Editor's note: To offer a clearer picture of history, the State Archives Administration released a large number of files on 45 Japanese war criminals who were tried and convicted in China after World War II. The special military tribunal of the Supreme People's Court held public trials, sentencing the criminals to eight-to-20 years prison term. China Daily is publishing abstracts of the criminals' confessions:

Katsu Kamisaka

He served as deputy battalion chief and battalion chief of the Infantry Regiment in Taiwan with the rank of major and then lieutenant colonel from March 1934 to November 1941. He became major general and commander of the 53rd Infantry Brigade of the 59th Division in June 1945. On Aug 20, 1945, he was captured by the Soviet Army near Hamhung in the present-day Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

His major offenses include:

February 1942: In Baoding, Hebei province, he ordered the arrest or jailing of about 20 Chinese people and had them killed through beheading and bayoneting.

May 1942: About 22 km southeast of Dingxian county, Hebei, he ordered the death of over 800 people, including soldiers of the Eighth Route Army and local residents. Poison gas was used.

Spring 1943: In the mountainous area northwest of Xingtang, Hebei, he killed about 250 people by ordering them to go in front of the troops to detect land mines. He also had about 50 houses burned down.

June 1945: He ordered his troops to kill all captives (about 50) as he felt it was increasingly difficult to move forward with them.

Shinnosuke Sasa

Sasa was born in 1893 in Fukuoka prefecture, Japan. In September 1932, he came to China to join the Japanese war of aggression against China and served as a major and battalion chief of the 3rd Brigade of the 63rd Infantry Regiment of the 10th Division of the Kwantung army. On Aug 23, 1945, he was arrested by the Soviet Army.

His major offenses include:

October 1932: In Jiamusi, Heilongjiang province, about 30 Chinese people were arrested as spy suspects. Many were killed after torture.

January 1941: In Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, he ordered the arrest of about 65 spy suspects. About half of them were killed after interrogation that included torture.

From December 1944 to May 1945: In Hubei province, he ordered the arrest of about 90 spy suspects of the anti-Japanese army and anti-Japanese groups, killing about 30 of them through interrogation that included torture.

March 1945: During the battles in Xiangfan, Hubei, his troops "killed about 3,500 soldiers of the Chongqing army" (including some captives), "killed about 200 Chinese people", "raped approximately 50 Chinese women" and "burned down houses of about 200 households".

China Daily

(China Daily USA 07/08/2014 page4)