War crimes in Manchukuo were committed during the rule of theEmpire of Japan innortheast China, either directly, or through itspuppet state ofManchukuo, from 1931 to 1945. Variouswar crimes took placed, but have received comparatively little historical attention.
Although the Empire of Japan did not sign theGeneva Conventions, which have provided the standard definition of war crimes since 1864, the crimes committed fall under other aspects of international and Japanese law. For example, many of the alleged crimes committed by Japanese personnel broke Japanesemilitary law, and were not subject tocourt martial, as required by that law.[1] Japan also violated signed international agreements, including provisions of theTreaty of Versailles such as a ban on the use ofchemical weapons, and theHague Conventions (1899 and 1907), which protectprisoners of war (POWs). The Japanese government also signed theKellogg–Briand Pact (1929), thereby rendering its actions in 1937-45 liable to charges ofcrimes against peace, a charge that was introduced at theTokyo Trials to prosecute "Class A" war criminals. "Class B" war criminals were those found guilty of war crimesper se, and "Class C" war criminals were those guilty ofcrimes against humanity. The Japanese government also accepted the terms set by thePotsdam Declaration (1945) after the end of the war. The declaration alluded, in Article 10, to two kinds of war crime: one was the violation of international laws, such as the abuse ofprisoners of war; the other was obstructing "democratic tendencies among the Japanese people" andcivil liberties within Japan.
In Japan, the term "Japanese war crimes" generally only refers to cases tried by theInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East, also known as theTokyo Trials, following the end of thePacific War. However, the tribunal did not prosecute war crimes allegations involving mid-ranking officers or more junior personnel. Those were dealt with separately in trials held in China and in the Soviet Union after thesurrender of Japan.
TheOroqen suffered a significant population decline under Japanese rule. The Japanese distributed opium among them and subjected some members of the community to human experiments, and combined with incidents of epidemic diseases this caused their population to decline until only 1,000 remained.[2][3] The Japanese banned Oroqen from communicating with other ethnicities, and forced them to hunt animals for them in exchange for rations and clothing which were sometimes insufficient for survival, which led to deaths from starvation and exposure. Opium was distributed to Oroqen adults older than 18 as a means of control. After 2 Japanese troops were killed in Alihe by an Oroqen hunter, the Japanese poisoned 40 Oroqen to death.[4] The Japanese forced Oroqen to fight for them in the war which led to a population decrease of Oroqen people.[5] Even those Oroqen who avoided direct control by the Japanese found themselves facing conflict from anti-Japanese forces of the Chinese Communists, which contributed to their population decline during this period.[4]
Between 1931 and 1945, theHezhen population declined by 80% or 90%, due to heavy opium use and deaths from Japanese cruelty, such as slave labor and relocation by the Japanese.[6]
Special Japanese military units conducted experiments on civilians and POWs in Manchukuo. One of the most infamous wasUnit 731. Victims were subjected tovivisection without anesthesia, and were used to testbiological weapons, among other experiments.[7]
Between 3,000 and 12,000 men, women, and children died during human experimentation conducted by Unit 731.[8][9]
According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, EmperorHirohito authorized the use ofchemical weapons in China.[10] Furthermore, "tens of thousands, and perhaps as many 200,000, Chinese died ofbubonic plague,cholera,anthrax and other diseases", resulting from the use ofbiological warfare. Although owing to systematic Japanese destruction of records, there is no record of chemical or biological weapons in Manchukuo itself, theseweapons of mass destruction were partly researched, produced, and stockpiled in Manchukuo by theKwantung Army.
The Japanese military's use offorced labor also caused many deaths. According to a joint study of historians Zhifen Ju, Mitsuyochi Himeta, Toru Kubo andMark Peattie, more than 10 million Chinese civilians were mobilized for forced labor in Manchukuo under the supervision of theKōa-in.[11]
Forced laborers were often assigned work in dangerous conditions without adequate safety precautions. The world's deadliestmine disaster, atBenxihu Colliery, occurred in Manchukuo.
In 2007, an article by Reiji Yoshida in theJapan Times argued that the Japanese investments in Manchukuo were partly financed byselling drugs. According to the article, a document claimed to have been found by Yoshida directly implicated the Kōa-in in providing funds to drug dealers in China for the benefit of the puppet governments of Manchukuo, Nanjing and Mongolia.[12] This document corroborates evidence analyzed earlier by theTokyo tribunal which stated that
Japan's real purpose in engaging drug traffic was far more sinister than even the debauchery of Chinese people. Japan, having signed and ratified the opium conventions, was bound not to engage in drug traffic, but she found in the alleged but false independence of Manchukuo a convenient opportunity to carry on a worldwide drug traffic and cast the guilt upon that puppet state ... In 1937, it was pointed out in theLeague of Nations that 90% of all illicit white drugs in the world were of Japanese origin ...[13]
In late 1949, numerous members of the former Kwantung Army who had been captured in theSoviet invasion of Manchuria were convicted in connection with the activities of Unit 731, and related units for their connections with crimes against humanity and the use of chemical and biological weapons.
TheInternational Military Tribunal for the Far East convicted a number of high Japanese officials in connection with theinvasion of Manchuria,establishment of Manchukuo and withconspiracy to wage aggressive war against China. Those sentenced to death with strong connections to Manchukuo included senior officers in the Kwantung ArmyHideki Tōjō,Akira Mutō,Seishirō Itagaki andKenji Doihara.
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