JUDGING JAPAN

In 1946, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, made up of 11 judges, met to judge the highest-ranking Japanese leaders accused of war crimes. But unlike the Nuremberg trial, which served as a model, the truth of the Tokyo trial remained hidden.

While the Nuremberg trial lasted only a few months, the Tokyo Tribunal lasted 960 days, or 2 and a half years. From the start, however, it proved to be highly divisive, with each of the judges representing one of the nations at war with Japan...

Were the civilian and military leaders who were far from the battlefield guilty of the atrocities committed by their soldiers? Should Emperor Hirohito also be put on trial? And what about the American atomic bombs that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians? Wasn't Western imperialism at the root of the Japanese reaction? The judges argued and fought tooth and nail until they finally reached a verdict by simple majority, with five judges issuing separate judgements.

Judging Japan tells the story of the debacle that was the Tokyo trial: the dilemmas, conflicts and arguments of the judges are recounted with the support of archives from the Second World War and the trial itself.