Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department

The Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department was a department of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1936 to the dissolution of the Army in 1945. While its public mission was to prevent the spread of disease and monitor water supply, several field armies also assigned units the mission of manufacturing biological weapons.^[1] Many units also performed unethical human experimentation, such as Unit 731, in which tens of thousands of prisoners of war and civilians were tortured to death over the course of years.

Active1932–1945

Country

Empire of Japan

BranchImperial Japanese Army

TypeBiological warfare units

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Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department
Bōeki Kyūsui-Bu (防疫給水部)
Active	1932–1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Biological warfare units
Weapons	Anthrax, glanders, plague
Engagements	Second Sino-Japanese War Battle of Changde Ningbo plague attack Nanshitou massacre Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	Shiro Ishii Masaji Kitano Yujiro Wakamatsu

Organization

The department was organized under the following system:

Unit 691 was under control of the Kwantung Army.
- The central office of Unit 691 was Unit 731, infamous for its secret commitment to chemical and biological weapons and performing human experimentation. It had several branches, all of which were involved with biological warfare research:^[2]
  - Unit 162 (Linkou)
  - Unit 643 (Hailin)
  - Unit 673 (Sunwu)
  - Unit 319 was another sub-unit, which apparently were principally devoted to water purification.^[3]
Unit 1855 (Beijing) was under control of the Japanese Northern China Area Army and performed human experimentation.^[4]
Unit Ei 1644 or Tama Unit (Nanjing) was under control of the Japanese Central China Area Army and performed human experimentation.^[5]^[6]
- 12 different sub-Units (Unknown names) (Unknown locations)^[2]^: 307
Unit 8604 or Nami Unit (Guangzhou) was under control of the Japanese Southern China Area Army and performed human experimentation.^[7]
Unit 9420 or Oka Unit (Singapore), under control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group and probably performed human experimentation.^[8]
- Unit (Unknown name) (Dairen)^[2]^: 313
- Unit 543 (Hailar)^[2]^: 313
Unit 516 (Qiqihar)
- Unit 525
- Unit 526
Unit 160, possibly a typo (referring to unit 100).^[2]^: 243

The 1996 book Germ Warfare Units (細菌戦部隊) contains testimonies that all of these units engaged in biological weapon development.^[9]

Equipment

Each office was equipped with water purification facilities and trucks to transport water to where it was needed. The water filtration equipment was designed by Shirō Ishii of Unit 731.^[10]

References

[1]
『在満兵備充実ニ関スル意見』(April 23, 1936), a document addressed by Kwantung Army chief of staff Seishirō Itagaki to army general Yoshijirō Umezu. 「其三、在満部隊ノ新設及増強改編」の項目第二十三には「関東軍防疫部の新設増強予定計画の如く昭和十一年度に於いて急性伝染病の防疫対策実施および流行する不明疾患其他特種の調査研究ならびに細菌戦準備の為関東軍防疫部を新設す又在満部隊の増加等に伴い昭和十三年度の以降其一部を拡充す関東軍防疫部の駐屯地は哈爾賓附近とす」
[2]
Materials on the Trial of Former Servicemen of the Japanese Army Charged With Manufacturing and Employing Bacteriological Weapons. Foreign Languages Publishing House. 1950.
[3]
US Army, Report, Review of Bacteriological and Chemical Warfare Planning, July 9, 1958, Top Secret, NARA. Weapons of Mass Destruction (Report). doi:10.1163/9789004346673.wmdo-05_053.
[4]
Harris, PhD, Sheldon H. (2003), "Japanese Biomedical Experimentation During the World War II Era" (PDF), Military Medical Ethics Volume 2, Office of The Surgeon General Department of the Army, United States of America, p. 487, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2015-09-20
[5]
Gold, Hal (2004). Unit 731 Testimony. Tuttle Publishing. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8048-3565-7.
[6]
Harris, PhD, Sheldon H. (2003), "Japanese Biomedical Experimentation During the World War II Era" (PDF), Military Medical Ethics Volume 2, Office of The Surgeon General Department of the Army, United States of America, p. 484, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2015-09-20
[7]
Harris, PhD, Sheldon H. (2003), "Japanese Biomedical Experimentation During the World War II Era" (PDF), Military Medical Ethics Volume 2, Office of The Surgeon General Department of the Army, United States of America, p. 477, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2015-09-20
[8]
Harris, PhD, Sheldon H. (2003), "Japanese Biomedical Experimentation During the World War II Era" (PDF), Military Medical Ethics Volume 2, Office of The Surgeon General Department of the Army, United States of America, pp. 481–482, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2015-09-20
[9]
「細菌戦部隊」晩聲社 (1996/08). ISBN 489188259X
[10]
関亮『軍医サンよもやま物語―軍医診療アラカルト』光人社〈光人社NF文庫〉、1997年。

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