THE TWENTY-EIGHT DEFENDANTS OF THE IMTFE: INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL FOR THE FAR EAST (CONVENED ON 29 APRIL 1946)

 

The defendants at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East Ichigaya Court: Accused Japanese war criminals in the prisoners' box. Front row of defendants from left to right: General Kenji Doihara; Field Marshal Shunroku Hata; Koki Hirota, former prime minister of Japan; General Jiro Minami; General Hideki Tojo, former prime minister of Japan; Takasumi Oka; General Yoshijiro Umezu; General Sadao Araki; General Akira Muto; Naoki Hoshino; Okinori Kaga; Marquis Koichi Kido. Back row: Colonel Kingiro Hashimoto; General Kuniaki Koiso; Admiral Osami Nagano; General Hiroshi Oshima; General Iwane Matsui; Shumei Okawa; Baron Kiichiro Hiranuma; Shigenori Togo; Yosuke Matsuoka; Mamoru Shigemitsu; General Kenryo Sato; Admiral Shigetaro Shimada; Toshio Shiratori; Teiichi Suzuki.

INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Military_Tribunal_for_the_Far_East

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trials, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, or simply the Tribunal, was convened on April 29, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of war crimes. "Class A" crimes were reserved for those who participated in a joint conspiracy to start and wage war, and were brought against those in the highest decision-making bodies; "Class B" crimes were reserved for those who committed "conventional" atrocities or crimes against humanity; "Class C" crimes were reserved for those in "the planning, ordering, authorization, or failure to prevent such transgressions at higher levels in the command structure.”

Twenty-eight Japanese military and political leaders were charged with Class A crimes, and more than 5,700 Japanese nationals were charged with Class B and C crimes, mostly entailing prisoner abuse. China held 13 tribunals of its own, resulting in 504 convictions and 149 executions.

The Japanese Emperor Hirohito and all members of the imperial family, such as career officer Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, were not prosecuted for involvement in any of the three categories of crimes. Herbert Bix explains that "the Truman administration and General MacArthur both believed the occupation reforms would be implemented smoothly if they used Hirohito to legitimise their changes." As many as 50 suspects, such as Nobusuke Kishi, who later became Prime Minister, and Yoshisuke Aikawa, head of Nissan, were charged but released in 1947 and 1948. Shiro Ishii received immunity in exchange for data gathered from his experiments on live prisoners. The lone dissenting judge to exonerate all indictees was Indian jurist Radhabinod Pal.

The tribunal was adjourned on November 12, 1948.

            I will name the 28 defendants of the trial:

 

Japanese War Criminals

SOURCE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36407852@N06/3359091060/

Twenty-eight defendants were charged, mostly military officers and government officials.

Civilian officials

• Kōki Hirota, prime minister (1936–1937), foreign minister (1933–1936, 1937–1938)
• Baron Kiichirō Hiranuma, prime minister (1939), president of the privy council
• Naoki Hoshino, chief cabinet secretary
• Marquis Kōichi Kido, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
• Toshio Shiratori, Ambassador to Italy
• Shigenori Tōgō, foreign minister (1941–1942, 1945)
• Mamoru Shigemitsu, foreign minister (1943–1945)
• Okinori Kaya, finance minister (1941–1944)
• Yōsuke Matsuoka, foreign minister (1940–1941)

Military officers

• General Hideki Tōjō, prime minister (1941–1944), war minister (1940–1944),chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office (1944)
• General Seishirō Itagaki, war minister (1938-1939)
• General Sadao Araki, war minister (1931–1934)
• Field Marshal Shunroku Hata, war minister (1939–1940)
• Admiral Shigetarō Shimada, navy minister (1941–1944), chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff (1944)
• Lieutenant General Kenryō Satō, chief of the Military Affairs Bureau
• General Kuniaki Koiso, prime minister (1944–1945), governor-general of Korea (1942–1944)
• Vice Admiral Takazumi Oka, chief of the Bureau of Naval Affairs
• Lieutenant General Hiroshi Ōshima, ambassador to Germany
• Fleet Admiral Nagano Osami, navy minister (1936–1937), chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff (1941–1944)
• General Jirō Minami, governor-general of Korea (1936–1942)
• General Kenji Doihara, chief of the intelligence service in Manchukuo
• General Heitarō Kimura, commander of the Burma Area Army
• General Iwane Matsui, commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force and Central China Area Army
• Lieutenant General Akira Mutō, chief of staff of the 14th Area Army
• Colonel Kingorō Hashimoto, founder of Sakurakai
• General Yoshijirō Umezu, commander of the Kwantung Army, chief of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office (1944–1945)
• Lieutenant General Teiichi Suzuki, chief of the Cabinet Planning Board

Other defendants

• Shūmei Ōkawa, a political philosopher

Martyrs of Shōwa" (昭和殉難者 Shōwa junnansha) [PHOTO SOURCE: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/bdwy88ws/e/58dabb426e528c76d2233909f6a9aa68]