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Yup, operation Cherry Blossoms at Night. Japan planned an air-raid attack on San Diego at night to spread plague infected fleas. They never did that in the end

Yup, operation Cherry Blossoms at Night. Japan planned an air-raid attack on San Diego at night to spread plague infected fleas. They never did that in the end because the war ended, but they killed some estimated 200K people in China while "testing & improving" those weapons - horror movie stuff... and AFAIK Japan never officially apologized for that (nor US apologized for giving immunity to Shirō Ishii, the mastermind behind Unit 731 war crimes, and his medical team) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cherry_Blossoms_at_Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cherry_Blossoms_at_N... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirō_Ishii https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirō_Ishii

msbarnett 7y ago
> and AFAIK Japan never officially apologized for that It would actually appear to be covered by a number of apologies they’ve issued over the years, first and most notably the formal apology for all actions in China which was accepted by the PRC as part of the Japan–China Joint Communiqué that formally reestablished diplomatic relations in 1972.
- wallace_f 7y ago
  IDK why corporate media loves to hate Japan. The two big criticisms are whales and war crimes apologies, yet other countries kill more whales (not just per capita but in absolute numbers) and it's not like America has ever apoligized for the Native American genocide(1), or even interning Japanese. 1-https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-madley-california-genocide-20160522-snap-story.html https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-madley-californi...
  - mc32 7y ago
    Reagan apologized and also compensated descendants of Roosevelt’s internment policy[1]. I think people keep chiding Japan because they are reluctant to address the so called “comfort women”. Obama signed an apology to First Nations Americans. [1]https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/09/210138278/japanese-internment-redress https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/09/210138278...
    - wallace_f 7y ago
      I stand corrected on internment camps, I didn't know they were compensated. From the above source I linked: >Neither the U.S. government nor the state of California has acknowledged that the California Indian catastrophe fits the two-part legal definition of genocide set forth by the United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948 Finally, I don't see why Japan is singled out. The rape of Berlin could have been worse. Millions of Cambodian Viets were pick axed to death in the Killing Fields. Norway kills far more whales, especially on per capita basis. We still throw people in prison for smoking plants and are quiet about our police state. The Japanese were utterly bombed like almost no other time and place in humanity, and the only leadership from that era which survived did so by the US. And I don't see any people broadcasting their views about social justice for women going to Southeast Asia where Western money pours in to sexually exploit women. I think we live in an era with its own virtue politics, not an era of actual virtue.
    - msbarnett 7y ago
      > 1]. I think people keep chiding Japan because they are reluctant to address the so called “comfort women”. They’ve issued a bunch of specific apologies specifically regarding the “comfort women”, beginning in 1992 and then frequently thereafter. At various times they have apologized several times per year. The apologies are listed here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statemen..., culminating in a 2015 apology that was agreed to by South Korea to “finally and irrevocably resolve the issue” And amazingly still the notion that they won’t apologize for it is commonplace.
  - ivanhoe 7y ago
    > yet other countries kill more whales (not just per capita but in absolute numbers) A country, not countries - only Norway kills (slightly) more whales than Japan. Since the ban in 1985. Japan killed far more whales than any other country (twice the 2nd placed Norway), and as of 2012. (last available report by IWC) it was the 2nd by annual number of whales killed (less than 10% after Norway which currently is the biggest whale killer). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-08/whaling-around-the-world-how-japans-catch-compares/5361954 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-08/whaling-around-the-wo...
    - wallace_f 7y ago
      And when has Norway been at the center of public outrage? Japan has been consistently attacked for this in mainstream media. Killings matter as a per capita event, and Norway has them beat there, no contest.
      - ivanhoe 7y ago
        IMHO both Norway and Japan fully deserve the public outrage for still slaughtering highly intelligent creatures to satisfy decadent consumerism and bizarre traditions. Unlike in some indigenous whaling communities, no one in Norway or Japan really needs whale meat to survive, it's just a fashion and vanity... and Japan has a bad reputation for long time, not just for whaling (and they killed more whales in total than any other country by far), but also as in 2nd part of 20th century they were the main market for selling poaching items and exotic hunting trophies. True, now China and Vietnam took over as their newly rich want their bloody status symbols, but if you ask why the bad picture, that's why, for a good reason. Also why would hunting matter as a per capita event, as you say? Absolute number of killed animals tells how much stress we put on their population, it's important metric to spot the danger hunting represents. Per capita kills statistics make sense only in areas where native people depend on whale meat for survival so more people translates in higher need for hunting - which is not case for Japan, nor Norway, nor any of the major whalers' countries. They all use whale meat as vanity delicacy, not as basic food source.
- ivanhoe 7y ago
  True, they gave a number of general apologies, but never on this particular matter. Unit 731 was completely pushed under the carpet, the people involved were given immunity by US in exchange for their knowledge on making bio-weapons. During the US occupation and later some ex-members of Unit 731 even continued to conduct medical experiments on unwilling human subjects, this time Japanese, which was really what triggered journalists to start digging into the story and that's how public learned about it. However, until 2002. Japan officially never even admitted conducting biological warfare, and no data on Unit 731 was ever released (officially Japan has no documentation about it at all). And Japan is not the only to blame here, US played the major role in covering up this story, just like in case of Klaus Barbie and many other nazi killers who they protected in exchange for information or specific skills.

