: National Security and Wartime Exigency.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4487829/

The general public in China had no idea about unit 731 at the time. The Americans made sure to suppress it for decades - they wanted to study the “research” first for their own purposes.

I think there should be a movie made about Tiananmen Square massacre and the Uyghur torture and kidnapping lol

Not that old chestnut again. 1989 was a failed color revolution which included the gruesome deaths of policemen. Yes, America (and Pelosi) was all over China like a biactch even then. And the Uighur genocide has been debunked ages ago. The Uighur tribunal in UK was a complete circus with the spokeswmoan struggling to sound credible. More and more people are seeing through the American lies.

I look forward to the second installment about the persecution of the Uyghurs.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/us-prisoners-of-war-subjected-to-live-experiments-during-wwii-new-japanese-exhibit-shows-10159183.html

The historical, factual trail of mass rape, looting, murder of children and civilians that the Japanese troops left in China and elsewhere across Asia will never be forgotten nor forgiven. And they have never owned up to anything.

This includes not only 731, but all the massacres. The denial syndrome is immense!

OssanAmericaToday  08:03 pm JST

Fact Check:

*The Japanese government does not officially deny the existence of Unit 731.*

*Some Japanese nationalists have downplayed or denied the atrocities committed by Unit 731, but this is not the mainstream or official government stance.*

Language Check

Not officially denying doesn't mean that it officially acknowledges or accepts its existence.

The Ministry for Education attempted to remove this passage from his textbook before it was taught in public schools, on the basis that the testimony was insufficient.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

The school's close ties to a germ and biological warfare unit led many to suspect that they could be the remains of a dark history that the Japanese government has never officially acknowledged.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240802/p2g/00m/0na/057000c

In addition to universities and academic societies that were involved with the Unit 731 activity, the Japanese government still has not formally recognized this unethical activity. 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6942930/

The Japanese courts have been more forthcoming about the truth in several rulings but government remains vague and unclear. Fact check yourself.

Its learning from such historic darkness of the soul, that undertakes commits unthinkable inhuman act of purr evil, that Japan embraced a constitution devoted to peace.

An act cleaning a past that insists an unquestioning cultural heritage

Yet let the government of China cynical deranged reasoning behind a ghastly protagonism, the relentless sneers at the people of Japan

Wanting to retuen Japan to past, J people want to seek contrition.

The Hong Kong brutal smothering, repression of any hope of democratic free will?

The freedom to democratically insist on very basic UN human rights?

The historical, factual trail of mass rape, looting, murder of children and civilians that the Japanese troops left in China and elsewhere across Asia will never be forgotten nor forgiven. And they have never owned up to anything.

This includes not only 731, but all the massacres. The denial syndrome is immense!

I totally get the point and the sentiments and as a long term expat in Japan have been dealing with and thinking about this for a very long time. I’d like to bring in a cultural communication lense though to consider. The Japanese by very nature don’t deal with difficult conversations like say a westerner and other cultures would. They are very stoic and have a very deep sense of reality and understanding of the dark sides of their culture, one that we have to admit every culture has its dark underbelly. By not engaging in the painful conversations they can make themselves an easy target from the outside, but they do try and make up for it in other ways, through action and pragmatism . There maybe a bit of a ‘protect the youth from the evils of the past’ factors at play that may at least explain ( not saying it’s right either ) their unwillingness to drag out their past dirty laundry for public display.

What you don’t want to do JJEsan, as your message may be suggesting, is to hate them for it. Just because they don’t advertise their grief for the past doesn’t mean they hold it. Long term expats can attest to the fact that most Japanese are very well meaning, kind but not inclined to over emotionalism, and I believe they want to be a force for peace and justice in the world. We need to all ask ourselves if what our goals are. Domination?

Would be a travesty if this was used to start another ridiculous war. Just saying.

Not suggesting 'hate' but rather something called honesty. Anyone knows the abysmal state of revisionism in school history textbooks. Denialism starts at the very top. As for 'over emotionalism', Japan never seems to miss a beat on that when it comes to playing the victim card on a host of issues relating to WWII. Indeed, as certain museums and shrines show, there is a glorification-victim-complex that is ingrained. Imagine if Germany were whitewashing their outrages.

