President of the Tribunal, Sir William Webb, Justice of the High Court of Australia, presiding over the Tribunal in 1946.

This article deals with the trials of Japanese politicians and senior military officers in relation to incidents during World War II. For more general information see: Japanese war crimes. Image File history File links IMTFE.jpg The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 1946. ... Image File history File links IMTFE.jpg The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 1946. ... Hon Sir William Flood Webb KBE (21 January 1887 – 11 August 1972), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ... Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism. ...

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trials, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal or simply as the Tribunal, was convened to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: "Class A" (crimes against peace), "Class B" (war crimes), and "Class C" (crimes against humanity), committed during World War II. The first refers to their joint conspiracy to start and wage the war, and the latter two refer to atrocities including the Nanking Massacre. War crimes charges against more junior personnel were dealt with separately, in other cities throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated the criminal law. ... Anthem: Kimi ga Yo Imperial Reign Slogan: Fukoku Kyohei Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Military (a. ... A crime against peace, in international law, consists of illegally starting a war. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Nanking Massacre, commonly known as The Rape of Nanking, was a war crime incident committed by the Japanese military carried out by Japanese troops under the command of 3rd Division General Shin Makoto in and around Nanjing (then known in English as Nanking), China, after it fell to the... World map showing the location of Asia. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ...

The tribunal convened on May 3, 1946, and was adjourned on November 12, 1948. May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

Twenty-five Japanese military and political leaders were charged with Class A crimes, and more than 300,000 Japanese nationals were charged with Class B and C crimes, mostly over prisoner abuse. The crimes perpetrated by Japanese troops and authorities in the occupation of Korea and China, particularly Manchuria (Manchukuo), were not part of the proceeding. China held 13 tribunals of its own, resulting in 504 convictions and 149 executions. Korea (Korean: 한국 or 조선, see below) is a geographic area, civilization[], and former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. ... Manchukuo (1932–1945), Manchu country, was a former state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia created by former Qing Dynasty officials and Imperial Japan in 1932. ...

The Japanese Emperor Hirohito and Prince Asaka were not prosecuted for any alleged involvement in any of the three categories of crimes. Kishi Nobusuke, who was held as a suspected Class A criminal but never tried, later became Prime Minister. Hirohito (裕仁), the Shōwa Emperor (昭和天皇), (April 29, 1901 - January 7, 1989) reigned over Japan from 1926 to 1989. ... Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, circa 1937 His Imperial Highness Prince Asaka (Yasuhiko) of Japan (jp: 朝香鳩彦 Asaka Yasuhiko, 2 October 1887 - 13 April 1981), Prince Asaka-no-miya (朝香宮) of Japan, was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a career army officer. ... Nobusuke Kishi (岸 信介 Kishi Nobusuke November 13, 1896–August 7, 1987) was a Japanese politician and the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 25, 1957 to June 12, 1958 and from then to July 19, 1960. ...

Creation of the court

The legal basis for the trial was established by the Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (CIMTFE) that was proclaimed on 19 January 1946. CIMTFE set down the laws and procedures by which the IMTFE trials were to be conducted, including the types of crimes. On 25 April 1946 in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of the CIMTFE the original Rules of Procedure of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East with amendments were promulgated. ^[1][2][3] January 19 is the 19th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ...

A panel of eleven judges presided over the IMTFE, one each from victorious Allied powers (United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, Republic of China, the Netherlands, Provisional Government of the French Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, British India, and the Philippines). This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Motto: Three Principles of the People (三民主義 San-min Chu-i) Anthem: National Anthem of the Republic of China Capital Taipei (de facto)  Nanking (de jure)1  Largest city Taipei Official languages Mandarin (GuóyÇ”) Government Semi-presidential system  - President Chen Shui-bian  - Vice President Annette Lu  - Premier Su Tseng-chang... The Provisional Government of the French Republic was an interim government which governed France from 1944 to 1946. ... British India (otherwise known as The British Raj) was a historical period during which most of the Indian subcontinent, or present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, were under the colonial authority of the British Empire (Undivided India). ...

Prosecutors

Joseph B. Keenan (1896-1984) was a United States political figure. ... Sir Alan James Mansfield KCMG, KCVO, was Governor of Queensland, Australia between 1966 and 1972. ... Brigadier is a rank which is used in different ways by different countries. ... The Honourable Henry Grattan Nolan (May 5, 1893 – July 8, 1957) was a Canadian lawyer and jurist. ... The Madras High Court, one of the landmarks of the metropolis of Chennai, and believed to be the second largest judicial complex in the world, is located near the Parrys Corner, one of the important central business districts of Chennai. ... The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the land as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India. ... Brigadier is a rank which is used in different ways by different countries. ... A Minister is a true diplomat (not merely consular) accredited by one sovereign state to another who ranks below an ambassador. ...

