Japanese veteran attends press conference

Hideo Shimizu (C) attends a press conference in Iida City of Nagano, Japan, Aug. 26, 2024.
Over the past 79 years, 94-year-old Japanese veteran Hideo Shimizu became the fifth member of the notorious Japanese Unit 731 germ-warfare detachment during World War II, and likely the last, to return to the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin to confess and seek forgiveness for their war crimes.
Shimizu fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on Aug. 14, 1945. His trip to Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, from Aug. 12 to 15 marked his first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. (Xinhua/Yang Guang)

Hideo Shimizu (2nd L) attends a press conference in Iida City of Nagano, Japan, Aug. 26, 2024.
Over the past 79 years, 94-year-old Japanese veteran Hideo Shimizu became the fifth member of the notorious Japanese Unit 731 germ-warfare detachment during World War II, and likely the last, to return to the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin to confess and seek forgiveness for their war crimes.
Shimizu fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on Aug. 14, 1945. His trip to Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, from Aug. 12 to 15 marked his first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. (Xinhua/Yang Guang)

Hideo Shimizu (C) attends a press conference in Iida City of Nagano, Japan, Aug. 26, 2024.
Over the past 79 years, 94-year-old Japanese veteran Hideo Shimizu became the fifth member of the notorious Japanese Unit 731 germ-warfare detachment during World War II, and likely the last, to return to the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin to confess and seek forgiveness for their war crimes.
Shimizu fled China with the retreating Japanese forces on Aug. 14, 1945. His trip to Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang Province, from Aug. 12 to 15 marked his first return to Chinese soil in 79 years. (Xinhua/Yang Guang)