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Unit 731 was a secret military medical unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that researched biological warfare and other topics through human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and World War II era. For information on its origin see Kempeitai Political Department and Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory.

The unit was disguised as a water purification unit. It was based in Pingfang, near the city of Harbin in northeastern China, the region which was then part of the puppet state of Manchukuo. Various Eastern and Western sources estimate anywhere from 3,000 to 200,000 Chinese, Korean, Mongolians, Allied civilians and POWs (especially Russian POWs) were directly or indirectly killed by Unit 731's experiments.

* Vivisections were performed on prisoners infected with various diseases; scientists would remove organs            to study the effects of the disease on the human body.
    * Prisoners were amputated limb by limb to study blood loss.
    * Arms were cut off and reattached to opposite sides.
    * Limbs were frozen and sawed off.
    * Stomachs were surgically removed and the esophagus was reattached to the intestines.
    * Parts of the brain, lungs, liver, etc. were taken out.
    * Vivisection of a pregnant woman (impregnated by one of the doctors) and the fetus.

Weapons testing

    * Grenade tests used human targets at various distances and positions.
    * Flame throwers were tested on humans.
    * Bombs were tested on humans tied to stakes at various positions

Other experiments

    * Human subjects were deprived of food and water to study the effects and duration before death.
    * Prisoners were placed into highly pressurized chambers until they died.
    * Frostbite experiments were conducted on prisoners to determine how long humans can survive when exposed to extreme temperatures.
    * Temperature experiments were performed to determine the relationship between temperature, burns, and survival rate.
    * Prisoners were placed into centrifuges and spun until they died.
    * Animal blood was injected into humans.
    * Prisoners were bombarded with lethal doses of x-ray radiation.
    * Gas chambers tested chemical weapons on prisoners.
    * Air bubbles were injected into prisoners' bloodstreams to simulate a stroke.
    * Sea water was injected into prisoners to determine if it could be substituted for saline.

In 1946, the U.S. cover-up of a secret deal with Ishii and Unit 731 leaders -- germ warfare data based on human experimentation would be offered in exchange for immunity from war-crimes prosecution -- began in earnest. The deal was concluded two years later.