Lot# 5459

the sender was “Technician Hamada Minoru, Ishii (No. 4) Unit,” addressed to the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kyoto Imperial University. Hamada later became a professor at Kyoto University’s Faculty of Agriculture after the war. The original mailing date “October 3, Showa 15” was altered to July to evade military postal inspection. The reverse depicts Xianglu Peak at Shaoxing, Zhejiang, located within the Chekiang–Kiangsi battle zone. Postal material relating to Unit 731 is extremely rare, as most records were destroyed. This card with verified identity, time, and location, is an important historical artifact for the study of Japan’s bacteriological warfare unit and the Sino-Japanese War.