Judges

Hon Sir William Flood Webb KBE (21 January 1887 – 11 August 1972), Australian judge, was a Justice of the High Court of Australia. ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ... Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Mei Ju-ao(Chinese:梅汝璈, 1904-1973) was the Chinese member of the judges in the International Military Tribunal for the Far Easts trials of Japanese war crimes committed during the second World War. ... Justice Radha Binod Pal was an Indian jurist. ... Formally established on the 24 January 1857, the University of Calcutta (also known as Calcutta University) (Bengali: কলকাতা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), located in the city of Kolkata (previously Calcutta), India, is the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht in Dutch) is a university in Utrecht, The Netherlands. ... Colonel (IPA: or ) is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with the corresponding ranks existing in nearly every country in the world. ... The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable ( or formerly The Honble) is a title of quality attached to the names of certain classes of persons. ... The Senators of the College of Justice, also known as the Lords of Council and Session and as the Lords Commissioners of Justiciary, are the judges of the Court of Session and of the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland. ... John Patrick Higgins (19 Feb 1893-2 Aug 1955) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. ... Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Major General or Major-General is a military rank used in many countries. ...

Charges

Sentences

Wide view of the Tribunal, depicting the bench of judges in the background, and prisoners on trial in the right foreground.

There were 28 defendants tried, mostly military and political leaders. Two defendants (Matsuoka Yosuke and Nagano Osami) died of natural causes during the trial. Okawa Shumei had a nervous breakdown during the trial and was removed. Image File history File links IMTFE2. ... Image File history File links IMTFE2. ... Yosuke Matsuoka Yosuke Matsuoka (松岡 洋右 Matsuoka Yōsuke 1880 – 1946) was an influential Japanese Foreign Minister during World War II. Born in Japan in 1880, Yosuke Matsuoka traveled to the United States while a teenager and eventually studied law at the University of Oregon, from... Categories: People stubs | Japanese military leaders | 1880 births | 1947 deaths | Admirals | Imperial Japanese Navy admirals | Imperial Japanese Navy | Japanese World War II people ... ÅŒkawa ShÅ«mei was a Japanese ultra nationalist and Pan-Asian writer born December 6, 1886, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan and died December 24, 1957, Tokyo. ...

Seven others were sentenced to death by hanging for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. They were executed at Sugamo Prison in Ikebukuro on December 23, 1948: // This page is about death by hanging. ... A crime against peace, in international law, consists of starting or waging a war against the territorial integrity, political independence or sovereignty of a state, or in violation of international treaties, agreements or (legally binding) assurances. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Sugamo Prison (Sugamo Kōchi-sho,Kyūjitai:巢鴨拘置所,Shinjitai:巣鴨拘置所) was built in the 1920s for political prisoners, using the prisons of Europe as a model. ... Ikebukuro Ikebukuro at night Ikebukuro at night Ikebukuro (池袋), a part of Toshima ward, is a large commercial and entertainment district of Tokyo, Japan. ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

• General Doihara Kenji, spy (later Air Force commander)
• Baron Hirota Koki, foreign minister
• General Itagaki Seishiro, war minister
• General Kimura Heitaro, commander, Burma Expeditionary Force
• General Matsui Iwane, commander, Shanghai Expeditionary Force and Central China Area Army
• General Muto Akira, commander, Philippines Expeditionary Force
• General Tojo Hideki, commander, Kwantung Army (later prime minister)

