Significance of Glass Beverage Bottles Excavated from Unit 731 Sites : Focusing on the Production and Distribution of Cider and Beer

The excavation of the Unit 731 ruins revealed the involvement of modern Japan in the production of beverage bottles, as Japanese inscriptions were observed on the glass bottles. This author noted the presence of Japanese-produced beverage bottles at the ruins of Japanese military units in China, and the author believes that understanding the production, transportation, and background of these bottles can illuminate the social conditions during the Japanese occupation. The reported beverage bottles included six beer bottles and two liquor bottles, but the analysis confirmed they were five beer bottles, one wine bottle, and two cider bottles. The overwhelming number of unreported beverage bottles identified at the Unit 731 Exhibition Hall, coupled with the fact that these items were collected after the site’s decommissioning, suggests that beverages like these were commonly provided when Unit 731 was active. The cider excavated from the remains of Unit 731 was supplied as a military provision by Kaichiro Nezu to the Japanese army from the 1920s and 1930s until the 1940s, when the Ad Hoc prison and Biological laboratory operated in Harbin. Despite Japan’s general mobilization during this period, which caused most businesses to shrink, the Dainippon Brewery Company, responsible for supplying cider and beer as military provisions, continued to thrive. Although it is often claimed that Kaichiro Nezu ceased involvement with the Dainippon Brewery Company in 1933, in reality, this heir to the Nezu family was appointed to the board of directors, ensuring that the Nezu family maintained control over the company. Kaichiro Nezu’s involvement in the construction of the Korean Peninsula railroad had a significant impact on the transportation of military supplies. Furthermore, as president of the Fukoku Chohei Insurance Company, Nezu and his family profited immensely from both the Korean Peninsula and the munitions industry, not only during World War II but also before it. Therefore, the enterprises associated with Kaichiro Nezu and his family should be classified as war criminal entities or war criminal companies. These issues have been excluded from discussions because beverages, although part of military provisions, were not direct wartime weapons, and the Fukoku Chohei Insurance Company was relatively unknown in Korea. Most importantly, Kaichiro Nezu’s death shortly before Japan’s defeat further limited scrutiny. With the excavation of Unit 731’s remains and the release of archival materials, however, the groundwork has been laid to bring attention to these short-lived war criminal entities and their associated enterprises.