Tokyo War Crimes Trial
Eleven countries came together to form the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), convened on April 29, 1946 to try the leaders of Japan for joint conspiracy to start and wage war.
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The National WWII Museum | New Orleans
Appointing the Court

Before the initial arrests in September 1945, one week after the official surrender in Tokyo Bay, there were major disagreements of the terms between Allied administrations about who to put on trial and how to try them. The eleven countries involved were Australia, Canada, China, France, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. On January 19, 1946, MacArthur ordered the creation of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) and approved the Charter, with protocols closely imitating the Nuremberg Trials.

On April 25, 1946, the original Rules of Procedure of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East with amendments were announced.

Ichigaya, Tokyo

The trials were held in the former building of the Japanese Ministry of War in Ichigaya, Tokyo. Before World War II, the building housed the Japanese Army Academy where the Japanese advanced the country's military ideologies. During the war, the Imperial General Headquarters made up the Ministry of War, the Army General Staff Office, and the Ministry of the Navy—acting as a center for the direction of war tactics. Over three quarters of Tokyo's buildings were demolished by fires and bombing, but this building was left standing.

The trial was held on the first floor, the second floor was for judges and deliberating, and the third was for the prosecution teams. The office of the Tribunal President, Sir William Flood Webb of Australia, was used by Imperial Japanese Army general and Prime Minister of Japan, Hideki Tojo, during the war.

Indictment

On May 3, 1946, the prosecution opened its case charging the defendants with crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Like Nuremberg, the Allies established three categories:

Class A: Charges against Japan's top leaders alleging crimes against peace.

Class B and C: Charges at Japanese of any rank covered conventional war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Unlike the Nuremberg trials, the charge of crimes against peace was a prerequisite to prosecution—only those individuals whose crimes included crimes against peace could be prosecuted by the Tribunal. In this event, no Class C charges were heard in Tokyo.

The defendants were represented by over a hundred attorneys, 75 percent of them Japanese and 25 percent American. The defense opened its case on January 27, 1947, and finished its presentation 225 days later on September 9, 1947. The main defensive argument was the alleged crimes had yet to be established as international law and Japan's actions were in self-defense.

Charges were dropped for Shūmei Ōkawa because he was found to be mentally unfit for trial. Two defendants, Yōsuke Matsuoka and Osami Nagano, died of natural causes during the trial. Six defendants were sentenced to death by hanging for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace (Class A, B, and C). One defendant, Iwane Matsui, was sentenced to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity (Class B and C). On December 23, 1948, the defendants were executed at Sugamo Prison with Allied Council as witnesses.

Six defendants were sentenced to life in prison. Koiso, Shiratori, and Umezu died in prison while the other 13 were paroled between 1954 and 1956.

Subsequent Tokyo Trials

Australia, China, France , the Netherlands Indies, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States convened separate trials convicting more than 5,500 more lower ranking war criminals. The trials were held all over Asia and the Pacific and the last one was in 1951. China held 13 tribunals, resulting in 504 convictions and 149 executions. The total number of death sentences are as follows:

United States - 140

The Netherlands - 236

United Kingdom - 223

Australia - 153

China - 149

France - 26

Philippines - 17