STORY: New book by Japanese scholar reveals Japan's WWII clandestine warfare truths
SHOOTING TIME: June 29, 2024
DATELINE: July 8, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:27
LOCATION: Tokyo
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Japanese scholar Seiya Matsuno's new book titled "Materials Related to Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Research Institute"
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): SEIYA MATSUNO, Researcher at Meiji Gakuin University's International Peace Research Institute in Japan
3. various of Lugou Bridge in Beijing
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): SEIYA MATSUNO, Researcher at Meiji Gakuin University's International Peace Research Institute in Japan

STORYLINE:

Japanese scholar Seiya Matsuno's new book, revealing Japan's clandestine operations during World War II (WWII), was officially published on Sunday.
  
Titled "Materials Related to Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Research Institute," the book includes 125 documents and over 1,500 original historical records meticulously compiled by Matsuno, a researcher at Meiji Gakuin University's International Peace Research Institute in Japan.
   
Over the past five years, Matsuno has conducted extensive research, uncovering over 100 historical documents related to the Noborito Research Institute, an imperial Japanese army laboratory focused on clandestine warfare.

Source materials for the book primarily come from the National Archives of Japan, the Defense Ministry's National Institute for Defense Studies, the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Edo-Tokyo Museum, among others.
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): SEIYA MATSUNO, Researcher at Meiji Gakuin University's International Peace Research Institute in Japan
"The Noborito Research Institute was an institute for Japan's clandestine warfare research (during WWII).
For instance, it conducted research on the tools required for assassination, sabotage, and espionage, as well as the creation of balloon bombs and counterfeit currency. The focus of the institute was on these clandestine aspects of warfare."

On July 7, 1937, Japanese troops attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing.

The incident is recognized as the start of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and China's whole-nation resistance against the Japanese invaders.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): SEIYA MATSUNO, Researcher at Meiji Gakuin University's International Peace Research Institute in Japan
"July 7 holds a somber significance. Choosing this very day to publish the book embodies my heartfelt wish that the unfortunate history should never be repeated."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Tokyo.
(XHTV)