Feature: Decades later, Japanese veteran returns China to repent, apologize

OSAKA, Japan, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Hideo Shimizu, a Japanese veteran who served at the notorious Japanese germ warfare army during World War II, found himself standing at the departure gate of Osaka's Kansai International Airport on Monday morning, ready to board a flight to China.

After 79 years, the former Unit 731 Youth Corps member who had just celebrated his 94th birthday, was ready to return to the site that has haunted him for a lifetime -- the Japanese bacteriology unit's sprawling complex in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin, where thousands of Chinese civilians and Allied prisoners of war were killed from the late 1930s to the end of the war, and now the Museum of Evidence of War Crimes by the Japanese Army Unit 731.

Despite facing criticism from Japanese society and battling his own deteriorating health, Shimizu was resolute in confronting the past that he had long sought to atone for. "Regardless of all these concerns, I just want to go to China, putting everything else aside," he told Xinhua in an exclusive interview before he departed from his home in the central Japanese prefecture of Nagano.

"This is my first trip leaving Japan since the war, and also my first time returning to China," Shimizu explained. "Rather than worrying about how the Chinese might react, I'm more concerned that some Japanese politicians would prefer I never made this trip."

In 1945, as part of the last group of Unit 731 Youth Corps members, Shimizu spent over four months in Harbin. On Aug. 14 of the same year, he fled China alongside his defeated unit.

It was not until 2016 that Shimizu publicly revealed his involvement with Unit 731, dedicating himself thereafter to exposing the unit's war crimes and educating the public about this dark chapter of history.

In his memoirs, Shimizu recalls the horrific scenes he experienced in Harbin, including the gruesome task of collecting the charred remains of "marutas," which means "logs" in Japanese, referring to live human beings brought in for experiments.

Shimizu wrote: "On the morning of Aug. 11, 1945, an older soldier remarked: 'There's still smoke.' I believe he was referring to the burning of 'marutas' in the special prison." "On Aug. 12, I entered the special prison to collect the remains of human bones that hadn't fully burned." "On Aug. 13, we loaded our belongings onto trucks, waiting for the order to depart..."

These memories have made him a target of those in Japan who would rather forget or deny the past. "Look at this article from 2017," Shimizu said, pointing out a news story in which a Japanese politician accused him of lying. "He called me an old man completely fabricating stories!"

Faced with doubt and criticism, the veteran stands firm, backing up his claims with irrefutable historical evidence. Shimizu recalled that when they were retreating from China, their superiors ordered them to destroy all evidence related to Unit 731. However, a few materials were still smuggled back to Japan, proving that he had served in the unit.

"The four of us were classmates from the same school in Nagano. We joined the fourth and final group of the Youth Corps together. This photo was secretly brought back from China by one of my classmates," Shimizu took out a group photograph of the Unit 731 Youth Corps, pointing to four people in the last row.

He also displayed various pieces of evidence, including a roster of Unit 731 members that included his name, and three old banknotes issued by the Manchurian Central Bank. "These were the notes issued to us by the unit, which could be used in Harbin. This is the only thing I managed to carry back in my pocket."

Shimizu's stay in Harbin left deep psychological scars. He recounted how the sight of preserved fetuses and children in the specimen room of Unit 731 haunted him throughout his life. "Every time I heard my own child cry at night, I would see those images of the specimen room. It was as if the souls of those lost children were crying out," he said, his eyes welling up with tears.

As he returned to China 79 years later, Shimizu told Xinhua about his two wishes. "One is to sincerely pray for those who perished at the hands of Unit 731 and to apologize to their families, while the other wish is to learn more about the impact of the plague released by the Japanese imperial army in Harbin after the war, a topic on which there is little testimony in Japan."

"After Japan's defeat, they released plague-infected rats... If a person were to contract the plague, I imagine it would be incredibly painful," Shimizu said.

Before setting out, Shimizu made a stop on Saturday afternoon at the Iida City Peace Memorial Hall in Nagano to participate in the 35th Shinshu War Exhibition for Peace. It was during a visit to this very exhibition in 2015 that Shimizu accidentally revealed his past, a revelation that led to his decision to speak publicly about Unit 731's atrocities in 2016.

Hideaki Hara, leader of the exhibition's organizer, or Shinshu War Exhibition for Peace Organizing Committee, praised Shimizu's determination. "It is truly admirable for a 94-year-old man to embark on this journey to China. It takes incredible conviction and courage to repent for the dead."

"We hope the Japanese government will take Shimizu's actions seriously and consider official apologies to China," Hara added.

The peace group raised funds to support Shimizu's journey, with contributions coming from members across Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, and Hokkaido.

The former chairman of the group, Noboru Kubota, himself in his 90s, emphasized the significance of Shimizu's mission. "Unit 731 was the epitome of Japan's war of aggression. I hope Shimizu can offer his apologies to the local public upon his arrival, which is something only he can do as a former member of Unit 731."

Among over 20 doctors from the Osaka Medical Practitioners Association accompanying Shimizu on this trip was Fumio Hara, who pointed out the cruel irony of Unit 731's so-called "medical experiments," which were conducted not to save lives, but to take them.

"It's unacceptable that so many Japanese are unaware of this brutal history," he said.

As Shimizu walked through the security gate at the Osaka airport to start the nearly eight-hour trip to Harbin, his words echoed in the minds of those who heard him: "I want to go to China to testify. It is for the sake of peace."