Global research on Unit 731 medical atrocities: from the 1950s to the 2020s

During World War II, the Japanese Kwantung Army's Unit 731 secretly conducted large-scale, inhumane, and unethical human experimentation in China, culminating in one of the most heinous medical atrocities, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in the Asia-Pacific theatre of the war. Despite the gravity of the subject matter and its historical significance, research on Unit 731 has, for a long time, been rather limited, but has gradually increased in recent decades. In this article, we identify several important characteristics and trends in research activities related to Unit 731, with a view to providing a general overview of the existing scholarship and to providing recommendations for future research.From the 1950s to the 1970s, academic research started to accumulate. The second stage was one of rapid development from the 1980s to the 1990s. During this period, research efforts in Japan had a far-reaching influence and began to spread to China, Europe, and the U.S. Scholars from scientific, medical, and educational communities began participating in Unit 731 research successively. The third stage of multi-dimensional development began at the onset of the twenty-first century. Research expanded into comparative inquiries of Japanese medical atrocities and their Nazi counterpart; at the same time, research on many topics in diverse disciplines was also deepened and intensified. In addition to focusing on pragmatic issues such as reflections and actions of modern society and reconciliation, researchers have also been concerned with historical writing and collective memory.