Fukiko Aoki discovered new materials related to Unit 731.
Her journey began with reading a newspaper article about an human rights organization to visit Chicago. Driven by a desire to shed light on the dark and perplexing events of the occupation era, she aimed to uncover the truth behind that murky period. She meticulously studied the vast records of the GHQ stored at the U.S. National Archives and visited Shiro Ishii's hometown in Shibayama, Chiba Prefecture, diligently seeking out those connected to the events. Her efforts paid off when she found notebooks believed to be written by Ishii himself, dated around August 16, 1945, shortly after the end of the war. These notes revealed desperate negotiations between GHQ officials seeking experimental data and Ishii's attempts to evade prosecution.
Reflecting on the discovery, she said, "It felt as if a monster from the past had suddenly appeared in the present." The notes dated shortly after the end of the war on August 16, 1945, unveiled secret negotiations between GHQ officials eager to obtain experimental data and Ishii, who was desperately trying to avoid prosecution.
Although an estimated 3,000 Chinese prisoners were victims of dissections and other human experiments, Unit 731 members were never prosecuted as war criminals. Sixty years after the war, the threat of biological and chemical weapons is still taken seriously. Fukiko Aoki delves into the mysterious Kamakura Conference, where a secret agreement known as the "Nine Clauses Pact" was made regarding the handling of Unit 731 after the war. The discovery of memos at the house of a former Ishii family helper unveiled many postwar mysteries surrounding Ishii, bringing to light some of the darkest aspects of postwar history.
In 1984, Aoki moved to the United States, where she served as the New York bureau chief for Newsweek Japan. Her notable works include "Why the FBI Failed Against Terrorists." She is currently 57 years old.