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Dark past of Japan’s Unit 731 buried under airport expansion

Dark past of Japan’s Unit 731 buried under airport expansion
South China Morning Post Saturday 31 October 2026, 01:30 UTC By Julian Ryall 1 min read
Key Points

A village that sent hundreds of men to one of imperial Japan’s most notorious wartime units is being demolished to make way for a runway at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Unit 731 carried out lethal experiments on captives, many of them Chinese, to develop biological weapons during the second world war. Around 300 of its roughly 3,000 personnel came from Kamo, a neighbourhood in Shibayama town, Chiba prefecture, east of the capital.

A village that sent hundreds of men to one of imperial Japan’s most notorious wartime units is being demolished to make way for a runway at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Unit 731 carried out lethal experiments on captives, many of them Chinese, to develop biological weapons during the second world war. Around 300 of its roughly 3,000 personnel came from Kamo, a neighbourhood in Shibayama town, Chiba prefecture, east of the capital. Its founder and commander, Lieutenant General Shiro...
Japan (LOCATION) Tokyo (LOCATION) Narita International Airport (LOCATION) Chinese (ORG) Kamo (PERSON) Shibayama (LOCATION) Chiba (LOCATION) Shiro (PERSON)
Originally published by South China Morning Post Read original →

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