Statements Concerning Mori

Statement of Tashiro (5 June - 9 July 1947) Mori was one of Tashiro's superiors at 1st Surgical Clinic.

About 1330 Seriba, Kubo, Takayama dnd Tashiro carried the instruments to the autopsy room. (10 May) Already there were Ishiyama, Torisu, Hirao, Mori, Tsutsui and Komori plus an army Officer and 2 or 3 others. Ishiyama, Torisu, Mori, Hirao and Komori were washing their hands.

Just before Ishiyama came up to the operating table where Tashiro was, he noticed another Prisoner lying on an operating table about 2 meters away from the one where Tashiro was standing, covered with an operating sheet by Komori and Mori, both of whom were dressed for an operation.

At the meeting of The Fukuoka Surgical Council, at the 2nd Surgical Clinic, 27 May, Mori spoke about the treatment of a jungle disease.

Statement of Manabe 2nd series - Manabe assisted Komori, who performed a complete resection of the stomach. Komori instructed Mori, who stood across from him. This stomach resection was performed on the Prisoner at the far end of the room, whose head was toward the east.     ....      Mori held the clamps which held back the skin to the left side of the incision; he had to reach across the body to do this. Hirao, who stood to the right of Mori, held the clamps which retracted the skin to the right of the incision, and Komori performed the resection.

All Mori did was to hold the clamp on the left side of the incision.

Statement of Yayama (30 July 1947) 1st series - Ishiyama, Mori and Morimoto were all present at the operation on the 3rd Prisoner, (unsterilized instru­ments), At that time Yayama was assisting Komori and Hirao at the 2nd opera­tion.

After the operations Miki, Manabe and Yayama returned to the 1st Surgery Clinic. Remaining in the Autopsy Room at that time: Ishiyama, Komori, Hirao, Senba, Mori, Morimoto, Suyama.

Statement of Nogawa (2-25 June 1947) 2nd series - Nogawa went to the Autopsy Section room where the 1st operation had been held. The operations had not begun. Present were Ishiyama, Torisu, Hirao, perhaps Tstitsui, Morimoto, Mori.

3rd series - After prisoners arrived, Nogawa stood near the rear entrance of the Autopsy Section for a few minutes, then went into the Autopsy classroom, where the operations were held via the rear entrance. One Prisoner was al­ready covered with an operating sheet. In the room were Ishiyama, Hirako, Komori, Mori, Hirao, Morimoto, Seriba, Tsutsui and 2-3 other nurses, including perhaps Miki.

Nogawa returned briefly to the Surgery Clinic to give treatment to some patients, returned shortly before 1600 to the Autopsy Section, where there were 2 PWs on dissecting tables, arranged the same as at the 2nd series of operations.

Statement of Nogawa Cont’d. The operation on the right hand side of the room had been finished. Nogawa could tell he had been operated on because of the blood on the operating sheet — believes he had been operated on in the region below the chest. Believes Prisoner was still breathing.

Soon after, Ishiyama told Mori to perform a stomach operation on the PW who was lying on the table on the left. Mori stood on the Prisoner's right, Hirao on his left.

Nogawa left the room, relaxed out on the grass behind the Autopsy Section. 40-50 minutes later Nogawa reentered. Ishiyama was performing a heart opera­tion on a PW at the right hand table. Morimoto, Tsutsui, Mori, Hirao and Nogawa stood by and watched.

Statement of Suyama (20 July - 1 August 1947) 1st operation - Miki and Suyama did not know how the room was to be arranged, but picked up the stools and put them in one corner near the windows, set up stands and pans of disinfectant for the doctors to use when they scrubbed. Ishiyama then came into the room with Torisu, Hirao, Mori, Senba, Nogawa and Komori.

Ishiyama, Komori, Hirao, and Torisu and Mori came in and scrubbed their hands, put on operating gowns.

During operation, Suyama is not sure whether Mori or Torisu was next to Ishiyama, whether Hirao was next to Komori.

After the ribs had been cut (lung operation), there was quite a bit of bleeding, and Ishiyama had some of his assistants, probably Mori, Torisu, and Hirao use gauze to soak up the blood.

Either Mori or Torisu, who was on Ishiyama's left, helped by using retractors, absorb blood with gauze, probably helped when Ishiyama had completed making the incision, but Suyama did not see what was going on then. Ishiyama told either, Mori or Torisu to look closely since he (either Mori or Torisu) was leaving for the south soon and would have to perform some operations like that. Mori) had been recommended to go to a hospital in Kagoshima, and Ishiyama had an interest in Mori, so Suyama believes this was probably Mori rather than Torisu.

2nd series - Manabe, Suyama, and Miki took the instruments to the dissection room. Miki and Suyama went back to the front of the anatomy building to bring in the rest of the equipment; on return, Ishiyama, Tsutsui, Hirao, Mori, Torisu, and Seriba were in the room.

Ishiyama, Komori, Mori, Torisu, Morimoto, and Hirao scrubbed for the operation.

Before Suyama went after the thread (at Surgery Clinic), she stopped near Manabe, who was helping at the stomach operation. Komori was doing the operat­ing, helped by Mori and Hirao. Komori made an incision in the abdomen from the chest to about the navel, and Mori and Hirao were putting in retractors to pull back the flesh and open the incision. When Suyama returned, Komori, Mori and Hirao were cutting the membrane and blood vessels leading to the stomach.

Statement of Suyama Cont'd . About the time the brain operation was over - at the table involving the stomach operation, Komori, Mori and Hirao were looking inside the incision, pointing at something and talking.

3rd series - The nurses got out the disinfectant, set up pans of lysol, got things arranged. Ishiyama, Mori, Hirao, Morimoto, Tsutsui, and possibly Nogawa and Torisu then came in.

Liver operation - 3rd series - Mori stood on Ishiyama's left, Miki was on his right, passing him instruments.

Mori and Hirao put in retractors and soaked'the blood up with gauze.

When Hirao and Komori completed the 2nd operation (stomach and heart), the one being performed by Ishiyama, Mori and Morimoto took their places.

Suyama believes the same people were present at the 4th series. (Ishiyama, Torisu Hirao, Mori, Seriba, Nogawa, Komori, Tashiro, Lin, Sha, Tei, Sato, Morimoto, Tsutsui. ?)

Statement of Tanaka (23 May 1947)

1st operation - Tanaka went to Autopsy Training Room. Present there were Ishi­yama, Komori, Hirao, Mori, and about 5 doctors from probabaly the Surgery Sec­tion, the head nurse, 3 regular nurses, and Makino.

Hirao said, "It is almost time for them to come so let’s go out in back and meet them." Hirao, Mori, Makino, Tanaka and about 5 doctors went out back to meet the Prisoners when they arrived.

Lung operation - Ishiyama was performing the operation. Hirao was on Ishiyama's left, Mori on Komori's right. Directly across from Ishiyama was Komori.

Ishiyama, Hirao, Komori and Mori wore operating robes and caps, doesn't believe they wore gloves, not sure as to masks.

Hirao and Mori would receive implements from the nurses and pass them on to Ishiyama or Komori as requested.

Statement of Tanaka (6 June 1947) During 2nd or 3rd series ??, while Makino and Tgnaka were dissecting one of the bodies which had under gone an operation, 3-4 persons came in from the Surgery Clinic to watch, including Hirao and Mori, then left.