Japanese war criminal confesses to murder of 40 Chinese

Japanese war criminal, Yoshio Mizoguchi, convicted after the end of the World War II, confessed to murder of 40 Chinese during the war, according to historical document published Wednesday.

Mizoguchi served as procurator of the Harbin Local Procuratorate of the "Manchukuo," the puppet state established by the Empire of Japan in northeast China from 1931 to 1945.

According to his confession, available on the State Archives Administration (SAA) website, Mizoguchi sentenced 9 Chinese to death penalty in Bayan from March to June in 1943. Mizoguchi recalled that another 4 Chinese were killed during interrogation in the same period.

Mizoguchi said in the confession that he prosecuted 26 Chinese arrested for assaulting the "Manchukuo" Police Department in May 1945. Nine of them received death sentence and were executed in July.

In June 1945, he prosecuted 65 Chinese, including 35 soldiers, and demanded death sentences to 18 them. The 18 Chinese were sentenced to death and executed in Daoli prison in Harbin from August 10 to August 13.

The document is the latest of 45 Japanese war criminal confessions the SAA plans to publish. The SAA has been issuing one per day since July 3.

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