Indeed, this is no different to making a film about a concentration camp in Europe and by implication the Holocaust at large. Both are part of a much larger pattern of abuse.

Peter14Today  06:39 pm JST

The Japanese government maintains the view that it has not confirmed any evidence to indicate the unit's human experiments.

Astounding position. There has been overwhelming photographic evidence and first person testimony from both sides. Taking such an official line damages Japanese leadership credibility,

Don't know who posted that but it is false. The govt of Japan does not take such an official position.

JJE not sure if you live here mate, or a batting from a side of basic good will, it sounds like you are peddling some sort of grievance to justify something else. I’ve lived here more than half my life, have assimilated have more Japanese friends than gaijin and none of what you just said resonates with the reality on the ground. I’m thinking, agenda at play and not one of unity, the other type.

MilesTegToday  09:01 pm JST

OssanAmericaToday  08:03 pm JST

Fact Check:

The **Japanese government does not officially deny the existence of Unit 731**.

Some Japanese nationalists have downplayed or denied the atrocities committed by Unit 731, but this is **not the mainstream or official government stance**.

Not officially denying doesn't mean that it officially acknowledges or accepts its existence.

The govt of Japan acknowledges the existence of Unit 731. It did so back in in 1988.

"Japan has disclosed the names of thousands of members of Unit 731, a notorious branch of the imperial Japanese army"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/17/japan-unit-731-imperial-army-second-world-war

JJEToday  08:40 pm JST

The historical, factual trail of mass rape, looting, murder of children and civilians that the Japanese troops left in China and elsewhere across Asia will never be forgotten nor forgiven. And they have never owned up to anything.

In 1972 Prime Minister Tanaka apologized drectly to Chairman Mao Zedong.

"Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship"

https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/zy/wjls/3604_665547/202405/t20240531_11367537.html#:~:text=From%201975%2C%20China%20and%20Japan,Republic%20of%20China%20and%20Japan.

"The Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, paid a ritual visit to Beijing yesterday to smooth relations with China by apologising for his country's history of aggression."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/09/japan.china

Nations cannot turn the clock back to repair past horrors.

I know, i may display a naivety that refuses to acknowledge/accept responsibility 

The government of China is trampling over, to run roughshod over the souls graves of past victims for present day geo-political gain

OssanAmericaToday  09:45 pm JST

MilesTegToday  09:01 pm JST

OssanAmericaToday  08:03 pm JST

Fact Check:

*The **Japanese government does not officially deny the existence of Unit 731**.*

*Some Japanese nationalists have downplayed or denied the atrocities committed by Unit 731, but this is **not the mainstream or official government stance**.*

Not officially denying doesn't mean that it officially acknowledges or accepts its existence.

*The govt of Japan acknowledges the existence of Unit 731. It did so back in in 1988.*

"Japan has disclosed the names of thousands of members of Unit 731, a notorious branch of the imperial Japanese army"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/17/japan-unit-731-imperial-army-second-world-war

Then why write, 'The Japanese government does not officially deny the existence of Unit 731.' in the first place. They are not the same. Seems you've been taking lessons from the government for techniques on being mealy-mouthed.

Naming the personnel is just paying lip service because the government have refused to acknowledge or discuss detailed accounts and activities. Making excuse after excuse. Your own link states this.

*Japan reluctantly acknowledged the unit’s existence in the late 1990s, but has refused to discuss its activities.*

All they acknowledge is that it was a germ and biological warfare unit. by listing the people who were there. That's all. They still deny the actual, many activities that occurred there. So their acknowledgement is utterly meaningless. The ministry of education even tried to remove information from textbooks. The ministry of education is part of the government isn't it.

Fact Check:

The Japanese government does not officially confirm the existence of Unit 731.

This topic is so distasteful as well as some of the ignorant comments so I will now close this browser tab.

The key wording is "Imperial Japanese." That place does not exist any longer.

MilesTegToday  10:18 pm JST

Then why write, 'The Japanese government does not officially deny the existence of Unit 731.' in the first place. 

Because you and others seem to erroneously believe that the J-govt denies the existence of Unit 731. This is simply not true. Nothing more to discuss with your word games.

'Documentary' maybe I could understand, but 'movie'?!?! Makes it sound more like entertainment.

