Unit 100
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was an
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
facility called the Kwantung Army Warhorse Disease Prevention Shop that focused on the development of biological weapons during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was operated by the Kempeitai, the Japanese
military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
. Its headquarters was located in Mokotan,
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
, a village just south of the city of
Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...
. It had branches in Dairen and
Hailar Hailar District, formerly a county-level city, is an urban district that serves as the seat of the prefecture-level city Hulunbuir in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Hulunbuir, due to its massive size, is a city in administrative terms only, ...
. The Hailar branch was later transferred to
Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...
. Between 600 and 800 people worked at Unit 100.


Organization

Unit 100 had six sections. # Bacteriological section # Pathological section # Animal Experimentation # Organic chemistry # Botanical, and plant pathology. Poisoning, or infecting, plants with the help of bacteria. # Preparations for bacteriological warfare


Mission

The main purpose of Unit 100 was to conduct research about diseases originating from animals. As most armies were still heavily dependent on horses, the
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
hoped to find ways to kill them and therefore to weaken military power. Furthermore, they hoped to spread disease via animal carriers. To this end, former members claim that experiments were also conducted with human beings. In practice, Unit 731 was the group tasked with developing biological weapons against humans. Although smaller than Unit 731, Unit 100 was still a large organization. Its annual bacteria production capacity was projected to reach 1,000 kg of
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...
, 500 kg of glanders, and 100 kg of red
rust (fungus) Rusts are plant diseases caused by pathogenic fungi of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales). An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus ''Puccinia'', are currently a ...
. The goal was never reached, due to equipment shortages. Senior Sgt. Kazuo Mitomo described some of Unit 100's human experiments: :"I put as much as a gram of
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
into some porridge and gave this porridge to an arrested Chinese citizen who ate it; about 20 minutes later he lost consciousness and remained in that state until he died 15-16 hours later. We knew that such a dose of heroin is fatal, but it did not make any difference to us whether he died or lived. On some of the prisoners I experimented 5-6 times, testing the action of Korean bindweed, bactal and castor oil seeds. One of the prisoners of Russian nationality became so exhausted from the experiments that no more could be performed on him, and Matsui ordered me to kill that Russian by giving him an injection of
potassium cyanide Potassium cyanide is a compound with the formula KCN. This colorless crystalline salt, similar in appearance to sugar, is highly soluble in water. Most KCN is used in gold mining, organic synthesis, and electroplating. Smaller applications includ ...
. After the injection, the man died at once. Bodies were buried in the unit's cattle cemetery." Unit chief Yujiro Wakamatsu ordered Hirazakura to purchase hundreds of cattle and put them to pasture along the Siberian border north-east of Hailar, ready to be infected by airborne dispersion. It was hoped that in the event of a Soviet invasion these infected livestock would mingle with local herds to cause epidemics and to destroy food supplies. Unit 100 staff poisoned and drugged Russians, Chinese and Koreans with heroin, castor oil, tobacco and other substances for weeks at a time. Some died during the experimentation. When survivors were determined to no longer be useful for experimentation and were complaining of illness, staff told them they would receive a shot of medicine, but instead executed them with potassium cyanide injections. Executions were also carried out by gunshots.


Capabilities

Unit 100 could produce 1,000 kilograms of anthrax germs, 500 kilograms of glanders germs, and 100 kilograms of redrust germs in a single year.


Members

* Otozō Yamada, Direct controller, 1944-1945 *
Lieutenant General Takahashi A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often s ...
, Chief of the Veterinary Administration of the Kwantung Army * Hirazakura Zensaku, officer of the 1st and 2nd division from July 1942 to December 1943. Was in the 6th division from December 1943 until April 1944. He was then at
Unit 543 Unit 543 was a secret Imperial Japanese Army facility at Hailar that focused on the development of biological weapons during World War II. It was operated by the Kempeitai, the Japanese military police. Hal Gold, Unit 731 Testimony, 2003 See als ...
until the end of the war. * Fukuzumi Mitsuyoshi, doctor * Sakurashita Kiyoshi, civilian employee *
Hataki Akira A is a type of household cleaning tool that originated in Japan. Consisting of durable cloth strips attached to a stick or pole, it is used for moving dust from surfaces onto the floor where it can be swept up or vacuumed. Similar to a feather d ...
, civilian employee * Wakamatsu, Major General of the Veterinary Service


Biological warfare agents

The following potential agents were tested: *'' Yersinia pestis'', which causes
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...
*''
Burkholderia mallei ''Burkholderia mallei'' is a Gram-negative, bipolar, aerobic bacterium, a human and animal pathogen of genus ''Burkholderia'' causing glanders; the Latin name of this disease (''malleus'') gave its name to the species causing it. It is closely re ...
'', which causes Glanders in horses: Kuwabara gave testimony after World War II that Unit 100 released horses infected with Glanders. *''
Bacillus anthracis ''Bacillus anthracis'' is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent ( obligate) pathogen within the genus ''Bacillus''. Its infection is a ...
'', which causes
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...


See also

*
Japanese war crimes The Empire of Japan committed war crimes in many Asian-Pacific countries during the period of Japanese militarism, Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents have b ...
** Unit 731 * Second Sino-Japanese War ** Kwantung Army


References


External links


The Other Holocaust


{{IJA special research units Biological warfare facilities Japanese human subject research Second Sino-Japanese War crimes Japanese biological weapons program Japanese war crimes