Unit 8604

Unit 8604 (広州第8604部隊) was the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department unit of the Japanese Southern China Area Army. It allegedly secretly researched biological warfare and other topics through human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II era. It was formed in Canton (Guangzhou), a city in southern China, and headquartered at Chungshan Medical University (Hal Gold, Unit 731 Testimony, 2003, p. 50).

The unit was commanded by Major General Sato Shunji, a physician. It was staffed by a total of 800 personnel: 100 commissioned officers (many with medical or scientific backgrounds), 200 medical and scientific researchers, and 500 soldiers and noncommissioned officers.

In 1994, the "Japan's China Invasion Factual Investigation Record China Entourage" confirmed the existence of the unit and collected testimony from former members and victims. Shigeru Maruyama, a former member of the unit said that one experiment involved starving prisoners to death and talked of seeing victims being operated on almost every day.