First of all, I have to clarify and say that I am not, in fact, Japanese, or of Japanese descent. Contrary to your point, I am actually of Chinese descent, the primary country affected by Unit 731 in real life.
However, I understand your viewpoint. It is often difficult to fictionalize historical events in a way that doesn't trivialize or otherwise reduce the importance that said events had on real life. Too often, when we simply use these events as a backdrop for other stories, we forget that they actually happened to very real people who simply had to deal with this as their reality. This is doubly important when said events were as horrifying or senselessly cruel as what Unit 731 did.
So then, how to write about these kinds of tragedies in a fictionalized way? Well, the important thing in my mind is to not create some sort of historical revisionist narrative that takes away from what they were. It was a genocide, it was a massacre, it was a war crime, in this article and in real life. Reading about these events should make you feel uncomfortable. It should make you take a step back. Because if nothing else, it's a gutpunch to remember that this all really did happen.
I think that writing about these events gives us an important opportunity to remember them. Many people I talk to know little about Unit 731, the Tuskegee Experiments, Soviet pogroms, the Holocaust, and more events perpetuated by every nation during that dark time. Writing about them (even in a fictionalized way) is a way to bring them back to our memory. As HumidHermit said, there are things that have been done, and things that can't be forgotten. In this case, forgetting them and not writing about them would be a disservice to the people who lived that history.
Riemann for his initial reviewing of the earliest stages of my draft, and for providing a wonderful voice into writing style.
A Random Day was critical for refining this into the version that you see now, as well as giving me the inspiration for the title.
Modern_Erasmus was very helpful for his insight into the subtler points of the draft, which helped me guide my overall vision.
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