Number Nine Research Laboratory

The 9th Army Technical Research Laboratory (第9陸軍技術研究所, Dai kyū Rikugun Gijutsu Kenkyūjo), also called the Noborito Laboratory (登戸研究所, Noborito Kenkyūjo), was a military development laboratory run by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1937 to 1945. The lab, based in Noborito, Tama-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan focused on clandestine activities and unconventional warfare, including energy weapons, intelligence and spycraft tools, chemical and biological weapons, poisons, and currency counterfeiting. One of the weapons developed by the lab was the fire balloon, thousands of which were launched against the United States in 1944 and 1945. The unit, which at its peak was staffed by 1,000 scientists and workers, was disbanded upon Japan's defeat at the end of World War II.

According to a 2007 book review in the CIA's journal Studies in Intelligence, "Ban Shigeo, a technician at the Japanese Army's 9th Technical Research Institute, left a rare and valuable account" of his work at Number Nine Research Laboratory, which was published posthumously in 2001 as Rikugun Noborito Kenkyujo no shinjitsu [The Truth About the Army Noborito Research Institute]. According to the review, "the US Army quietly enlisted certain members of Noborito in its efforts against the communist camp in the early years of the Cold War.... Ban led the 'chemical section' of a US clandestine unit hidden within Yokosuka naval base during the Korean War...."

On 7 April 2010, a museum, called the Noborito Institute for Peace Education, was opened at the lab's former site. The museum exhibits artifacts from the lab and gives information on the unit's mission and operations. The museum sits on the Ikuta campus of Meiji University.

References

• Cook, Haruko Taya; Theodore F. Cook (1993). Japan at War: An Oral History. New Press. ISBN 1-56584-039-9.
• "Dedicated research uncovers dark history of former Noborito military lab" (Newspaper article). Mainichi Shimbun. 14 August 2014. p. 7. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
• "Rikugun Noborito Kenkyujo no shinjitsu [The Truth About the Army Noborito Research Institute]" (Journal article). Studies in Intelligence. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
• Schreiber, Mark (17 October 2010). "Balloon bombs, poisons all in a day's work at Noborito" (Newspaper article). Japan Times. p. 7. Retrieved 20 October 2010.