# Shiro Ishii's map of the Unit 731 HQ—finding a legible photo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114 "2013-08-13T06:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/1 "2013-08-13T06:25:07Z")
Specifically, a largr version of [this photo](http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/XFwonderman/images/pingfanmap.gif), said to be a copy of Ishii’s hand-drawn map of Unit 731’s Pingfan headquarters complex? I’m not immediately famlliar with the photo, from my own reading on Unit 731 or historical biological weapons programs, and I got no response from the webpage’s author. So…can anyone help me out (with my spooky-ass question of the month)? ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/2 "2013-08-13T19:12:00Z")
The image is blocked, so I can’t see what you’re talking about. Have you tried Google’s “search by images” feature? You can upload an image to Google and have it find similar images on the web-- if there’s a higher resolution version of the same image, that should bring it up. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/3 "2013-08-14T00:16:41Z")
[Here’s](http://i.imgur.com/QEIPeFO.gif) an alternate source for said image, for what it’s worth. And yes, I’ve tried Google’s image search, along with TinEye. No dice. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/4 "2013-08-14T01:04:40Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > And yes, I’ve tried Google’s image search, along with TinEye. No dice. ☹ Then I think you’ve pretty much reached the [end of the internet](http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/001/10/001-1030100633-The-End-of-the-Internet.jpg). That’s all folks, time to go home. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/5 "2013-08-14T02:29:03Z")
There is an academic article about Shiro … [http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2167&context=etd](http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2167&context=etd) Perhaps check through the references, sources… eg ask the academic if they have it ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/6 "2013-08-14T20:20:34Z")
I have not been able to find the exact map you are looking for. However, I have found a very similar map, of the Ping Fan installation where much of the Unit 731 work was performed. It’s within this [rather lengthy .pdf](http://www.archives.gov/iwg/japanese-war-crimes/select-documents.pdf) from the U.S. National Archives, _Select Documents on Japanese War Crime and Japanese Biological Warfare, 1934-2006_, at page 30 in the .pdf viewer. The resolution of this map is also quite poor. I do not know who the author is. I do know it’s within the report, “_Biological Warfare: Activities and Capabilities of Foreign Nations_", which was drafted between Jan and June of 1946. It’s also titled Japanese War Crimes (JWC) 36. From the Archives itself: > [@](#): > > A complete copy of that document is filed under that number in the IWG Reference Collection of Select Documents on Japanese Biological Warfare and on Japanese War Crimes and is available in the Textual Research Room (room 2000) of Archives II, College Park, MD. Nevertheless, the last half of the .pdf is a database listing documents relating to Japanese biological warfare and other war crimes and locations within the Archives where you can find more documents like them. My guess is that if you search for documents relating to Ishii’s interviews with U.S. personnel, you’ll find the exact map you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shiro-ishiis-map-of-the-unit-731-hq-finding-a-legible-photo/666114/7 "2013-08-15T00:41:54Z")
Wow…amazing work, **Gray Ghost**. And thank you! It looks like I have some promising avenues of research, now.