Japan officially established its new National Intelligence Bureau on July 31, a date that, when written as "7/31," echoes the name of Unit 731, the Imperial Japanese Army unit, based in northeast China, responsible for biological warfare and lethal human experimentation during World War II. Korean American scholar K.J. Noh argues that the symbolism should not be dismissed lightly. He warns that Japan's repeated encounters with the number "731" reflect a troubling insensitivity toward its wartime