Japan war criminal confesses to murder of wounded Chinese after war end

Japanese war criminal Yokio Shimura arranged the murder of wounded Chinese after Japan surrendered to the Allies in World War II, according to his written confession published on Thursday.

Shimura, who was convicted after the end of WWII, captained the Hailar Japanese Military Police during the Japanese invasion of China.

The confession showed that Shimura ordered his subordinates to kill wounded Chinese and bury them in a military camp on Aug. 18, 1945, three days after Japan's surrender. Shimura did not specify the number of the people murdered that day.

His confession, available on the State Archives Administration (SAA) website, also revealed that the Japanese army used Chinese people as test subjects for research on frostbite in Hailar.

Shimura recalled that at least three people were transported from elsewhere to Hailar for such research around December 20, 1944.

The document is the latest of 45 Japanese war criminal confessions the SAA plans to publish. It 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.