Japan's medical experts must not deny the fact that germ warfare was conducted by Japanese invaders at Unit 731 in World War II, Japanese medical expert Takeshi Yoshinaka said yesterday.

"The Japanese medical profession and society must admit the war crimes, and they must reflect on the mistakes they made to cherish world peace,” said Yoshinaka, director of Kyoto Min-Iren Chuo Hospital.

He made the remarks during a group visit to the ruins of Unit 731 in Harbin, capital city of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, with another 25 Japanese medical scientists and doctors.

Most are members of the Japanese Association of Medical Science (JAMS) in the Fifteen Years’ War.

The group of experts, scientists and doctors from Japan’s hospitals and medical institutions focuses on war crime studies between 1931 to 1945, particularly those related to Unit 731.

Yoshinaka, said the visit is to investigate war crimes and bring results to the General Assembly of the Japan Medical Congress next year.

He condemned the germ warfare and human experiments performed by Japanese scientists and doctors, and he called for sincere repentance among the Japanese medical community.

However, the community lacks the courage to face the issue, according to Yoshinaka, who has visited the ruins six times. He said he wants to reveal the war crimes to present a whole picture.

Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin in 1935.

At least 3,000 people were killed in its experiments.

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