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The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, at Tokyo (composed of a judge from Australia, Britain, Canada, (Nationalist) China, France, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, and the United States) tried Japanese leaders. The Tokyo War Crimes Trial defendents included a select group of generals, admirals and diplomats. Many Japanese believed that after these trials, war criminals had been justly tried and punished. The Tokyo Trials had, however, been much more narrowly focused than the comparable abnd better known trials in Germany. General Douglas MacArthur commaded the occupation force ans substantially influenced the judicial priceedings. He concluded that it was necessary to maintain governmental continuity in the form of the Emperor. This became official U.S. Government policy. As a result, the procedutors in the War Crimes trials scrupulously avoided any mention of Emperor Hirohito. The defendants out of loyalty to the Emperior did the same, despite the fact that it would have helped their defenses to claim that they were following his orders. When Tojo told his lawyer that "the subjects of Japan can never say or do anything against His Majesty's will," the prosecutors convinced him not to say that on the stand. The U.S. Goverment decesion to exempt Emperor Hirohito from culpability for the War and ensuing war crimes lessened the need for serious examination in Japan of individual and national responsibility. Many Japanese continued to believe that the Wat was a legitimate attempt to defend the country. Few Japanese were informed of the full extent of the crimes commotted by the Jpanese military in occupied countries. Most Japanese citizens immediately after the War were focused on the immedite task of survival and challenges of rebuilding Japan after the destructive Allied bombing.
The Japanese accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration (August 14). Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender to the Japanese people (August 15). Japanese officials flew to Manila to be instructed by General MacArthur on American plans for the occupation (August 19). The Japanese Government thus had two weeks to destroy incriminating documents before American occupation troops began landing. The Japanese Government remained in place and went on an 2 week orgy of destroying documents. This continued on a smaller scale even after the Amercan occupation force began arriving. This was very different than the situation that transpired in Germany which was mostly occupied BEFORE the NAZI surrender. The first U.S. occupation personnel, a group of 150 men, flew to Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture (August 28). They were followed by an American squadron led by the 'USS Missouri' which landed the 4th Marine Division on the southern coast of Kanagawa. MacArthur arrived in Tokyo (August 30) and immediately decreed several laws. Many focused more on the behavior if U.S. personnel. : No Allied personnel were to assault Japanese people. No Allied personnel were to eat the scarce Japanese food. Flying the Hinomaru or 'Rising Sun' flag was restricted. Nohing was said about document destruction. Other Allied personnel followed after the formal surrender ceremony on the 'Missouri' (September 2).
American troops began landing in Japan a few days before the Imperial Government formally surrendered (September 2). The American occupation was completely unlike the Japanese occupation of the countries that it had conquered. Most Japanese were stunded by the final year of the War and the massive destruction. There was also widespread hunger because the American destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet as well as the domestic transportation system made it impossible to import and distribute food. Many Japanese had been led to expect a brutal American occupation. There were no Batan death marches, slave labor, or mass slaughters like the Rape of Nanking. The United States oversaw an occupation with fundamentally changed the nature of Japanese society, rooting out Japanese militarism and fomenting the development of democratic political regimes and social structures. Militarists were removed from power. The Japanese had to turn in all weapons, including Samari swords, that were often revered family treasures. The swords were not serious military weapons, but they had emense symbolic value to Japanese militarists. The sword was so valued that in the Japanese warrior tradition it had become known as the "soul of the samari. Women were enfranchized and labor unions allowed to organize. Among the major accomplishments of the American occupation was a new democratic Constitution.
Japan did not and does not today admit the full extent of its responsibility for launching World War II. Many Japanese attempt to hide the extent of their country's war crimes and prefer to view their country as a victim of the War. The list of Japanese attrocities and war is very long, involving the deaths of millions, mostly innocent civilians. The list in its entirity is too long to list here, but we need to mention some of the most grevious attrocities committed by the Imperial armed forces. The primary war crime is the launching of aggerssive war first against China (1937) and then the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands (1941). Specific examples include the terror bombing of undefended Chinese cities (Shanghai); mascres of Chinese civilians (the Rape of Nanking), use of biologcal and chenical weapons, mistreatment and massacres of Allied POWs (the Batan Death March), abuse of civilain internees, use of slave labor, conscription of civilian women for prostitution (Korean comfort women).
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, at Tokyo (composed of a judge from Australia, Britain, Canada, (Nationalist) China, France, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, and the United States) tried Japanese leaders. The Tokyo War Crimes Trial defendents included a select group of generals, admirals and diplomats. Many Japanese believed that after these trials, war criminals had been justly tried and punished. The Tokyo Trials had, however, been much more narrowly focused than the comparable abnd better known trials in Germany. General Douglas MacArthur commaded the occupation force ans substantially influenced the judicial priceedings. He concluded that it was necessary to maintain governmental continuity in the form of the Emperor. This became official U.S. Government policy. As a result, the procedutors in the War Crimes trials scrupulously avoided any mention of Emperor Hirohito. The defendants out of loyalty to the Emperior did the same, despite the fact that it would have helped their defenses to claim that they were following his orders. When Tojo told his lawyer that "the subjects of Japan can never say or do anything against His Majesty's will," the prosecutors convinced him not to say that on the stand. The U.S. Goverment decesion to exempt Emperor Hirohito from culpability for the War and ensuing war crimes lessened the need for serious examination in Japan of individual and national responsibility. Many Japanese continued to believe that the Wat was a legitimate attempt to defend the country. Few Japanese were informed of the full extent of the crimes commotted by the Japanese military in occupied countries. Most Japanese citizens immediately after the War were focused on the immedite task of survival and challenges of rebuilding Japan after the destructive Allied bombing.
The Tokyo War Crime Trials openened with a blaze of publicity, but covrerage very quickly fell to the back pages. Many were surprised that the Emperor was not indicted. Press reporting was much more limited than at Nurenberg. Almost all of the reports were small articles in the back pages. After the first few days, the public showed less and less interest. As a result, there is a general assumption that the Germans were more ruthless and killed more people than the Japanese. Even today we note written and media comments such as 'NAZI were the most infamous war criminals that the world has ever known.' This is, however, simply untrue. TheJapanese were every bit as brutal and evil as the Germans. In fact the Japanese were probably reponsible for more deaths than the Germans. The Germans crtainly killed in part more efficently, essntially indistrializing the process. The numbers of people killed in Asian by the Japanese, however,almost certainly were higher. This is difficult to asssess with any percission, in part because accurate mumbers in Asian countries like China, Indo-China (Vietnam), and the Dutch East Indies (Indnonesia) were never compiled. Most died from starvation both purposefully and as a resukt of incredible in efficency. But the outright killings make for very grisly reading. Most of the killings were civilians, especially Chinese. The treatment of POWs was also incresibly brutal. Chinese POWS were killed. Ghere were no POW camps for Chinese POWs. Western POWs and civilian were kept undr incredibly harsh conditions and died in large numbers. Given the extent iof Japanese war crimes, it is surprising that the Tokyo War Crimes Trials have recveived so little attention, both by newsopapers at the time and by scholars today.
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