Archive proves Japan's drug trafficking during WWII

A written confession from a Japanese official in World War II, which was made public on Monday, showed that Japan grew and traded opium during its occupation in northeast China.

The confession was from Tadayuki Furuumi, who worked for the government of "Manchukuo", the puppet state established by the Empire of Japan in northeast China from 1931 to 1945. The confession was posted on the website of the State Archives Administration (SAA).

Furuumi, born in Tokyo in 1900, worked for Japan's Ministry of Finance before his appointment to northeast China in July 1932. He successively took posts in the "Manchukuo" government as special division chief and section chief of the accountant office of the Ministry of General Affairs, undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, undersecretary of the Ministry of General Affairs and director general of the Planning Bureau, before being arrested after Japan's defeat in 1945.

In April 1943, Furuumi "gave permission to plant opium in test fields in the plains of Mukden, Jinlin and Siping", and approved to expand plantation in the future, he wrote in the confession in 1954.

"In April 1945, I sold 100,000 liang (1 liang = 50 gram) of opium to the puppet government of Wang Jingwei in central China," he wrote.

Furuumi also wrote about the Japanese government's plan to immigrate one million households from Japan to northeast China in 20 years and exploit natural resources there.

This is the latest in a series of 45 Japanese war criminal confessions the SAA plans to publish. The SAA has been issuing one a day since July 3.

The move follows denials of war crimes in China by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and right-wing politicians.