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 thousands of prisoners of war and civilians were tortured to death over the course of years.

  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」

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