TOKYO -- The Imperial Japanese Army had collected blood from prisoners of war (POWs) and local Chinese residents for "research on battlefield blood transfusion techniques" during its invasion of China, Kyodo News reported Thursday.
Kyodo News discovered relevant records in a report from a 1940 medical conference published in the journal of the Japanese Army Medical Corps.
The report showed that a Japanese army surgeon was dispatched to northern China after July 1937 and administered serum to individuals requiring blood transfusions to test its therapeutic effectiveness.
Initially, the serum was supplied by air from the Imperial Japanese Army Medical School in Tokyo. Later, however, blood was collected from "comrades, local residents, prisoners of war, bandits, and others, making it possible to secure supplies in large quantities."
Kyodo News noted that the term "bandits" was used by Japan at the time to refer to armed groups resisting its rule.
