Statements Concerning Ishisawa

ISHISAWA, MASAO [Marginal Note: (Ishizawa) (KIU) ]

Statement of Ishisawa (21 May - 2 June 1947)

54, professor of anatomy and histology at KIU Medical College, a doctor of histo­logy, not a medical physician. Has been on KIU facutlty 29 years, head of ana­tomy department since August 1946, succeeding Professor Goichi Hirako.

Hirako was responsible for administration and supplies, only jurisdiction over Ishisawa was administration— use of supplies, finance. Ishisawa had jurisdiction over instruction of students in his classes and his research laboratories.

Ishisawa was associated with Hirako in the anatomy section 15 1/2 years,with sepa­ rate offices, but next to each other during the war. At present there are 2 professors, one assistant professor and 1 lecturer in the anatomy section; during the war there were 5.

The professors are Ishisawa and Masaru Mori (in army between 43 and surrender), with department 15 years; assistant professor, Takeo Wasano (in army during war), with department 13 - 14 years, Lecturer Yorio Takeshige, in department about 5 years (in army until surrender). During 1945 there were only Hirako, Ishisawa, and assistant professor Katsumi Tanaka. The only assistant was Kaneo Kida.

Outside of the faculty, during 1945, Reichiro Makino engaged in research, Shinzo Takada and Nakamura were janitors, and Sakai, Imai, Matsuoka were janitresses. Takagi was a servant, Michimaro Nomiyama prepared the classrooms for study.

Hirako and Ishisawa were on friendly terms, although^ they seldom consulted Ishisawa. Ishisawa was engaged in research on construction and function of plant and animal cells— cytology, was not subsidized or directed by the mili­tary. Hirako was conducting research concerning the nervous system.

Ishisawa was a close friend of Goroo Kusunoki, professor of internal medicine, was quite a d o s e friend of Ishiyama, seeing him about once a month at the faculty meeting, and in the fall of 1945, when Ishisawa was ill, about 3 times in 10 days.

Hirako was in charge of the Autopsy Room during 1945, which was used by the students for dissecting. Ishisawa hasn't taught dissection for 7-8 years, did use the autopsy room to teach microscopy for about 1 month in fall of 1945. During 1945 Hirako, assisted by Assistant Professor Katsuni Tanaka and Assistant Kaneo Kida taught dissection. A Shinzo or Hanuzo Takada and Hisashi Nakamura used to clean up after the students and remove the corpses to the crematorium after dissection. Mamoru Takahashi occasionally used it for microscopic photo­graphy. A Zenzo Gata, artist, occasionally made anatomical drawings there. Hirako had complete charge of the autopsy room all during 1945— was in charge of the supplies and finance of the anatomy section.

Ishisawa states that he contracted pneumonia in February 1945, was bedridden until April and then only appeared in the classroom 2-3 times a week. Never heard anything about operations until September 1945 when his wife told him, that she had heard a rumor in town that an unusual operation had been performed on an American Prisoners during the war at KIU and that the Prisoner (s) had died. She meant by "unusual" that it was not necessary.

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About 5-6 February 1946 Professor Seigo Minami, of the dermatology depart­ment, told Ishisawa that he had heard that vivisection was performed on Ameri­can Prisoners and that Ishisawa was involved. On 12 - 13 February he went to Dean Jinnaka to protest, who told him that he had heard that an American Prisoner (s) was operated on in the Autopsy Room and that he was involved,  suggested that there were more than one operation. 

After hearing from his wife the next day, Ishisawa went to see Dean Ohno, who merely replied "Is that so?" In latter February or early March 1946 Ishiyama told Ishisawa that he had experimented with a sea water transfusion and syn­thetic blood substitution a Prisoner, while they were along in his surgery . class room. In his office between February and March he told Ishisawa that he was "dragged" into operating on a Prisoner.

Ishisawa believes that he mentioned Ishiyama's name to Ohno, because Ishiyama is the type of man who would do such unusual things and because Ishisawa heard that he was a part time experimental research man for the army. Ishiyama was the type of man who would conduct experiments on PWs, even if they would die, in interest of research.

In February 1946, when along in Ishiyama's office, Ishiyama told Ishisawa that medical officer Komori from WA came and told him that they had some Pri­soners that Ishiyama could experiment on for the advancement of medicine, that at the operations they had experimented on blood transfusions, that they had experimented with natural "sea water", Ringer Solution and Physiological Solu­tion (0.9 salt solution) on the Prisoners. He did not say in what specific operations these transfusions had been used or even mention results. He showed Ishisawa an anonymous post card from a student who said "You are a War Criminal and the one who is responsible so will you resign." The writing was Japanese, very bad; Ishiyama seemed to take it as a joke.

