During the years from 1931 (The Invasion of Manchuria) to
1945 (The End of World War II), the Imperial Army of Japan conducted some of the most horrible atrocities the world has ever seen. A large amount of these were inflicicted on the conquered civilian populous, and especially in China. Today, much of the general population of Japan is left to be ignorant of these events. The work of revisionist government officals.
Notable Events:
Methods of Execution/Torture:
- Weapon Practice
- Mauled by Dogs
- Run Over by Tanks
- Decapitation
- Live Burial
- Rape
Many more examples of this behavior exist, one of them was that soldiers would send crowds of people up a high building, rip out any stairs or means of exit, and watch people jump to their deaths as they ignited the building.
Treatement of POWs
Japanese thought of surrender as worse than death. As a result, POWs were left to fend for themselves. When the war ended, they were found severely malnourished, with nothing but the skin on their bones, literally. Civilians in detention centers were equally treated. It has been recorded that prisoner coolies were fed brown sugar at random laced with disease or poison just to see how they would react.
Unit 731
Of one of the most notorious things that has been aware of to the public is Unit 731, located in northern China. There were several similar units around Asia, but this one, commanded by Lt. General Shiro Ishii is the most infamous. People were injected with different kinds of poisons, from snakes and the like, then after recording the data, where thrown into an incenerator. People were vivisected, not even pregnant women (many times which the "doctors" themselves had impregnated) where spared. At the end of the war, most of the structures and data were burned or destroyed.
The Comfort Women
The comfort women were supposed to be beautiful women in long flowing robes that would tend to the soldier's every needs after a long battle. Hardly the case, all women were lured or kidnapped into what would pretty much be a brothel. More can be found at the node Comfort Women: Japanese Sex Slaves in World War II.
Sources:
There are many, many sources I've drawn from, books, the Internet, etc. However, the information here has been gathered from many years of just reading here and there, and the sites and books have long since been forgotten. Sorry.