Judging Japan

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the Tokyo Trial, was convened from 1946 to 1948 to prosecute Japanese leaders for war crimes. While modeled after the Nuremberg trials, this effort to achieve justice faced significant controversies and ultimately yielded a complicated legacy. Its primary objective was to hold accountable those responsible for Japan's wartime aggression, but a series of decisions, most notably the handling of Emperor Hirohito, cast a long shadow over its proceedings and conclusions.

A central point of contention was the decision to grant immunity to Emperor Hirohito. While some Allied nations advocated for his prosecution, General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, argued that indicting the emperor would provoke massive instability and a potential communist revolution in Japan, which would be detrimental to American interests. This led to a deliberate campaign to create a public image of the emperor as a peaceful, misinformed figure manipulated by a militaristic clique. This narrative was reinforced when former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, a key defendant, was carefully instructed to recant a statement in which he had acknowledged the emperor's consent to the war.

The trial itself, held in Tokyo, brought 28 Japanese military and civilian officials to the dock. Throughout the lengthy and often confusing proceedings, evidence of horrific atrocities, such as the Rape of Nanking, was presented to the judges from 11 different nations. Ultimately, in November 1948, the tribunal issued its sentences. Sixteen defendants received life imprisonment, two were given shorter sentences, and seven, including Tojo, were sentenced to death by hanging.

Despite the convictions, the trial's legacy remains fraught with controversy. Several judges filed dissenting opinions, arguing that the absence of Emperor Hirohito, the one person they believed to be the principal author of Japan's war crimes, compromised the entire process. In the end, the decision to grant the emperor immunity allowed a generation of Japanese citizens to avoid reflecting on their nation's wartime actions. This, in turn, has contributed to a modern narrative that the war was a "noble war" fought for the glory of the Empire, obscuring the complex and often brutal historical reality.