Shirō Ishii
Surgeon General Shirō Ishii (Japanese: 石井 四郎, Hepburn: Ishii Shirō, [iɕiː ɕiɾoː]; June 25, 1892 – October 9, 1959) was a Japanese war criminal, microbiologist and army medical officer who was the director of Unit 731, a biological warfare unit of the Imperial Japanese Army. Ishii led the development and application of biological weapons at Unit 731 in Manchukuo during the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, including the bubonic plague attacks at Chinese cities of Changde and Ningbo, and planned the Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night biological attack against the United States.
Shirō Ishii | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 石井 四郎 |
| Born | June 25, 1892 Shibayama, Chiba, Empire of Japan |
| Died | October 9, 1959 (aged 67) Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service/ | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1921–1945 |
| Rank | Surgeon general (lieutenant-general) |
| Commands held | Unit 731, Kwantung Army |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Golden Kite, Fourth Class |
Ishii and his colleagues also engaged in human experimentation, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 subjects, most of them civilians or prisoners of war. In total, 300,000 people were killed by Japanese biological warfare. Ishii was later granted immunity in the International Military Tribunal for the Far East by the United States government in exchange for information and research for the U.S. biological warfare program.