General Ishii Shiro: His legacy is that of genius and madman (Japan).

摘要

This paper covers the development of the chemical weapons division founded by Ishii Shiro, and discusses the horrible experimentation that was done by the Japanese. These experiments have been a source of controversy. The Chinese feel the Japanese should acknowledge these as war crimes. When the Japanese left Manchuria, they left the world's largest chemical waste dump behind, and even to this day the government refuses to admit the actions of Unit 731. The information on biological warfare that the Japanese discovered during the experimentation in China later was used as a negotiation tool with the United States to secure their freedom and gain immunity from prosecution for General Ishii Shiro and his men. This paper will show the evolution of Japanese biological warfare during WWII using research obtained from a wide range of documents, books, newspapers, and journal articles, as well as documents found at the National Archives.