Sixteen more were sentenced to life imprisonment. Three (Koiso, Shiratori, and Umezu) died in prison, while the other thirteen were paroled in 1955: Kenji Doihara (土肥原 賢二 Doihara Kenji, 1883 - December 23, 1948) was a Japanese spy who served in northeastern China since 1913. ... Koki Hirota (広田 弘毅 Hirota Kōki, February 14, 1878–December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician and the 32nd Prime Minister of Japan from March 9, 1936 to February 2, 1937. ... Col. ... Hyotaro Kimura (Kimura Hyōtarō, sometimes spelled Kimura Heitaro) was a Japanese army officer who played a major, although comparatively little-known role in Japanese planning and policy before and during World War 2. ... Gen. ... Akira Muto was born in Japan in 1883. ... Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (東條 英機 Tōjō Hideki) (December 30, 1884–December 23, 1948) was a Japanese general and the 27th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from October 18, 1941 to July 22, 1944. ... Parole can have different meanings depending on the area and judiciary system. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• General Araki Sadao, war minister
• Colonel Hashimoto Kingoro, major instigator of the second Sino-Japanese War
• Field Marshal Hata Shunroku, war minister
• Baron Hiranuma Kiichiro, prime minister
• Hoshino Naoki, Chief Cabinet Secretary
• Kaya Okinori, opium dealer to the Chinese
• Marquis Kido Kōichi, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
• General Koiso Kuniaki, governor of Korea, later prime minister
• General Minami Jiro, commander, Kwantung Army
• Admiral Oka Takasumi, naval minister
• General Oshima Hiroshi, ambassador to Germany
• General Sato Kenryo, chief of the Military Affairs Bureau
• Admiral Shimada Shigetaro, naval minister
• Shiratori Toshio, ambassador to Italy
• General Suzuki Teiichi, president of the Cabinet Planning Board
• General Umezu Yoshijiro, war minister

Two defendants received finite sentences. Foreign minister Togo Shigenori was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and died in prison in 1949. Foreign minister Shigemitsu Mamoru was sentenced to 7 years but was paroled in 1950 and went on to serve as foreign minister again in Prime Minister Ichirō Hatoyama's cabinet. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Combatants Republic of China Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Xue Yue, Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai Fumimaro Konoe, Hideki Tojo, Matsui Iwane, Jiro Minami, Kesago Nakajima, Toshizo Nishio, Yasuji Okamura, Umezu Yoshijiro Strength 5,600,000[] 4,100,000 (including 900... Hata Shuroku (born 1879 - died 1962), was a Japanese General during World War II. He entered the Imperial Japanese Army in 1888. ... Kiichiro Hiranuma (平沼 騏一郎 Hiranuma Kiichirō, September 28, 1867–August 22, 1952) was a Japanese politician and the 35th Prime Minister of Japan from January 5, 1939 to August 30, 1939. ... Marquis Koichi Kido ) (July 18, 1889 – April 6, 1977), served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal from 1940 to 1945, and was the closest advisor to Emperor Showa throughout World War II. Kido Kōichi was the grandson of Kido Takayoshi, one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration. ... The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan ) was an administrative post not of cabinet rank in the government of the Empire of Japan. ... Kuniaki Koiso Kuniaki Koiso (小磯 国昭 Koiso Kuniaki, March 22, 1880–November 3, 1950) was the 41st Prime Minister of Japan from July 22, 1944 to April 7, 1945. ... Jiro Minami ), (10 August 1874 – 5 December 1955) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Governor-General of Korea between 1936 and 1942. ... Baron Hiroshi Oshima (男爵 大島 ひろし Danshaku ÅŒshima Hiroshi) (1886 - 1975) was the Japanese ambassador to Nazi Germany during World War II — and unknowingly a major source of communications intelligence for the Allies. ... Shigetaro Shimada Shigetaro Shimada (嶋田繁太郎 Shimada Shigetaro) (1883 – 1976) was one of the leading members of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. A graduate of Japan’s Naval Academy, Shimada rose through the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy and eventually became... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... General Yoshijiro Umezu (梅酢芳次郎 Umezu Yoshijirō, 1882-1949) was the chief commander of the Japanese army in World War II. Along with War Minister Korechika Anami and Soemu Toyoda, Chief of Staff of the Navy, Umezu opposed surrender in August of 1945; he believed that... Shigenori Togo Shigenori Togo (東郷茂徳 Tōgō Shigenori, 10 December 1882 - 23 July 1950) was Minister of Foreign Affairs for Japan at both the start and the end of World War II. He also served as Minister for Colonization in 1941, and assumed the same position, renamed the Minister for Greater... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Mamoru Shigemitsu (重光 葵, 1887 - June 27, 1957) was the Japanese Minister of Foreign affairs at the end of World War II. He, along with Yoshijiro Umezu, signed the instrument of surrender on September 2, 1945. ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ichirō Hatoyama (鳩山 一郎 Hatoyama Ichirō, January 1, 1883–March 7, 1959) was a Japanese politician and the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 to March 19, 1955, from then to November 22, 1955, and from then to December 23, 1956. ...

