The Tokyo Trials, formally the Trial of Japanese Major War Criminals, were conducted before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, sitting at Ichigaya, Tokyo, from 29 April 1946. Twenty-eight high-ranking Japanese military and political leaders were tried on charges of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity; judgment was delivered 4-12 November 1948, and seven defendants were executed by hanging on 23 December 1948. The tribunal is the direct Pacific counterpart to the Nuremberg Trials and extended the same doctrine of individual criminal responsibility for aggressive war to Japan.
Facts
Decision Year Decision Date HoldingTwenty-eight Japanese military and political leaders were held individually criminally responsible under international law for war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity, extending to the Pacific theater the same doctrine of individual responsibility for aggressive war established at Nuremberg. 1 Current StatusConcluded, but a live scholarly controversy rather than a settled record: critics describe it as victors' justice, noting Allied conduct such as strategic and atomic bombing was excluded from prosecution while Emperor Hirohito was shielded from any charge despite one sitting judge, William Webb, arguing a ruler cannot escape responsibility for launching aggressive war; personnel of Unit 731 received immunity, and Class C charges for atrocities against Japan's own colonial subjects were never pursued. The doctrine of individual responsibility for aggressive war it applied nonetheless stands alongside Nuremberg's as founding precedent for later international criminal law. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The Tokyo Trials are the direct Pacific counterpart to the Nuremberg Trials, applying the same doctrine of individual criminal responsibility for aggressive war to Japan rather than Germany.
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