General Tojo Hideki's granddaughter insists that Japan fought a war of self-defence

[lexico]

Well, wasn't Tojo also Chief of Staff of the Guandong Army ?

Not only Chief of Staff; according to Wikipedia, Hideki Tojo (東條 英機 Tōjō Hideki) also served as the Chief of Kempeitai (憲兵隊, "Law Soldier Regiment") which means he was also responsible for ordering the following three acts in violation of International Law.


Human Experiments

Kenpeitai ran prisoner of war, forced labor, and special camps housing several 'human experimentation' units. Kempeitai sent any 'difficult' prisoners to these facilities which included over 3,500 Americans, Chinese, Europeans, Koreans and Russians who were sent to Unit 100 (Changchun) and Unit 731 (Pingfan nr. Ha'erbin). Where they were identified as 'logs' and who were chosen and transported by the 'Human Materials Procurement Arm'. There were numerous other facilities where medical and environmental experiments were conducted on the victims. Unit 516 (Qiqiha'er) conducted chemical warfare experiments.

Japan's Germ Warfare Project - Unit 731
Bioterrorism and Biological Warfare

- Unit 731 / 3000 Scientists and Staff / 1945
- Experimentation / Manchuria / 10,000 die
- Bubonic Plague / China / 11 Cities Attacked
- Bacterial Bombs
- 1941 Accident: Kills 1700 Japanese Troops

Comfort Women

Provision of "comfort" women ( jugun ianfu 從軍慰安婦) to man the "comfort houses" These were bordellos maintained by the IJA for the use of its troops. Originally Japanese volunteers were used but as these became rare or limited to the use of officers many Chinese, Korean and Formosan women were kidnapped and placed in these facilities to be "used" by members of Japan's military. They also regulated the accommodations of the brothels, checked the identities of their customers, and controlled the violence and drunkenness within.

The statement of Japanese chief cabinet secretary about the announcement of research result of comfort women issue
(Issued in Aug 4, 1993 by Youhei Kouno)
Translated by Shinji Kakichi

The Japanese government have investigated the so called comfort women issue since Dec 1991. The government now issues the research result.

Japanese government admit, as the result of the research, that there were comfort stations for a long time in many places and that there were many comfort women. The comfort stations had been found by request of former Imperial Japanese Army. The Army was involved directly or indirectly in the foundation and the management of the comfort stations, and the transportation of comfort women.

Regarding the recruitment of comfort women, pimps who requested by the army mainly recruited women. However there were many cases that women were drafted against their own will being deceived or forced. Moreover Japanese government have found that there were some cases that officers of the army or military police directly involved in the forced recruitment.

Regarding comfort women's native place, many women, except Japanese, were from the Korean peninsula. The Korean peninsula was at the time under colonial rule of our country. The recruitment, the transportation and the management of the women had been generally done against their will by deceit or force.

Reprisal Operations

were conducted by the IJA and 'auxiliary forces' against rebelling natives and local insurgents, who fought with or without the help of allied forces. During these operations, IJA forces routinely beat and sexually assaulted the local population and carried out many massacres. Others were seized and deported for slavery and forced labor where many subsequently died.


Who and how many were in the Kempeitai ?

According to US Army TM-E 30-480 there were over 36,000 regular kempeitai personnel by the end of the war, this did not include the many native auxiliaries used for pacification purposes. The Kempeitai also used criminals and outlaws as law enforcers with torture commonly used to extract confessions.

The Japanese placed heavy emphasis on physical violence to maintain discipline with even the most minor infractions being dealt with immediately. This organization may have trained Trinh Minh The, a Vietnamese nationalist and military leader. The Kempeitai recruited paramilitary troopers of the Cao Dai faith. It also recruited a large auxiliary consisting of Formosan indigenous peoples and Koreans.

more information: Kempeitai Political Department and Epidemic Prevention Research Laboratory