Shirō Ishii, Japanese general and biologist (born 1892)

Surgeon General Shirō Ishii was a Japanese microbiologist and army medical officer, who served as the director of Unit 731, a biological warfare unit of the Imperial Japanese Army. Ishii led the development and application of biological weapons at Unit 731 in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945, including the bubonic plague attacks at Chinese cities of Changde and Ningbo, and planned the Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night biological attack against the United States. Hirohito rewarded him with a special service medal for his work.