Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare, 1932-45 and the American Cover-Up 2nd Edition

Visceral. These guys got away with it all. Sad. No reparations for Chinese and Allied victims. Sadder.

This was something I did not know about. A lot in history about the Germans not so much about the Japanese. It is interesting in how much America posts about the Nazis and how little they talk about the Japanese

great book

I read this book because, frankly, my knowledge of this subject is weak. I know some about the Japanese Unit 731, but not much compared to the reading I have done on the Nazi's similar nefarious efforts.

The book does impart a good amount of information, but is not that well-written. If it were not for some references to 1990's events, I would swear this was a book out of the 1950's. Not that folks did not write great stuff in the 1950's, but the book's organization and style are, well, old-fashioned (??). Its not a good enough book to be 5 stars, and the writing quality takes it down to 3 stars. That said, I would suggest it to readers who have a definite interest in the Japanese BW efforts, and the U.S. giving them a Cold War "pass".

This is "the other" good book on Unit 731 and the bacteriological warfare research and development secret Japanese program (focused mainly in occupied Manchuria and Northern China, mainly in the 30's) that included (or rather consisted of) large-scale laboratory experimentation on humans doomed to die (sometimes after being vivisected, with a little anesthesia as an option that could be easily dispensed with).

How many men, women and children died directly in lab experimentation? Difficult to answer: probably between five and fifteen thousand. How many during field testing on unaware civilian communities? The best guess is to double the previous range. How many died in real combat? We can safely double once more the range, noting by the way that some hundreds if not thousands of them were Japanese soldiers.

Who ordered and lavishly funded this program? The highest military brass, militarist extreme right-wing Japanese politicians and bureaucrats, perhaps the Imperial House, even the Showa Emperor Hirohito himself.
Who did the dirty job? The almost totality of the brightest physicians and biological experts of the country's elite Universities (but they didn't think that the job was dirty at all, just a very well-paid one).
Who was in command of the operation? A named Ishii, Shiro, a noted bacteriologist and a junior Lt. Col. when it all began, who ended his military career (but not his extravagant way of life) with militaty distinctions awarded by the Emperor himself, as the only Lt. General ever to come out from the Medical Corps.

How many of these men were brought on trial on war-crime charges? NIL, zero. Why? It's one of the most interesting questions on this bloody, mind-boggling business, and the book answers it well and directly enough.
Has the Japanese Government acknowledged that these events ever took place? NIL, no. Why? They can't care less about some thousand "human beings" (so to speak: during the Manchurian and Chinese "incidents" they were routinely spoken of as "logs" or, in one of the facilities, "experimental material") of clearly inferior races.

Has any US government acknowledged that these events ever took place? NIL, no. Why? They had to protect at all costs (and there were high costs involved, indeed) all the "medical" data that the Japanese war criminals intelligently traded for immunity from prosecution and living well paid lives on Government and private funding (I recommend you to read my review on the competing book "Unit 731: Testimony" by Hal Gold, so I can dispense with some long explanations).

If you started reading this, it means that the above data were to some extent known to you, unlike many of your countrymen. Turning therefore to this particular book ("Factories of Death") it will remain, probably forever, the "definitive" historical reference on the whole subject. It's written by a qualified historian, and it's rather thicker than the competition (some 385 pages of a much larger format). The story is well told, even if sometimes it seems twice-told: there is some amount of repetition, not as a cut-and paste affair, but trying to keep the reader on track with repeated contextual information. Every possible detail has been meticulously researched as far as possible and then more. The writing is fluid, but it's not a page-turner either, partly by the monstrosities it implies, partly for all the painstaking historical detail (probably TOO MUCH detail for non professional readers). One gets accustomed to skipping the end-of-chapter notes, with let's say 84 of them in small type, that give the references to the most abstruse documents and sources, even for the seasoned historian. Yes, there are some more pictures than in Hal Gold shorter and simpler book, but this really doesn't count as an advantage.

A honest, serious, rather balanced book it is, the scholarly work of a dedicated professional historian. A book that almost commends itself. If you want all the damned available details about this history, please don't hesitate to buy this very good book (by the way, signature-sewn rather than mass-market paperback, and with a 250-year life acid-free paper). If you, on the other hand, aren't very fond of abstruse bibliographical notes, and want a straightforward summary account, then Hal Gold's is your book, easier on your pocket and on your brain, but surely not on your heart.

Professor Harris wrote this important book on the forgotten topic of Japanese germ/chemical warfare in WWII China. Unit 731 in Manchuria was the most important one in terms of research and human experiment. He elaborated a lot of details in different Units but did not quote Chinese statistics of germ/chemical warfare victims. A case in point was the Doolittle Tokyo Raid, whose team flew to the China coast where Chinese civilians risked their lives in protecting the US pilots back to Chungking. Mr Moon Chin of San Francisco (still living in 2013) piloted Doolittle to Kun Ming and back to US. The Japanese military angry on this protection killed a quarter million Chinese by germ/chemical warfare. The Chinese were invited and came to the Ohio Raiders Reunion in 2012.

American POWs were subjected to Unit 731 medical experiment as documented in the book "Guests of the Emperor". However, at the Tokyo Trial, there were not much talk on this topic. It was conveniently lost in international politics. Worst of all, it was covered in secret deal in scientific research, moral and national dignity. Japan flew thousands of balloon bombs which landed in the west coasts in Canada and US. They are still lethal.

The anthrax threat of 2001 reminded of the danger of germ warfare. Is the material from the Japanese stock?

Reading this book help understand the horror of WW II Japanese research history at the expenses of human especially Allied POWs. This chapter is not closed as many Allied POWs and Chinese survivors still suffered physically and mentally since 1942. Their left over chemical weapons in Manchuria in hundreds and thousands are still lethal. Will Japan take the responsibility to clean up to prevent further pain and suffering? Unit 731: Japan's Secret Biological Warfare in World War II Guests of the Emperor: The Secret History of Japan's Mukden POW Camp History -- Unit 731: Nightmare in Manchuria