STORY: Japan's Unit 731: Ongoing cover-up of horrific experiments on humans
DATELINE: Sept. 3, 2023
LENGTH: 00:05:47 
LOCATION: Tokyo
CATEGORY: POLITICS/MILITARY

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): MASAKUNI KURUMIZAWA, Former Unit 731 member
2. various of Noboru Kubota
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): NOBORU KUBOTA, Former Chairman of Iida City Peace Material Collection Committee
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Japanese): AKIRA YOSHIZAWA, Member of Iida City Peace Material Collection Committee
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (Japanese): HIDEO MOTOJIMA, Director of the Social Education Department, Iida City Board of Education
6. various of street views in Japan
7. SOUNDBITE 5 (Japanese): FUMIO HARA, Former President, Research Society for 15 years War and Japanese Medical Science and Service
8. SOUNDBITE 6 (Japanese): NOBORU KUBOTA, Former Chairman of Iida City Peace Material Collection Committee

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): MASAKUNI KURUMIZAWA, Former Unit 731 member
"'Marutas' were human beings used for human experiments. My vivisection record was 300 bodies. The tragedy has already happened. It is my wish to expose these things for future reference."

This was the first public speech delivered by Masakuni Kurumizawa, a former member of the notorious Japanese germ warfare army Unit 731, in 1991.

He not only shared his own vivisection experiences within the unit, but also made public surgical instruments and documents he had secretly taken back from the unit.

What motivated him to reveal his identity was a retired teacher in the local community, 93-year-old Noboru Kubota.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): NOBORU KUBOTA, Former Chairman of Iida City Peace Material Collection Committee
"(Kurumizawa told me), 'that was something normal people couldn't do, but I did it. I am no longer human. I hope these tools can be used to tell young people about real history.'"

Since 1991, it has been Kubota's greatest dream to set up a permanent exhibition displaying artifacts and testimonies from Unit 731 members to let more people know about real history.

In 2022, funded by the Iida City government, the peace memorial museum was finally completed.

However, just before the opening ceremony, the local board of education ordered a halt to any exhibitions related to Unit 731.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Japanese): AKIRA YOSHIZAWA, Member of Iida City Peace Material Collection Committee
"Although ordinary people can see the sign that reads 'Unit 731' here, but without an introduction panel, it is totally impossible for them to understand what on earth the unit did.
In order to prevent war from happening again, we must understand the horrors of war and inform everyone about Japan's cruel actions.  
In regards to war, it does not work if one knows only about [sufferings as victims] but stays unaware of Japan's overseas atrocities.
This is the original intention behind our efforts for peace.
This is the second exhibition area, titled 'The Horrors of War.' It prominently displays items brought back by a former Unit 731 member when he fled back to Japan before its defeat in World War II.
We had previously made summary panels detailing what Unit 731 did, including the explanations of the initiation of bacteriological warfare and human experiments on prisoners of war.
However, the board of education at Iida City told us, 'Wait a moment, you can't display this.' Both the 'Unit 731' and 'Nanjing Massacre' were removed. This is why we are furious. If we don't reveal more about the truth, if we don't speak of the actual history of aggression, no one will learn about the truth."

SOUNDBITE 4 (Japanese): HIDEO MOTOJIMA, Director of the Social Education Department, Iida City Board of Education
"We have received many similar complaints from the public. As for which items are suitable for display in the city-built peace memorial museum, we are still exploring."

The board argued that, according to a 2003 response in Japan's National Diet, although the Japanese government acknowledges the existence of Unit 731, it does not acknowledge the fact that the unit engaged in bacteriological warfare.
This was the basis for removing the exhibition boards. 
But in reality, as early as 2002, the Tokyo District Court ruled that Unit 731 had used bacteriological weapons on the Chinese battlefield, an official judgment from the Japanese government.

SOUNDBITE 5 (Japanese): FUMIO HARA, Former President, Research Society for 15 years War and Japanese Medical Science and Service
"This concealment of history is not limited to Iida City. It has gradually spread nationwide. Schools nowadays do not teach about Japan's wartime perpetrations. Even a place dedicated to social education like the memorial museum is stuck with difficulties in exhibiting Japan's negative history."

A survey conducted in Japan showed that among 85 exhibition halls nationwide related to WWII history, only 30 percent routinely display Japan's past of war aggression. None of these exhibitions include the Unit 731 history.

SOUNDBITE 6 (Japanese): NOBORU KUBOTA, Former Chairman of Iida City Peace Material Collection Committee
"Hiding history, slowly forgetting it until it disappears... that's what they expect. The nation's attitude of letting true history vanish is fully evident in the acts of the Iida City Board of Education. We must never let real history disappear."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tokyo.
(XHTV)