Unit 731 was a secret biological warfare and human‑experimentation program run by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II. Its experiments - vivisection, deliberate infection with plague, anthrax and other pathogens, frostbite and pressure tests, and field releases of disease - killed thousands, and left a legacy of trauma across East Asia.

After the war, many perpetrators avoided prosecution when U.S. authorities granted immunity in exchange for research data, a decision that raises urgent questions about ethics, power, and how states value scientific knowledge over justice.

So in this episode, I’m asking… what is Unit 731, and why did the US cover it up?

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Special Guest:

Jenny Chan, the founder of Pacific Atrocities Education - https://pacificatrocities.org - an organization dedicated to documenting and teaching about wartime atrocities in the Asia‑Pacific, including Unit 731. She curates resources, produces educational materials, and works with survivors’ families and scholars to keep this history visible.

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Highlights:

02:44 - The Origins of Unit 731

07:23 - The Experiments

10:49 - The Victims

17:12 - The Discovery of Unit 731

24:00 - Why Cover It Up?

28:28 - The Test is Classified

34:47 - The Ethics of Covering Up

40:42 - Institutional Trust

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