'23 test subjects': Documents reveal Japan's wartime animal-to-human blood transfusion experiments

Newly discovered documents suggest the Imperial Japanese Army conducted so-called "cross-species transfusion" experiments during the Second Sino-Japanese War, injecting animal blood into human subjects.

Kyodo News reported Sunday that a journal of the Army Medical Corps had been found containing a report delivered at a 1940 Japanese Army conference, in which a military medical school instructor described repeatedly conducting cross-species transfusion experiments.

Kyodo said the experiments were part of research driven by the difficulty of securing adequate blood supplies on the battlefield, and raised the possibility that the experiments were carried out in China.

Records identified a total of 23 test subjects, though their identities were not disclosed.

The experiments were considered medically beyond the pale at the time due to the risk of rejection reactions. According to Kyodo, the documents describe deeply unethical procedures, including large-volume transfusions of horse blood and the injection of animal serum after surgically blocking blood flow in the neck.

Blood from sheep and dogs was also recorded as having been used, in addition to that of horses.

Experiments were also conducted in which chicken blood — whose red blood cell structure differs from that of humans — was injected into subjects, with researchers observing how much remained in the body over time.

The instructor who delivered the report was quoted as saying he had "experienced numerous cases of transfusions using animals as blood sources during this incident," referring to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The documents record the experiments as having taken place in the autumn of 1938, but the location was not listed. Kyodo said the relevant section appeared to have been removed during censorship. The report referred to the subjects as "patients," but provided no explanation of whether they actually required transfusions or were wounded Japanese soldiers.

The report noted that side effects including high fever occurred following the cross-species transfusions, but no deaths were confirmed. It also reportedly argued that the research should be developed into a full-scale area of study going forward.

The conference at which these findings were presented was the Army Field Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Society, held in March 1940. The meeting was attended by the director of the Army Ministry's Medical Affairs Bureau, along with numerous military medical and pharmaceutical officers.

Experts say the documents could serve as new historical material shedding light on the Japanese military's wartime medical research practices. The identities of the test subjects, the location of the experiments, and the full extent of the harm caused remain unclear, and experts are calling for further excavation of related materials and additional research.

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