Teigin incident
The Teigin incident short for the Teikoku Bank incident (“Teikoku" means an Empire in Japanese language.) was the mass murder incident caused by poison. It occurred at the Teikoku Bank (subsequent the Mitsui Bank, the current Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation) Shiina-machi branch (It was integrated and closed in 1950 and it does not exist.) at Nagasaki, Toshima, Tokyo, Japan on January 26, 1948. In the period of chaos following the Pacific War, under the occupation of Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers whose position was generally referred to as GHQ (General Headquarters) In Japan, this incident occurred, and many mysteries have not been elucidated yet.
Seichō Matsumoto, who has been the representative author in post-war Japan, wrote "Black Fog over Japan." (1960), known as an incredibly famous nonfictional work of his, and he took up the Teigin incident together with some incidents of machinations such as Shimoyama incident, Japan Airlines Flight 301 Plane Crash (This incident is usually referred to in Japanese as the “Mokusei-gō plane crash.” “Mokusei” means Jupiter in Japanese language.), the Matsukawa derailment during the period under the occupation of GHQ in this work. And he pointed out the possibility that the person concerned with the unit which made specialty of weapons for Biological warfare, i.e., Unit 731 was the culprit at the Teigin incident.
After the occurrence of the Teigin incident, Shirō Ishii underwent an interrogation relevant to this incident by the police, he testified as an expert, "Potassium cyanide can determine whether or not to sustain life temporally depending on the amount. If the Lethal dose is increased, the victim will immediately succumb to potassium cyanide. Depending on the amount, it is possible to adjust the time until death, from 5 minutes to 8 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, and the next day, etc. This is an absolute fact. Even if the actually used poison was potassium cyanide, it was able to be used as the slow-acting poison by a professional’s accurate adjustment of the amount.” At this time, when Unit 731 was surrounded by the Soviet Armed Forces, in order to commit suicide of the soldiers of the unit, he imparted two surgeon-lieutenants approximately half of a drum can of potassium cyanide, and he also testified to the detective, ”I feel like there was the culprit among my subordinates."
Because Cyanide Chemical compound was detected from the bodies, the investigation was conducted mainly to those who involved in the Nakano School and Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department, because they were familiar with the treatment of the cyanide compound. At the time of the occurrence of the Teigin incident, a reporter of the Yomiuri Shimbun tracked down the fact that the Number Nine Research Laboratory (a.k.a. "the Noborito Laboratory") developed the medicine “Acetone cyanohydrin” i.e., “Hydrogen cyanide Nitrile”. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department presumed that the poison used in the crime was developed by the Noborito Laboratory, and the police investigated mainly the researchers of the 2nd arm of the Laboratory (Its main task was research and development of weapons for machinating warfare). The memo for the criminal investigation "The Kai Document" contained a statement pointing out the involvement of Unethical human experimentation in collaboration with the Noborito Laboratory and the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department. Many persons concerned at the 2nd arm of the Noborito Laboratory testified that there was a possibility that acetone cyanohydrin (hydrogen cyanide nitrile) which was developed in the Laboratory was used at the Teigin incident. On June 25, 1948, six months after the occurrence of the incident, the chief of the criminal department ordered that part of the investigation policy transfer to military involvement after obtaining influential information from Shigeo Ban, who belonged to the Noborito Laboratory. Although the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department focused the offender on the special mission participants of the Imperial Japanese Army, suddenly, GHQ ordered to stop investigation of the Army concerned. Acetone cyanohydrin is the slow-acting poison that is effective in about 1 minute to 2 minutes after drinking, as opposed to the fast-acting of potassium cyanide which exerts its power immediately, and even if the bodies are dissected, only the cyanide compound can be analyzed, however, at the time of the police investigation being far away from Unit 731 suddenly, the news also had to change direction of coverage, and the Yomiuri Shimbun stopped covering regarding Unit 731. In later years, confidential documents of GHQ were released, and in 1985, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported the following facts:
・The criminal technique of the offender matches the instruction book on the handling of poisons prepared by the Military Secret Science Laboratory
・The equipment used at the time of the crime matches the one used at the Laboratory
・In March 1948, GHQ suspended coverage of the investigation to Unit 731
However, even if the poison used in the incident was acetone cyanohydrin, a mystery remains from the circumstances of the incident. Because at the latest, 5 minutes passed after taking poison until death. In addition, if the crime was acted by a professional who was familiar with the efficacy and lethal dose of poison, it is necessary to explain the reason to result in failure to remain as many as four survivors (six survivors at the time of the discovery of the incident). The survivors become witnesses is obvious. If acetone cyanohydrin had been used, the criminal would have been able to poison everyone by administration of the quantity that exceeded limitations of the lethal dose. In April 1948, when the Investigation Headquarters was investigating mainly Imperial Japanese Army involvement, Shigeo Ban, who belonged to the Noborito Laboratory, testified to the investigators, based on the human experimentation which he had conducted in the past, "I don't think the poison used in the incident was potassium cyanide. I have conviction that the poison was hydrogen cyanide nitrile." However, he testified as an expert that the poison was potassium cyanide in court. In the examination of a witness on December 19, 1949, he testified on the conclusion of the toxicological forensics conference: "I affirm that the poison is a relatively poorly pure industrial potassium cyanide, which is a relatively readily available commercial industrial potassium cyanide." When he was inquired by the presiding judge, "Isn't this poison considered acetone cyanohydrin?" Ban testified, "Acetone cyanohydrin is colorless, tasteless, and odorless, and it is the same as water, therefore, it is not necessary to explain how to drink when the offender made drink the sufferers." (Official records of interrogations of a witness).
Weapons researched and developed by the Noborito Laboratory included Nuclear weapon, weapon for Biological warfare, Chemical weapon, Suicide weapon, machinating weapon, Fu-Go balloon bomb, canned bomb, Superhuman strength ray, murder ray, and electric throwing gun etc. As mentioned above, because the Noborito Laboratory executed fantastic research such as superhuman strength ray somewhat, and there were many unclear points of substance, it is drawn as an occult and suspicious laboratory among various creations. However, practically, the main research was severe and poorly imaged, such as machinating weapon, biological and chemical weapon, suicide weapon. The Operation Sugi is notorious because the Noborito Laboratory made Counterfeit money to China worth 4 billion yen during World War II in order to disarrange Chinese economy, and counterfeit notes worth 3 billion yen were actually used in China at that time.
After the occurrence of the Teigin incident, Sadamichi Hirasawa was arrested and prosecuted. His Capital punishment became definite on May 7, 1955 at Supreme court. Eventually, at 8:45 am on May 10, 1987, he suffered from Pneumonia and died at the age of 95 in Hachiōji Medical Prison, without successive Minister of Justice (Japan) signing the order of execution of the death penalty.
References
This article "Teigin incident" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Teigin incident. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
