KAWASAKI — A Japanese Imperial Army espionage research center in Kawasaki was reopened Monday as a museum on spying and subversive activities.
Items on display include the design for balloon bombs to attack the United States, experimental tools to develop biological and chemical weapons, and bogus Chinese bills used during the war.
The Noborido Research Center was located on what is now the Ikuta campus of Meiji University in Tama Ward.
The university held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, but the facility won't be open to the general public until April 7.
The army seized bill-printing facilities when Japan occupied Hong Kong in 1941, including the plates for legal tender issued by the National Party of China.
The army reprinted bogus bills at the center and used them to procure materials in China and at the same time cause economic damage to areas occupied by the National Party.
The compound and center's buildings, once top secret military installations, were sold to the university after the end of World War II.
Citizens' groups have called for preservation of the facilities to maintain the wartime memories and records of the Imperial army.