msbarnett 7y ago

> and AFAIK Japan never officially apologized for that It would actually appear to be covered by a number of apologies they’ve issued over the years, first and most notably the formal apology for all actions in China which was accepted by the PRC as part of the Japan–China Joint Communiqué that formally reestablished diplomatic relations in 1972.

wallace_f 7y ago
IDK why corporate media loves to hate Japan. The two big criticisms are whales and war crimes apologies, yet other countries kill more whales (not just per capita but in absolute numbers) and it's not like America has ever apoligized for the Native American genocide(1), or even interning Japanese. 1-https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-madley-california-genocide-20160522-snap-story.html https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-madley-californi...
- mc32 7y ago
  Reagan apologized and also compensated descendants of Roosevelt’s internment policy[1]. I think people keep chiding Japan because they are reluctant to address the so called “comfort women”. Obama signed an apology to First Nations Americans. [1]https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/09/210138278/japanese-internment-redress https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/09/210138278...
  - wallace_f 7y ago
    I stand corrected on internment camps, I didn't know they were compensated. From the above source I linked: >Neither the U.S. government nor the state of California has acknowledged that the California Indian catastrophe fits the two-part legal definition of genocide set forth by the United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948 Finally, I don't see why Japan is singled out. The rape of Berlin could have been worse. Millions of Cambodian Viets were pick axed to death in the Killing Fields. Norway kills far more whales, especially on per capita basis. We still throw people in prison for smoking plants and are quiet about our police state. The Japanese were utterly bombed like almost no other time and place in humanity, and the only leadership from that era which survived did so by the US. And I don't see any people broadcasting their views about social justice for women going to Southeast Asia where Western money pours in to sexually exploit women. I think we live in an era with its own virtue politics, not an era of actual virtue.
  - msbarnett 7y ago
    > 1]. I think people keep chiding Japan because they are reluctant to address the so called “comfort women”. They’ve issued a bunch of specific apologies specifically regarding the “comfort women”, beginning in 1992 and then frequently thereafter. At various times they have apologized several times per year. The apologies are listed here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statemen..., culminating in a 2015 apology that was agreed to by South Korea to “finally and irrevocably resolve the issue” And amazingly still the notion that they won’t apologize for it is commonplace.
- ivanhoe 7y ago
  > yet other countries kill more whales (not just per capita but in absolute numbers) A country, not countries - only Norway kills (slightly) more whales than Japan. Since the ban in 1985. Japan killed far more whales than any other country (twice the 2nd placed Norway), and as of 2012. (last available report by IWC) it was the 2nd by annual number of whales killed (less than 10% after Norway which currently is the biggest whale killer). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-08/whaling-around-the-world-how-japans-catch-compares/5361954 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-08/whaling-around-the-wo...
  - wallace_f 7y ago
    And when has Norway been at the center of public outrage? Japan has been consistently attacked for this in mainstream media. Killings matter as a per capita event, and Norway has them beat there, no contest.
    - ivanhoe 7y ago
      IMHO both Norway and Japan fully deserve the public outrage for still slaughtering highly intelligent creatures to satisfy decadent consumerism and bizarre traditions. Unlike in some indigenous whaling communities, no one in Norway or Japan really needs whale meat to survive, it's just a fashion and vanity... and Japan has a bad reputation for long time, not just for whaling (and they killed more whales in total than any other country by far), but also as in 2nd part of 20th century they were the main market for selling poaching items and exotic hunting trophies. True, now China and Vietnam took over as their newly rich want their bloody status symbols, but if you ask why the bad picture, that's why, for a good reason. Also why would hunting matter as a per capita event, as you say? Absolute number of killed animals tells how much stress we put on their population, it's important metric to spot the danger hunting represents. Per capita kills statistics make sense only in areas where native people depend on whale meat for survival so more people translates in higher need for hunting - which is not case for Japan, nor Norway, nor any of the major whalers' countries. They all use whale meat as vanity delicacy, not as basic food source.
ivanhoe 7y ago
True, they gave a number of general apologies, but never on this particular matter. Unit 731 was completely pushed under the carpet, the people involved were given immunity by US in exchange for their knowledge on making bio-weapons. During the US occupation and later some ex-members of Unit 731 even continued to conduct medical experiments on unwilling human subjects, this time Japanese, which was really what triggered journalists to start digging into the story and that's how public learned about it. However, until 2002. Japan officially never even admitted conducting biological warfare, and no data on Unit 731 was ever released (officially Japan has no documentation about it at all). And Japan is not the only to blame here, US played the major role in covering up this story, just like in case of Klaus Barbie and many other nazi killers who they protected in exchange for information or specific skills.