Confession reveals Japanese bacteria, poison gas testing on human

The Japanese army performed bacterial and poison gas experiments on Chinese people during World War II, a confession by a Japanese war criminal released Tuesday revealed.

The State Archives Administration (SAA) published the confession of Kiyokazu Hiranaka, born in Japan in 1895, joined the war against China in 1933 and was captured in August 1945.

Hiranaka ordered the Kwantung Army to spread bacteria in northeast China's Jilin Province, killing about 1,000 Chinese people in October 1934.

According to the confession, from September to October 1935, the Kwantung Army conducted poison gas exercises in Jilin, during which about 20 Chinese people detained in prisons in northeastern China, were "used for poison gas testing."

In October 1943, Hiranaka arrested, tortured and sent four Chinese people to the Ishii Unit in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province for to be the subject of bacteriological experiments.

Hiranaka also admitted his participation in arresting over 100 Chinese people. He tortured or executed dozens of them.

Tuesday's confession was the 15th of a series of 31 written statements by Japanese war criminals published on the SAA website in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. Endi