Top secret poison gas bomb factory Negative history of war told by the site August 8 15:10

During the
Pacific War, there was a factory in Kitakyushu City that secretly manufactured poison gas bullets.
The existence of "poison gas bullets",
the use of which was prohibited by international treaties, has been hidden for a long time, and almost no documents remain.

78 years have passed since the end of the war. From the building of the manufacturing plant at that time, we traced the negative history of the war.
(Nagasaki Broadcasting Station Cameraman Masato Noguchi)

Former poison gas bomb factory turned into a training ground for the Self-Defense Forces

The Sone Training Ground of the Ground Self-Defense Force Kokura Garrison in Kokura Minami-ku, Kitakyushu City.

It is surrounded by residential areas and rice fields, but there used to be a factory that manufactured "poison gas bombs" here.

Normally, entry is prohibited, but this time, filming inside the facility was specially permitted.

As soon as you enter, you will see a concrete building.
It is the site of the Tokyo Second Army Arsenal and the Sone Works.

The Sone Works was built in Showa 12, when the Second Sino-Japanese War began.
On a site of about 5,7 tsubo, seven buildings and a cylindrical gas exhaust tower remain as they were at that time.

At this plant, work was carried out to pack shells with poisonous gases such as iperit that caused skin sores and suffocating phosgene.

It is said that about 8.150 million poison gas shells were produced in the eight years until the end of the war. It was used in the Second Sino-Japanese War.

At the end of the war, the factory was closed, and the building was used for training for urban warfare by the Ground Self-Defense Force after the war. Currently, it is not possible to enter because there is a risk of collapse.

Features unique to poison gas ammunition factories

It is said that the remaining buildings have the characteristics unique to the poison gas bomb factory.
That is the window.

We asked Professor Shinji Ito of Seinan Gakuin University, who specializes in archaeology and is familiar with domestic war ruins, and who is investigating the Sone Works, to explain it.

Professor Shinji Ito of Seinan Gakuin University:
"The windows are very large, and you can clearly see that they were conscious of ventilation and ventilation."

The height of the window sill is about 3 meters. Even so, there are testimonies that gas leaks frequently occurred at the factory, and that there were many injuries.

There were also other traces.
Here it is.

It was characterized by the earth and earthworks that were mounded in front of the building where the finished shells were stored.

Professor Shinji Ito of Seinan Gakuin University
: "It is conceivable that such an earthwork was built to prevent the blast wave from reaching the neighboring building in the unlikely event that the completed shell exploded in an accident."

Professor Ito considers the site of the Sone Works to be a valuable war site that allows you to visually see the whole picture of the weapons factory during the war.

Professor Shinji Ito of Seinan Gakuin University:
"Not only do the main buildings still exist, but I think that the surrounding boundary fences and even gates remain in such a preserved state as a very valuable war relic, which is the only one in Japan."

In this interview, we photographed the site of the Sone Works from various angles and created a 3D model.

Some people remain with the aftereffects of poison gas production ...

More than 1000,<> people, mainly locals, worked at the factory.
The park was always filled with the smell of chemicals, and we could not enter if we were unprotected.

The workers were wearing rubber protective suits and gas masks, but many people were still injured by chemicals entering through the gaps.

The brutal poison gas weapons also devastated the bodies of those involved in its manufacture.

Many of the workers have already died, making it difficult to learn more about the actual situation in the factory.

However, an NHK program broadcast in 1991 recorded the testimonies of people who worked at the Sone Works at the time.

Jiro Hatakeyama worked on filling cannonballs with poison gas for eight years from Showa 12, when the factory was opened, to the end of the war.

The after-effects of poison gas remained, and after the war he suffered from chronic bronchitis.

Jiro Hatakeyama (from the 1991 program)
"This is really a gas, Iperit (poison gas), and the white ones are the marks of water bubbles. Take it as a blot. Other places will also be discolored by the gas."

In the building where Hatakeyama worked, gas leaks occurred frequently, and he said that he felt that this was the norm.

Jiro Hatakeyama (from a 1991 program)
"I didn't think anything of it because I had a cough, a sore throat, and my eyes were red and bloodshot, so I didn't feel any pain directly."

In addition, Shigeo Yoshioka worked in the factory office.

He says that the production of poison gas bombs was confidential and that even his family was strictly ordered to keep it a secret.

Shigeo Yoshioka (from a 1991 program)
said, "We have written a pledge not to say anything about the manufacture of poison gas bombs.

It's a shame that you made up against the treaty, right? That's why the evidence is thoroughly destroyed."

Two of them have already died, but this is a valuable testimony that shows the situation at that time.

The whereabouts of decaying war ruins

It has been 86 years since the factory was built.
The building is aging, with the exterior walls peeling off.

The Ground Self-Defense Force Kokura garrison, which we manage, is at risk of collapse and requests that the senior unit dismantle it.

On the other hand, Professor Ito, who is investigating the Sone Works, is advocating that it should be preserved.

Professor Shinji Ito of Seinan Gakuin University:
"In order to protect peace, it is necessary to have material to think directly about what the era of war was like.

Keizo Dehara, co-representative of the National War Relics Preservation Network, a citizens' group that investigates and preserves war relics, said:

Keizo
Dehara, co-representative of the National War Relics Preservation Network, said, "The ruins of factories bear valuable witness to history and are the assets of the people, and I think the government should actively preserve them and sincerely face the negative history."

Russia's military invasion of Ukraine has been prolonged.
I feel that war is not a single thing for us Japan people.

The remains of a factory that conveys the negative history of manufacturing "poison gas bullets" that were top secret.
In order to pass on the memories of the war to future generations, I think we who live today need to think about what we should do with the war relics.

Nagasaki Broadcasting Station
Cameraman Shingo
NoguchiJoined the station in 2004 After working in Hiroshima, Tokyo, Fukuoka, etc., he is currently a member.
At the time of the interview, it was the Fukuoka bureau. Covers the theme of war and peace, including the atomic bomb.