Confessions of Japanese war criminals

Editor’s note: To offer a clearer picture of history, the State Archives Administration released a large number of files on 45 Japanese war criminals who were tried and convicted in China after World War II. The special military tribunal of the Supreme People’s Court held public trials, sentencing the criminals to between eight and 20 years in jail. China Daily is publishing abstracts of the criminals’ confessions.

Rokusashi Takebe

Takebe was born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1893 and became chief of general affairs in “Manchukuo”.

According to his confession, the first five-year industrial development plan for “Manchukuo” was finalized in 1937.

Takebe said it was impossible for “Manchukuo” to implement the plan by itself, so it had to rely largely on aid from Japan. The plan was agreed after full consultation with the Japanese government and army headquarters.

He said the plan was amended in 1939 to increase its scale, and this was again decided after discussions with the Japanese authorities. Takebe said a second development plan was started in 1942 during his term as chief of general affairs.

Tadayuki Furuumi

Furuumi was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1900. In July 1932, he took part in the War of Aggression against China.

He held a number of senior posts, including special division chief and section chief of the accounting office at the Ministry of General Affairs, undersecretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, undersecretary at the Ministry of General Affairs and director-general of the Planning Bureau.

In July 1936 he attended a meeting presided over by the Kwantung Army and the Japanese government. Plans to resettle a million Japanese households in China were discussed, and Furuumi took an active part in reaching a decision to go ahead.

In September 1936 he attended a number of five-yearplan formulation meetings.

In October 1937 he took part in meetings presided over by the Kwantung Army and the Planning Bureau that discussed opium cultivation.

In April 1943 he gave permission to plant opium poppies in test fields in the plains of Mukden, Jilin and Siping, with a view to expanding them in due course.

In April 1945 he sold 5,000 kilograms of opium to the puppet government of Wang Jingwei in Central China.