Since the 1990s, Chinese victims of biological and chemical warfare, with the support of heroic lawyers and activists such as Koken Tsuchiya and Wang Xuan, have brought lawsuits against the Japanese government for compensation and apologies. None of the lawsuits have ultimately been successful as the Tokyo Higher Court persistently rejects any responsibility on the part of the Japanese government, arguing that the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique and China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship effectively waived claims to war reparations and disposed Japan of its national responsibility. However, victims and their supporters counter that the agreements waived the right of the Chinese government to make claims, but not of individuals. Despite the obstacles to obtaining justice, victims and their supporters continue to take legal action against the Japanese government for their war crimes.

1995

Fifteen survivors and descendants of the Nanking Massacre, Unit 731 and indiscriminate bombing sued the Japanese government in the Tokyo District Court.  The Court dismissed the case in 1999, but it acknowledged that Unit 731 used human beings in experiments.

1996

Thirteen Chinese plaintiffs sued the Japanese government for compensation for injuries and deaths sustained as a result of abandoned chemical weapons and ammunition. In 2003, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of the victims and granted them 190 million yen in compensation. But in 2007, the Tokyo High Court overturned that ruling.

Between 1996 and 2003, Dr. Michael Franzblau, professor of dermatology at the University of California, brought forth a resolution 11 times to the World Medical Association demanding that the Japan Medical Association (JMA) admit the use of biological weapons. His resolution was continuously defeated, likely because a former President of the JMA was a Unit 731 staff member. Then, in 2003, it became impossible for individuals to introduce such resolutions.

1997

With the help of Japanese lawyers and civil activists, 180 Chinese victims of biological warfare sued the Japanese government for an apology and compensation. In its ruling in August 2002, the the Tokyo District Court acknowledged that the Japanese military spread disease by releasing plague carrying fleas from airplanes and poisoning wells with cholera in Zhejiang and other provinces between 1940 and 1942. However, it denied compensation with the reason that the Japanese government was not responsible due to the 1972 Sino-Japanese Communique and the subsequent 1978 China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty. An appeal was filed and the first appeal hearing was held on May 20, 2003 at the Tokyo High Court attended also by a delegation of Canadians to show support to the victims.  But again the Tokyo High Court rejected the compensation demand in July 2005. An appeal was then filed to the Supreme Court of Japan which eventually dismissed the appeal in May 2009.

The UN Chemical Weapons Convention went into effect, holding Japan responsible for clearing around 700,000 of its chemical munitions from China by 2007. But the Japanese government was slow to move on the cleanup, which has experienced constant delays. By 2007, Japan had not met its obligation, and the majority of abandoned chemical munitions remain in China, causing harm to both people and the environment alike.

2005 – Present

A permanent exhibition on Japan’s biological and chemical warfare was set up by the victims and their descendents in Yiwu, Zhejiang.  The descendants and their supporters, including Japanese lawyers and scholars and Chinese university students, continue the work to unveil the truth about Japan’s biological and chemical warfare.