80 Years On: Guerrilla Weapons Made for Japan Mainland Battle on Display

Tokyo, Dec. 10 (Jiji Press)–In the final stages of World War II, as Japan braced for desperate fighting on its main islands and prepared to mobilize civilians for combat, the former Imperial Japanese Army’s Noborito Laboratory manufactured weapons for guerrilla warfare. A special exhibition highlighting the laboratory’s activities during the period has opened at a museum in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, which occupies part of the former facility. The laboratory traces its origins to the Army Scientific Research Laboratory, founded in 1919. In September 1939, it was reorganized as the Noborito branch, commonly known as the Noborito Laboratory. During the war, the institute was involved in a range of covert military projects, including the research and development of balloon bombs, biological and chemical weapons, secret cameras for spies, and poison injectors disguised as fountain pens. It also engaged in the forgery of passports and Chinese bank notes. After entering the war in 1941, Japan achieved a series of early victories, but its strategic position gradually deteriorated. A major turning point came in July 1944, when Japan lost control of Saipan in the Pacific, bringing most of the Japanese archipelago within range of U.S. bombing raids. As the prospect of a decisive battle on the Japanese home islands grew more realistic, the volunteer military service law came into force in June 1945, mandating that civilians, including women, be incorporated into combat units. At the Noborito Laboratory, small bombs made to look like canned food as well as chocolates filled with poison were manufactured for use in guerrilla warfare. The laboratory also developed rod-like incendiary devices about 1 meter in length, made from plant-based resins and ignition agents. Civilians were expected to use these weapons in attacks against American servicemen. Following Japan’s defeat, related documents and experimental equipment were systematically destroyed in an effort to eliminate evidence. The special exhibition, titled, “At That Time, We Were Ordered to Fight,” opened to the public on Nov. 26 at Meiji University’s Defunct Imperial Japanese Army Noborito Laboratory Museum for Education in Peace in Kawasaki, a facility that preserves the legacy of the laboratory. Through detailed panels, the exhibition explains how preparations to mobilize civilians for war were gradually put into place. It also describes the dispersal and relocation of the laboratory’s functions to Nagano, Fukui, and Hyogo prefectures in an effort to avoid U.S. air raids. Nagano, in particular, was designated as the planned relocation site for both the Imperial Headquarters and the Imperial Palace. “A decisive battle on the Japanese main islands may feel like a phantom because it never actually took place, but the military was seriously preparing to draw civilians, including women, into guerrilla warfare,” said Akira Yamada, head of the museum. “Once a war begins, it cannot be stopped; (a warring nation) keeps pushing forward even when there is no chance of victory,” Yamada, 68, said. “In this 80th anniversary year of the war’s end, I want people to recognize once again just how terrifying that reality is.” The admission-free special exhibition runs through May 30 next year. It is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday to Saturday. The museum is closed during the year-end and New Year holidays. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]