Shirō Ishii
Shirō Ishii | |
|---|---|
Ishii as a lieutenant colonel | |
| Native name | 石井 四郎 |
| Born | June 25, 1892 Shibayama, Chiba, Empire of Japan |
| Died | October 9, 1959 (aged 67) Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Service | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1921–1945 |
| Rank | Surgeon general (lieutenant-general) |
| Commands | Unit 731 |
| Battles / wars | |
| Awards | Order of the Golden Kite, Fourth Class |
| Alma mater | Kyoto Imperial University |
Surgeon General Shirō Ishii (Japanese: 石井 四郎, Hepburn: Ishii Shirō, [iɕiː ɕiɾoː]; June 25, 1892 – October 9, 1959) was a Japanese microbiologist and army medical officer, who served as the director of Unit 731, a biological warfare unit of the Imperial Japanese Army. Ishii led the development and application of biological weapons at Unit 731 in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, including the bubonic plague attacks at Chinese cities of Changde and Ningbo, and planned the Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night biological attack against the United States. Hirohito rewarded him with a special service medal for his work.
Ishii and his colleagues also engaged in human experimentation, resulting in the deaths of over 10,000 subjects, most of them civilians or prisoners of war.