Statements Concerning Sato

Statement of Tashiro (5 June - 9 July 1947) On 10 May 1945 Hirao told Tashiro that Sato told him that the Prisoners must be killed in the opera­ting room.

Tashiro believes Rin, Senba, and Sato were standing at the head of the operating table observing the first operation.(Lung)

Tashiro heard from Hirao that Sato had told him that the PW must be killed in the operating room, that Komori took the blood from the PW that was operat­ed on and that Komori told him, Hirao, that he was going to use the blood in making an insecticide for bedbugs.

Statement of Ogawa (Shiokawa) (4 June 1947, in 420, 12 June report) Sato came often to the hospital (where Komori worked) for treatment.

Statement of Ryu (               ) Ryu went to autopsy room, entered from hall entrance, saw a group of doctors standing around a dissecting table perform­ing an operation, (first operation near end of May) One doctor wag stand­ing at the Prisoner’s head, giving anaesthesia. There was an army staff officer (Sato?) standing about 5 feet behind the doctor at the Prisoner's head.

About 3-4 days after the first operation, as Ryu came back from the benjo, he walked into the autopsy room, and saw that 2 operations were going on, with a group around each table.

Ryu went past the dissecting tables and out the door leading to the adjoining autopsy training room, and back to his lab. He believes that the same staff Off Officer (Sato?) was there.

Statement of Oguri (10 July 1947) Goiyama and Yukino, under the direction of Col. Sato, were in charge of PWs at WAH.

Fukushima, Akita, Sato and Yakumaru often came to see Kusumoto at the Demobilization Office.

Statement of Nogawa (2-25 June 1947) 1st operation - lung operation - Nogawa went by himself to the Autopsy Section about 1500, where there were present, Ishiyama, Komori, and Sato, standing near the rear wall on the left side of the room.

During the operation, Sato stood beyond the operating table to the left. After the lung had been removed, Ishiyama ordered Senba to inject a colorless fluid into the Prisoner’s arm, "Begin the injection into the artery," which Senba did. Ishiyama turned to Sato and said, "What was just injected was sea­water properly diluted and filtered."

While the operation was in progress Hirako had come in and left several times- one time he spoke to Sato. The next day Nogawa heard from either Hirao or Torisu that Sato had cautioned Ishiyama to keep these operations quiet.

2nd series - Col. Sato walked around and watched the operation.