A Japanese officer practices using his bayonet on a Chinese villager. (Courtesy of NNBD)
Unit 731's Exploration of Chemical Experimentation
Sections of Unit 731's Divisions 1 and 2 developed and tested chemical weapons for Japan. Scientists were responsible for the mass production of toxins and gases (such as mustard and phosgene gas) which were tested on nearby Chinese villages.
"I became a seventy pound skeleton. They gave us shots, and sprays in the face"- James, former Unit 731 POW who was subjected to toxin experiments
Weapons Testing
Humans used to test grenades and flame throwers developed by Unit 731. Humans were tied to stakes and used as targets to test germ releasing bombs and explosive bombs. Porcelain bombs were also used to study the chemical effects on the targets.
"There were always 2,000 or 3,000 logs [people] prepared. There were two burning places and there were always burning dead bodies,” - Shoichi Matsumoto, a Unit 731 bomber pilot.
Other Chemical Experiments
The tests include deprivation of food and water to determine the amount of time until death, being placed into high-pressure chambers until death, experimentation to determine the relationship between temperature, burns, and human survival, being placed into centrifuges where victims were spun until death, injection with animal blood, being exposed to doses of x-rays, being subjected to various chemical weapons inside gas chambers, injection with sea water, and being burned or buried alive.
"Unit 731 members testing chlorine gas." (Courtesy of A Green Road)