And just how by showing this to Chinese audiences will it contribute to world peace? "The light of peace shining on the journey of human civilizations"... what?

The Holocaust has made it to the big screen in dozens of films, many of critical acclaim.

The abuses in China are really no different, thus worthy of a wider audience.

Denying the past, sweeping it under the rug and/or pretending it didn't happen certainly won't contribute to world peace... that's for sure.

Personally I would like to see more realistic movies about World War 2 that include the following.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_mutilation_of_Japanese_war_dead

https://allthatsinteresting.com/firebombing-of-tokyo

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden

But the winners write history. So all we only get is John Wayne goodness and justifications as to way such was all good.

"A Chinese movie featuring the Imperial Japanese Army's notorious Unit 731 is expected to be released in China this summer, according to local media reports, with the Japanese government worried about a possible negative impact from the film on bilateral ties."

Well, hey, I know what to do! Just deny it and then visit Yasukuni.

OssanAmerica: "Because you and others seem to erroneously believe that the J-govt denies the existence of Unit 731. This is simply not true. Nothing more to discuss with your word games"

You're right, Ossan. After years and years of denial it even existed, once the right-winger Abe flew in a jet with teh numbers 731 intentionally put on it, they had to acknowledge the unit. However, what you fail to point out is how the J-govt and media depicts the unit as one carrying out valuable health research. Meanwhile, a survivor of the unit who wished to show an exhibit on the truth of what they did, I believe his name was Shimizu, was shut down by the government who basically said, "don't paint Japan in a bad light", and he's had his life threatened for trying to tell the truth, much like your "nothing more to discuss" because you once again don't want to discuss the facts. We all know you have said time and again that Korean sex slaves were "well-paid prostitutes" and all that, so it's no surprise you don't want the truth to be talked about here either.

Anyway, going to be fun watching Japanese "731 delegates" go around the world and demand the movie not be played.

Just to reopen old wounds.

What's the point ??

And let us not forget, since we are all interested in reliving history:

https://sttpml.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/JAPANESE-BIOLOGICAL-WARFARE-ATROCITIES-AND-THE-U.pdf

"the State-War-Navy Department's Sub-Committee for the Far East concluded in a report dated August 1, 1947:

'Experiments on human beings similar to those conducted by the Ishii group have been condemned as war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the trial of major Nazi war criminals in its decision handed down at Nuremberg on September 30, 1946. This Government is at present prosecuting leading German Scientists and medical doctors at Nuremberg for offenses which included experiments on human beings which resulted in the suffering and death of most of those experimented on. ... [Nevertheless] The value to the U.S. of Japanese B(io)W(eapons) data is of such importance to national security as to far outweigh the value accruing from war crimes' prosecution.'"

Let's make a movie about this too.

GaijinjlandMay 7 08:14 pm JST

The general public in China had no idea about unit 731 at the time. The Americans made sure to suppress it for decades - they wanted to study the “research” first for their own purposes.

Not just the US, either: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khabarovsk_war_crimes_trials

A Japanese government source expressed concern over the film's release, saying it could "rekindle rows over history" between the two Asian neighbors and negatively affect bilateral relations.

Translation: Japan doesn't want the world to be reminded of all the atrocities it committed during WWII. Just because their history textbooks glosses over all the horrific acts the Japanese army committed during this time, doesn't mean that the rest of the world forgot. Aside from the film actually looking pretty decent, it'll serve as a reminder that Japan isn't infallible. Maybe it might even get the Japanese government to start making amends though I doubt it.

Not from either country but I do wish to learn about what happened. You would think it would be more beneficial to both to work together on making a movie about it. Like China asking Japan for permission at least. It is leaves a negative impact on the world when a country covers the worst parts of it's history

 It is leaves a negative impact on the world when a country covers the worst parts of it's history

And when I say this I'm not advocating for Musk to go out and about acting like 2025 Hitler, I'm saying don't hide what the person did and try to pretend it never happened

A better story would about Japan's routine USE of biological weapons in China. During the war, Japan did a lot more than experiment -- it was the only country to use biological weapons on cities and battlieds, many times and to great effect. Naturally, today's Japan still hasn't acknowledged that. Too busy playing victim over Hiroshima.