New details emerge about Japan's notorious WWII germ warfare program

New details emerge about Japan's notorious WWII germ warfare program

Anthony Kuhn

August 14, 2025 / 3:00 am

TOKYO — As Japan's defeat marking the end of WWII nears its 80th anniversary, and some events fade from living memory, history is hardly consigned to books. It lives on in unhealed wounds, still-simmering disputes, freshly unearthed discoveries, and historical lessons waiting to be learned.

The release of WWII-era military documents this year has given a boost to researchers digging into Japan's notorious germ warfare program, which lasted from 1936 to 1945. And in China, the premiere of a film about this gruesome episode in history was postponed without explanation, causing an online outcry .

Titled 731 Biochemical Revelations in English, the film tells the stor