Unit 731: Japan’s Secret Human Testing Program | #420
RedHanded
Wondery | RedHanded
4.5 • 18.2K Ratings
🗓️ 8 October 2025
⏱️ 71 minutes
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Summary
One of WWII’s lesser-known horrors, Japan’s secret biological warfare testing program is so brutal and inhumane that it’s hard to believe it could ever happen. And at its helm was a twisted microbiologist Shiro Ishi.
Victims, known inside as “logs”, were injected and exposed to countless pathogens including typhoid, cholera, and the plague, then watched like lab rats as they were gripped by the diseases. Even in their last moments, the poor souls stuck inside Unit 731 weren’t safe, as they were cut open and examined, while they were still alive…
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to Red-Handed early and ad-free. |
| 0:04.6 | Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. |
| 0:12.9 | I'm Anna. I'm Siruti. |
| 0:18.7 | And welcome to Red-Handed Halloween War Crime Edition. |
| 0:24.2 | Uh-oh. |
| 0:25.6 | Yeah, big uh-ohs, actually. |
| 0:27.9 | And I didn't want to say anything, but we've actually... |
| 0:30.4 | We're recording these in like the reverse order of that they're going out. |
| 0:34.7 | Mm-hmm. |
| 0:35.1 | So we've just had a story about breaking bones. Mm also some rats made an appearance. Loads of rats and loads of broken bones in this one as well. And I did just Google. Japanese for uh-oh? And it came up. Like somebody else had searched for it. And I can't say it because it's shown me in Japanese script, but apparently it has a little microphone next to it. Shall we ever listen? Sure. |
| 0:57.3 | Ah, ah, ah. Well, so ah, ah. Like I say to my dog. |
| 1:04.0 | Get away from that muddy puddle. Get away from that biological chemicals |
| 1:11.8 | Fush, you'd be straight in there |
| 1:13.3 | honestly |
| 1:14.7 | revolting |
| 1:16.6 | Uh-uh |
| 1:17.4 | Uh-uh |
| 1:17.4 | Okay |
| 1:19.9 | We've been wanting to do this for fucking years |
| 1:22.7 | And now we have |
| 1:24.4 | I'm so glad my stomach is empty |
| 1:26.6 | Yeah And hopefully your hands and your plates And anything else And now we have. I'm so glad my stomach is empty. |
... |
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