After talking to Ohno, Ishisawa met Ishiyama going into Ohno's office. A few days after talking to Ohno, Ishiyama came to Ishisawa, asked him to go with him into the Dean's office, at which time Ishiyama said to Ohno: "There have, been many rumors about the incident of the opeisation. Please do not believe all you hear in these rumors." He also said, "Nobody knows when or where this operation was conducted, and also nobody knows what kind of operation it was." Also: "No one can bring the facts together and say just exactly what happened." Ohno merely said, "Oh, is that right?" Ishiyama then said, "There is nothing to worry about at the present time." Ishiyama did say that pre­cautions had been taken to keep it secret. Ohno said nothing more. He as dean would "also hold a little responsibility," toward this incident.

Later Ishisawa heard that the operations on Prisoners had been conducted at the Department of Pathology and Ohno was head of that department. Also heard that the operation was held in Ishiyama's surgical operating room, but actually they were held in the autopsy room of the Anatomy Department.

Ishisawa then remembers that he did hear rumors about these operations before the Fukuoka bombing of 19 June, that some of the University doctors had opera­ted on some injured fliers. Before Ishiyama was arrested Ishisawa thought

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only 4 fliers were operated on since Takada told him in the fall of 1946 that Hirako had told him to bring the ashes back to him and he did bring 4 sets of shes to him.

Sometime in the fall of 1946 Takeshige, a lecturer in the anatomy department, told Ishisawa that he had received a letter from Hirako at Sugamo asking him to send the ashes of the fliers, which were in the crematory crypt, to him at Sugamo. Ishisawa told Takeshige that he could not send the ashes. (Takeshige was in the army until surrender). Since Hirako was arrested, Ishisawa always cautioned department personnel to let everything as it was. However, the ashes were not there; Ishisawa did not think about this.

The procedure as to ashes is to keep them in a certain room for awhile, with the names of the people on them, then send them to the Medical Department which turns them over to relatives or, if unclaimed, they are sent to the crypt. At the time this was under Hirako's jurisdiction. Michimaro Nomiyama kept these records. Ishisawa heard that records were not kept of the fliers; thus Ishisawa doesn't believe that Hirako handed these ashes over to the Medical Department.

In the first part of June 1945 Ishisawa met Makino (he's not absolutely sure that it was Makino, who was a special research man whom he was supervising) in the hall, and he stated, "It seems that another operation will be held."

In April 1946 Makino came from Tottori Ken to see Ishisawa at the University, and Ishisawa asked him his connexion with the operations. He said he went to the operation but didn't take an active part. He also stated that he saw an American soldier who was quite seriously wounded in the shoulder being treated.

In February or March 1946 Ishisawa called Tanaka to his office, who said that he didn't know about the actual operations, but that under Hirako's directions after the operations, he had helped to clean up. To " clean up" means putting the remains in the wooden boxes and taking them to the crematory.

In February 1946 the question arose as to who had granted Ishiyama permission to use the autopsy room, and Jinnaka had asked Ishisawa to find out. Hirako told Ishisawa that Ishiyama had come with the request from the army and that he had granted permission to use the autopsy room, since these were conditions which could not be helped.

Ishiyama could only have accepted the PWs from the army and conducted experimental operations without asking permission from higher University authorities if he kept it secret. The normal procedure, if the army wanted to have a cer­tain professor to do special work, was to contact that professor, get his approval, then send a formal request through the University.

The Medical department did not have a strong feeling about electing a military man (Hyakutake) as President, but it was the Industrial Department, because it needed machinery and was doing direct work for the army.

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In the latter part of May or the first of June 1946, Kaku, a KIU dentistry professor, told Ishisawa that Nakajima had told him that Hirako had said that he had talked to Ishisawa about the operations and had said that the operations were to take place— this in the anatomy department hallway. But this not true.

In March 1946 Professor Sawada of the Internal Disease Department, came to Ishisawa's home, said he heard a rumor that Ishisawa was involved in tissue culture experiments on Prisoners. Ishisawa replied that no such experiments had been conducted since 10 years previously when Fumio Takeguchi had done such experiments with birds. This is difficult experimentation and there were not the facilities or materials to carry it out at the time. (The type of experiment is here described in detail)

In May 1947 Haruzo Takada came to Ishisawa's home to tell him of something stolen from the department, at the time told him that Goshima, (Gifu-ken) Kaneo Kida (Nagasaki), assistants to Hirako and Reichiro Makino, Ishisawa's assistant, should know about the operations because they were around the department at the time.

Statement of Makino (18 June 1947) Makino was a special research student in the Third Research Lab. of the Anatomy Section at KIU from 1 Oct. 1943 tunil 27 June 1943, under Masao Ishisawa.

When Makino left KIU in June 1945, he made up a list of specimens of the human anatomy which he wanted to take with him, showed it to Tanaka, Ishi­sawa, and Hirako, and they all said it was all right.

He did not have to clear through the Finance Section because these speci­mens belonged to the anatomy section. He had previously asked Hirako and Ishisawa about taking these specimens.