7.
 Tokyo, on that spring day in 1943, displayed timeless beauty in the form of cherry blossoms falling like light snow over temple roofs. But the war was turning against Japan, and her true situation was better represented in a dark, smoky conference room at the Naval Operations Offices in Tokyo Bay. A dozen tense men in Army and Navy uniforms stood smoking and listening in a pillared hall while a young Navy officer waving a pointer stood before a slide projection screen. On the screen was a map of northwestern South America, including Peru. The Army officers present were from a chemical and biological warfare unit. The Navy officers represented the functional reality that Operation Jitensha (Bicycle) was largely a naval operation.
Outside the Naval Operations conference room, around the Tsukiji Fish Market area near Tokyo Bay, pinkish-white blossoms tumbled through the sunny air. By contrast, the air inside was heavy with the smoke from military issue cigarettes as well as hard to get in wartime Tengu and Peacock brands.
The young Navy officer in dark uniform pointed to the next slide: a map of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru. "Our I-400 Class submarine will surface to discharge a modified seaplane—Yokosuka D4Y Suisei (Comet)—two-seat carrier dive bomber, with range 1575 kilometers (945 miles). Flying empty, dragged somewhat by pontoon landing gear, the aircraft will fly at 500 km/hr (300 mph) and reach its destination in one hour."
Pausing to look at stony faces around him in the smoky conference room, the officer continued: "The mission will be accomplished within several hours as the two officers go on shore to collect specimens that they have been trained to recognize. The return journey will be in one hour."
Maj. Gen. Shunji Sato interrupted the young officer. Sato was head of Unit 731's Canton branch, and had been flown in from China especially for this briefing. He would report back to the commander of Unit 731, Lt. Gen. Ishii Shiro, the microbiologist doing human experiments on countless Chinese and other Allied prisoners. "Lieutenant, you realize that the war is at a crossroads and we must not fail in this Peruvian mission. How do we know the intelligence behind this effort is solid?"
The officer clicked his heels and bowed deeply. "Sir, our source is one of the many thousands of Japanese ex-patriates living in Peru. While these people, scattered through much of South America, are of course regarded with justified suspicion among loyal Japanese, many of them are poorly treated in their new homelands. Many of them resent their Caucasian rulers and would like to see those regimes weakened. As a result, our source, who bears a Japanese surname and is the son of first-generation immigrants to Lima, is one of those overseas Japanese who has developed a considerable loyalty to our Emperor. Although Peru has become officially hostile to open Axis activities, we still enjoy considerable support from Chilean and Argentine Axis supporters."
"Hah! Spies, you mean, which is not the same as saying openly loyal allies or devoted soldiers." Sato puffed hungrily on his strong cigarette during this explanation, and now exhaled yellow-white tendrils of smoke from his mouth and nostrils while turning to the man beside him. That was Major Tomio Karasawa of the Headquarters unit. He leaned close and said softly: "Major, let's make sure that this new weapon does not leak out into enemy hands. The results would be disastrous not only for Japan, but for the entire world."
Karasawa nodded sharply and unscrewed a silvered fountain pen to make notes on a pad of finest quality sube rice paper. "I will begin a file on it, Sir, and coordinate with Intelligence."
Sato added for emphasis as he smoked his Peacock cigarette to his fingertips: "Japan cannot afford for this information to leak to enemy newspapers and anti-Japanese propaganda radio."
The officers continued to hear testimony from several colonels. One, a biochemist, proclaimed: "Our source in Peru has introduced us to a treasure trove of priceless biological warfare agents that will make Japan number one not only in Asia, but across the entire earth." Cigarette smoke veiled the listeners' worried eyes, glittering spectacles, and gritted, exposed teeth as they considered the ramifications of unleashing such a powerful nightmare upon the world.
Already, things seemed to be silently going wrong. Thousands of miles away in the South Pacific, the I-400 class submarine waited dangerously past her deadline as the two aviators did not return. Every passing hour exposed the giant submarine to further danger from patrolling enemy aircraft.
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