Subsidiary and related trials

The Khabarovsk War Crime Trials held by the Soviets tried and found guilty some members of Japan's bacteriological and chemical warfare unit (Unit 731). However those who surrendered to the Americans were never brought to trial as General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, secretly granted immunity to the physicians of Unit 731 in exchange for providing America with their research on biological weapons. Khabarovsk War Crime Trials - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Body disposal at Unit 731 Unit 731 was a covert biological warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and World War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried... Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was an American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ... Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) was the title for Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following WWII. The title did belong to Dwight David Eisenhower during WWII, however, he had nothing to do with the attacks on Japan. ... Biological Weapons: Friend or Foe? By Dom Harris There is great debate about whether biological weapons are good or bad, and whether the world should be concerned about their development. ...

In 1981, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published an article by John W. Powell detailing Unit 731 experiments and germ warfare open-air tests on civilian populations. It was printed with a statement by judge B. V. A. Röling, the last surviving member of the Tokyo Tribunal. Röling wrote that "As one of the judges in the International Military Tribunal, it is a bitter experience for me to be informed now that centrally ordered Japanese war criminality of the most disgusting kind was kept secret from the Court by the U.S. government." ^[4]

Criticism

The IMTFE shared many of the same criticisms as the Nuremberg Trials, including the ex post facto nature of the IMTFE. The critics are divided between those who argue that the trial was the victor's justice and those for whom the trial was essentially a legal procedure to exonarate the imperial family from criminal responsibility. The Süddeutsche Zeitung announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... An ex post facto law (Latin for from a thing done afterward), also known as a retrospective law, is a law that is retroactive, i. ...

It is also argued by some, such as Solis Horowitz, that IMTFE had an American bias, because unlike the Nuremberg Trials, there was only a single prosecution team, which was led by Joseph B. Keenan, an American, although the members of the tribunal represented eleven different Allied countries. ^[5] The Nuremberg Trials is the general name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in World War II and the Holocaust. ...

The IMTFE had less official support than the Nuremberg Trials. For example, Chief Prosecutor Joe Keenan, a former US assistant attorney general, had a much lower position that Nuremberg's Robert H. Jackson, a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Nuremberg Trials is the general name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in World War II and the Holocaust. ... Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892–October 9, 1954) was United States Attorney General (1940–1941) and an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1941–1954). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties Libertarian Party State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body...

Victor's justice

Radhabinod Pal, the Indian justice at the IMTFE, argued in his dissenting opinion that Japan was innocent. He wrote, "If Japan is judged, the Allies should also be judged equally." However, his opinion was not shared by the majority of the justices at Tokyo.

On the other hand, it is worth to referring to the Potsdam Declaration which the major Allies gave consent to and had clear intention to shorten the war period. The Allies did not want more bloodshed after Germany was defeated. They agreed to the term "the unconditional surrender of Japanese Armed Force", not the surrender of the Government of Japan. In this sense Japan did not surrender unconditionally, and the Japanese nation did not suffer the debellation which the Third Reich did^[6]. Debellatio (also debellation) (lat. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

The restriction of trial and punishment by the IMTFE to personnel of Japan has led to accusations of victor's justice and that Allied war crimes could not be tried. However it is usual that the armed forces of a civilised country ^[7] issue their forces with detailed guidance on what is and is not permitted under their military code. These are drafted to include any international treaty obligations and the customary laws of war. If a member of the armed forces breaks their own military code they can expect to face a court martial. When members of the Allied armed forces broke their military codes they could be and were tried, for example the Biscari Massacre trials. The unconditional surrender of the Axis powers was unusual and led directly to the formation of the international tribunals. Usually international wars end conditionally and the treatment of suspected war criminals makes up part of the peace treaty. In most cases those who are not prisoners of war are tried under their own judicial system if they are suspected of committing war crimes – as happened at the end of the concurrent Continuation War and led to the war-responsibility trials in Finland. In restricting the international tribunal to trying suspected Axis war crimes, the Allies were acting within normal international law. The label victors justice (in German, Siegerjustiz) is applied by advocates to a situation in which they believe that a victorious nation is applying different rules to judge what is right or wrong for their own forces and for those of the (former) enemy. ... The Biscari massacre was a war crime committed by U.S. troops during World War II, where unarmed German and Italian prisoners of war were supposedly killed at Biscari in 1943. ... Unconditional surrender refers to a surrender without conditions, except for those provided by international law. ... Combatants  Finland Germany  Soviet Union Commanders C.G.E. Mannerheim Kirill Meretskov Leonid Govorov Strength 250,000 (total 530,000) Finns[1] + 100,000 (total 220,000) Germans 650,000 (total estimates 900,000-3,500,000) [2] Casualties 58,715 dead or missing 158,000 wounded 1,500 civilian... The war-responsibility trials in Finland (Finnish: ) was a trial of the Finnish wartime leaders held responsible for the starting or continuation of the war of aggression against the Soviet Union during the Continuation War, 1941-1944. ...

