STORY: Repentance of a former Unit 731 Youth Corps member
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Sept. 18, 2024
LENGTH: 00:07:31
LOCATION: HARBIN, China
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Hideo Shimizu in Japan
2. various of footage of Unit 731
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
6. SOUNDBITE 4 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
7. SOUNDBITE 5 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
8. SOUNDBITE 6 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
9. various of Hideo Shimizu arriving in China
10. SOUNDBITE 7 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
11. various of Hideo Shimizu at Unit 731's headquarters in China
12. SOUNDBITE 8 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
13. SOUNDBITE 9 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
14. SOUNDBITE 10 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
15. SOUNDBITE 11 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731 
STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE 1 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"There were specimens of children, and even specimens of fetuses inside their mothers' wombs. More than one." 
Hideo Shimizu was a Japanese veteran who served in Unit 731, a notorious Japanese germ warfare unit during World War II.

Unit 731 was a top-secret warfare research base established in China's Harbin as the nerve center for Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during World War II.

At least 3,000 people were used in human experiments by Unit 731, while over 300,000 people in China were killed by Japan's biological weapons.

After a 79-year hiatus, Shimizu returned to China in August this year to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the invading Japanese forces and to offer sincere repentance and apologies to the victims.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"I truly believe that Unit 731 committed inhumane atrocities. Many of those who died there were innocent children."

At a press conference in Iida City, Japan, in August, Shimizu recalled why he wanted to visit China to pray for the deceased and apologize to their families.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"It is a painful memory. I don't really want to talk about it, but when I think of all the Chinese people who were killed, I feel I'm obligated to speak out. At the time, I was wondering, why couldn't Japan and China live in peace?"

In 1945, as part of the last group of Unit 731 Youth Corps members, Shimizu spent over four months in Harbin. On Aug. 14 of the same year, he fled China alongside his defeated unit

It was not until 2016 that Shimizu publicly revealed his involvement with Unit 731, dedicating himself thereafter to exposing the unit's war crimes and educating the public about this dark chapter of history.

SOUNDBITE 4 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"Although my remorse and repentance to the victims of Unit 731 may be insignificant, I have indeed done it."

SOUNDBITE 5 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"Some say that when we fled China (in 1945), we released plague-infected rats. I want to know how much harm that caused to the people of Harbin. When I looked at my own children when they were young, I couldn't help but remember what I saw in that specimen room (of Unit 731)."

SOUNDBITE 6 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"I was hesitant about whether to go back to Harbin or not. Would it be better not to come? The Japanese society has many opinions about this. My biggest worry is that, after all, I was a former member of Unit 731. I have plenty of worries, and face all kinds of criticism."

SOUNDBITE 7 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"We must acknowledge it correctly. For the sake of the next generation, Japan should send a message of peace to the world."

On Aug. 13, Shimizu visited the former site of Unit 731's headquarters building in Harbin, including the office of the unit commander, the specimen room, and the site of the frostbite laboratory.

He recalled that when he was a Unit 731 Youth Corps member, he was ordered to collect the bones of prisoners who were used as experimental subjects.

SOUNDBITE 8 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"As soon as I entered this specimen room (in 1945), I smelled the pungent odor of formalin. I could only take a cursory look around and (saw) specimens of pregnant women with fetuses inside their wombs."

SOUNDBITE 9 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"I was taken to the specimen room. Before we went in, the supervising officer said that if you wanted to be a surgeon, you needed to have dissected at least three bodies."

SOUNDBITE 10 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"I sincerely express my deepest apologies. I mourn for the victims who had passed away. Our atrocities brought immense suffering to the Chinese victims, and for that, we are profoundly sorry."

SOUNDBITE 11 (Japanese): HIDEO SHIMIZU, Former member of Japanese germ-warfare Unit 731
"I hope that part of my remorse and repentance could reach the victims. We must tell the true history of Unit 731, and never let war happen again."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Harbin, China.
(XHTV)