Kempeitai: Japan’s Had Its Very Own Dreaded “Gestapo”
Warfare History Network
Security, Asia
The Kempeitai were the military police of the Japanese Imperial Army. Literally translated, the name means “Law Soldier Regiment.” Westerners of 1930s generally called them “gendarmerie”
In Western countries, “military police” are associated in the public mind with keeping order among off-duty personnel, such as arresting drunken servicemen. The Kempeitai had a much more sinister role, especially during World War II. There was no right of habeas corpus and suspects were considered guilty when arrested. The Kempeitai also enjoyed almost complete autonomy and freedom from restraint.
The Kempeitai had many missions, including counterintelligence and counter-propaganda. Sometimes they would act as agents of the Japanese Army, sweeping districts to “requisition” supplies. At other times the sweeps would be for human victims. Areas often would be searched for young women to be used as sex slaves in Army brothels—the so-called “comfort women.”
Like Germany’s Gestapo and SS, the Kempeitai generally performed the Japanese government’s dirty work with enthusiasm and zeal. They were responsible for rear-area security, running POW and forced-labor camps, and conducting reprisal raids. In the latter instance, certain districts would be deliberately put to the torch, their inhabitants raped and murdered.
The Kempeitai’s Special Camps
The dreaded Kempeitai also ran the special camps—places like Unit 731, where the most horrific medical and other experiments were performed on thousands of American, Chinese, European, and Korean prisoners.
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