A procedure to exonerate the imperial family

Many historians criticize the work made by Douglas MacArthur and his staff to exonerate Emperor Showa and all members of the imperial family implicated in the war such as prince Chichibu, prince Takeda, prince Asaka, prince Higashikuni and prince Fushimi ^[8]. Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 - April 5, 1964), was an American general who played a prominent role in the Pacific theater of World War II. He was poised to command the invasion of Japan in November 1945 but was instead instructed to accept their surrender on September 2, 1945. ... Hirohito (裕仁), the Shōwa Emperor (昭和天皇), (April 29, 1901 - January 7, 1989) reigned over Japan from 1926 to 1989. ... His Imperial Highness Prince Chichibu (Yasuhito) of Japan (25 June 1902 - 4 January 1953) (jp: 秩父宮 雍仁, Chichibu no miya Yasuhito Shinnō), also known as Prince Yasuhito, was the second son of the Taisho Emperor and a younger brother of the Emperor Shōwa. ... The ōke (王家), literally Prince Houses, were branches of the Imperial Family formed from branches of the Fushimi-no-miya house. ... Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, circa 1937 His Imperial Highness Prince Asaka (Yasuhiko) of Japan (jp: 朝香鳩彦 Asaka Yasuhiko, 2 October 1887 - 13 April 1981), Prince Asaka-no-miya (朝香宮) of Japan, was a member of the Japanese imperial family and a career army officer. ... Prince Higashikuni Prince Higashikuni (Naruhiko) of Japan (東久邇 稔彦 Higashikuni Naruhiko, also Higashikuni no miya Naruhiko ō (東久邇宮 稔彦王)) (3 December 1887 – 26 January 1990) was the 43rd Prime Minister of Japan from 17 August 1945 to 9 October 1945, a period of 54 days. ...

Before the war crimes trials actually convened, SCAP, the IPS and shôwa officials worked behind the scenes not only to prevent the imperial family being indicted, but also to slant the testimony of the defendants to ensure that no one implicated the Emperor. High officials in court circles and the shôwa government collaborated with allied GHQ in compiling lists of prospective war criminals, while the individuals arrested as Class A suspects and incarcerated in Sugamo prison solemnly vowed to protect their sovereign against any possible taint of war responsibility. ^[9] Sugamo Prison (巣鴨拘置所) was built in the 1920s for political prisoners, using the prisons of Europe as a model. ...

According to Herbert Bix, "Mac Arthur's truly extraordinary measures to save Hirohito from trial as a war criminal had a lasting and profoundly distorting impact on Japanese understanding of the lost war" and "months before the Tokyo tribunal commenced, Mac Arthur highest subordinates were working to attribute ultimate responsibility for Pearl Harbor to Hideki Tojo." ^[10] Bix also argue that Brigadier General Bonner Fellers "immediatly on landing in Japan went to work to protect Hirohito from the role he had played during and at the end of the war" and "allowed the major criminal suspects to coordinate their stories so that the Emperor would be spared from indictment." ^[11] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Bonner Frank Fellers (1896 - 1973), during World War II, was a Colonel who served as the USA military attaché to Cairo, Egypt. ...

For John Dower, "This successful campaign to absolve the Emperor of war responsibility knew no bounds. Hirohito was not merely presented as being innocent of any formal acts that might make him culpable to indictment as a war criminal. He was turned into an almost saintly figure who did not even bear moral responsibility for the war. ^[12] and "Even Japanese activists who endorse the ideals of the Nuremberg and Tokyo charters, and who have labored to document and publicize the atrocities of the shôwa regime, cannot defend the American decision to exonerate the emperor of war responsibility and then, in the chill of the Cold war, release and soon afterwards openly embrace accused right-winged war criminals like the later prime minister Nobusuke Kishi. ^[13] Nobusuke Kishi Nobusuke Kishi (岸 信介 Kishi Nobusuke, November 13, 1896–August 7, 1987) was a Japanese politician and the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 25, 1957 to June 12, 1958 and from then to July 19, 1960. ...

According to the written report of Shûichi Mizota, the interpreter of admiral Mitsumasa Yonai, Fellers met the two men at his office on March 6 1946 and told Yonai that : "it would be most convenient if the Japanese side could prove to us that the Emperor is completly blameless. I think the forthcoming trials offer the best opportunity to do that. Tôjô, in particular, should be made to bear all responsibility at this trial. ^[14] Mitsumasa Yonai (米内 光政 Yonai Mitsumasa; March 2, 1880–April 20, 1948) was a Japanese politician and the 37th Prime Minister of Japan from January 16, 1940 to July 22, 1940. ...

Three judges wrote an obiter dictum about the criminal responsibility of Hirohito. Judge in chief Webb declared that "No ruler can commit the crime of launching aggressive war war and then validly claim to be excused for doing so because his life would otherwise have been in danger...It will remain that the men who advised the commission of a crime, if it be one, are in no worse position than the man who directs the crime be committed." ^[15] Obiter Dictum is a remark or observation made by a judge while issuing a ruling. ...

Judge Henri Bernard of France concluded that Japan's declaration of war "had a principal author who escaped all prosecution and of whom in any case the present Defendants could only be considered as accomplices."^[16]

For judge B. V. A. Röling however, nothing objectable could be found in the Emperor's immunity and five defendants, Kido, Hata, Hirota, Shigemitsu and Tôgô should have been acquitted.

60th anniversary

In a survey of 3,000 Japanese conducted in 2006 by Asahi News as the 60th anniversary approached, 70% of those questioned were unaware of the details of the trials, a figure that rose to 90% for those in the 20-29 age group. Some 76% of the people polled, however, recognized a certain degree of aggression on Japan's part during the war, while only 7% believed it was a war strictly for self-defense. [1] For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

See also

• Command responsibility
• Japanese war crimes
• Nuremberg Trials
• War crime

Peace Palace in The Hague Command responsibility, sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard, or the Medina standard is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of war crimes. ... Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism. ... The Süddeutsche Zeitung announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ...

References

• Adapted by Ming-Hui Yao Basic Facts on the Nanjing Massacre and the Tokyo War Crimes Trial (mirror site). This web article is based on the pamphlet by New Jersey Hong Kong Network, published in September 1993. Both sites are web servers in the domain of China News Digest International, Inc

Further reading

• Bass, Gary Jonathan. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Trials. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
• Brackman, Arnold C. The Other Nuremberg: the Untold Story of the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1987.
• Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York: New Press, 1999.
• Horowitz, Solis. "The Tokyo Trial" International Conciliation 465 (Nov 1950), 473-584.
• International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Judgment: International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Retrieved on 2006-03-29.
• Maga, Timothy P. (2001). Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2177-9. 
• Minear, Richard H. Victor's Justice: the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971.
• Sherman, Christine (2001). War Crimes: International Military Tribunal. Turner Publishing Company. ISBN 1563117282. 
• Wu Tianwei The Failure of the Tokyo Trial
• The Postwar Judgement: I. International Military Tribunal for the Far East - Summary and some pictures from the United States National Archives
• Stephen Stratford. Stephen's Study Room: British Military & Criminal History in the period 1900 to 1999: IMTFE

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in leap years). ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Charter of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
2. ^ Within documents relating to the IMTFE it is also referred to as the Charter
3. ^ Rules of Procedure of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East 25 April 1946
4. ^ Daniel Barenblatt, A plague upon humanity, Harper Collins, 2004, p.222.
5. ^ Horowitz, Solis. (1950). "The Tokio Trial". International Conciliation 465 (Nov): 473-584. 
6. ^ ICRC Commentaries on the Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War Article 5 "The German capitulation was both political, involving the dissolution of the Government, and military, whereas the Japanese capitulation was only military".
7. ^ Judgement : The Law Relating to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity contained in the Avalon Project archive at Yale Law School. "but by 1939 these rules laid down in the [Hague] Convention [of 1907] were recognised by all civilised nations, and were regarded as being declaratory of the laws and customs of war"
8. ^ John Dower, Embracing defeat, 1999, Herbert Bix, Hirohito and the making of modern Japan, 2000
9. ^ Dower, ibid. p.325
10. ^ Bix, ibid. p585
11. ^ Bix, ibid., p.583
12. ^ Dower, ibid., p.326
13. ^ Dower, ibid. p.562
14. ^ Kumao Toyoda, Sensô saiban yoroku, Taiseisha Kabushiki Kaisha, 1986, p.170-172, Bix, ibid. p.584.
15. ^ Röling and Ruter, The Tokyo judgement : The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 29 April 1946-12 November 1948, volume 1, p.478
16. ^ ibid. p.496