Operation PX | |
---|---|
Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night | |
Operational scope | West Coast of the United States |
Planned | December 1944 |
Planned by | Jisaburō Ozawa aided by Shirō Ishii |
Objective | Spreading weaponized bubonic plague and other pathogens on US West Coast |
Outcome | Cancelled in March 1945 |
Operation PX (Japanese: PX行動, romanized: PX kōdō), also known as Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night (夜桜作戦 Yozakura Sakusen)[1] was a planned Japanese military attack on civilians in the United States using biological weapons, devised during World War II. The proposal was for Imperial Japanese Navy submarines to launch seaplanes that would deliver weaponized bubonic plague, developed by Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army, to the West Coast of the United States. The operation was abandoned shortly after its planning was finalized in March 1945 due to the strong opposition of General Yoshijirō Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff.