In the army at that time,my dad said they were warned about tattoos being put on lamp shades.
And then there is Unit 741. It made what the Germans did to the Jews, including the Germans using the skin of dead Jews as lampshades, look like a Cub Scout art project.
Describing what Unit 741 did as medieval would be unfair to the folks who came up with the thumbscrew. They set a new standard.
In the army at that time,my dad said they were warned about tattoos being put on lamp shades.
Unit 731, not 741. (Just in case somebody wants to look it up.) And yes, what they did in and around Harbin was appalling...and those responsible walked away free in exchange for giving all of their information and records to the Americans.
Yamashita’s was indeed a political hanging...he had pulled his Army forces out of Manila, because he saw no point in holding the city and preferred to fight it out north on the plains and in the mountains of Luzon. The forces that stayed behind and brought about the slaughter in Manila were Japanese Navy sailors and Special Naval Landing Force (”Japanese marines”) troops, led by a disgraced Admiral who had been relegated to shore assignments after losing his battleship command off Guadalcanal (IJN Kirishima). There was no concept of joint command in Japan...Yamashita could have yelled orders all day at IJN personnel and they didn’t have to obey.