A scholar has discovered new evidence of biological experiments performed by Japanese troops during their invasion of China.
A confidential report from Unit 731, established by the Japanese to conduct chemical and bacteriological experiments on prisoners of war and Chinese civilians in northeastern China, was uncovered by Professor Matsumura Takao in a storeroom in Keio University's medical library, China News Service said.
The 900-page report was a dissertation on bubonic plague bacteria, written by Takahashi Masahiko, an assistant officer of the Japanese Imperial Army who was in charge of the bubonic plague military research unit.
The notorious research team also produced germs such as typhoid, anthrax, cholera and other infectious diseases.
The report reveals details of bacterial tests on humans carried out by Japanese troops in Nong'an county of Changchun city, Jilin province in the 1940s. Bubonic plague broke out in Nong'an county in 1940, killing hundreds of civilians.
The report indicated that the Japanese taskforce had examined methods of accelerating the spread of bubonic plague bacteria through rats.
'More infected rats should be released so that the plague spreads faster,' the report said.