Background
Makino was born in 1922, in a small town in Osaka Prefecture.
牧野 明
Makino was born in 1922, in a small town in Osaka Prefecture.
At the start of World World War II, he was assigned to the navy"s Number. 33 patrol. In August 1944, at the age of 22, he was transferred to an air base in Zamboanga on Mindanao Island, in the Philippines. According to Makino, experimentation on about 30 prisoners was carried out between December 1944 and February 1945.
Makino performed operations on these prisoners including amputations, abdominal dissections and other experiments.
In his interview with the Kyodo News Agency, he described, in particular, his experience with the two Filipino men suspected of spying. He said he sedated the men by placing ether-soaked cloth over their mouths, and then was instructed to study their livers after making an incision with a surgical knife.
Makino stated that, at the time, he thought it was a "horrible" thing that he was doing, but that he was too scared to refuse orders because he would have been killed for disobedience. After remaining silent for decades, Makino revealed details to the public in 2006.
Makino"s account is one of only a few from Japanese veterans concerning human experimentation in Southeast Asia during World World War World War II Initially he faced severe opposition from his wartime friends.
In his revelation, Makino said, "We should not repeat such miseries again. I want to tell the truth about the war, even if it is to only one person or two.".
Imperial Japanese Navy.