This military tribunal is commonly known as "The Tokyo Trial". Right after the Second World War, the Tokyo Trial was conducted by the Allied Occupation Forces in parallel with "The Nuremberg Trial" in Germany. Japan gave up the Second World War in 1945 by accepting the "Potsdam Declaration", which was the proclamation defying the terms for Japanese surrender. As this declaration stipulated the military tribunal, there were no other options for Japan. Douglas MacArthur appointed eleven judges from the twelve victorious nations, and Joseph Berry Keenan from the US as the chief prosecutor. On the other hand, each defendant was formally allowed to have two counsels, Japanese and American. In this connection, the defendants of Nuremberg were not allowed to have any counsels. A total of twenty-eight Japanese including Tojo Hideki, the prime minister during the war, were prosecuted for the A-class war crimes on April 1, 1946. The trial was started at the courtroom, which was quickly converted from the auditorium of the military academy, in the next month. The two pictures show the exterior and interior of the courtroom in Ichigaya, Tokyo. The conclusion of the trial turned out to be death by hanging for seven defendants including Tojo and imprisonment for all others in November,1946.
This trial looks impartial and fair, however it really bears many controversial points in the eye of the law. The victorious nations decisively judged one of the defeated nations from biased view point, that's all.
Licensed tour guide, travel consultant,
Masahisa Takaki.
全国通訳案内士 高木聖久。
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