Title: Beyond victor's justice? : the Tokyo War Crimes Trial revisited /
Authors: Tanaka, Toshiyuki, 1949-; McCormack, Timothy L. H.; Simpson, Gerry J.
Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,
Year: 2011
Subjects: Tokyo Trial, Tokyo, Japan, 1946-1948; War crime trials
Abstract: "The aim of this new collection of essays is to engage in analysis beyond the familiar victor's justice critiques. The editors have drawn on authors from across the world--including Australia, Japan, China, France, Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom--with expertise in the fields of international humanitarian law, international criminal law, Japanese studies, modern Japanese history, and the use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The diverse backgrounds of the individual authors allow the editors to present essays which provide detailed and original analyses of the Tokyo from legal, philosophical and historical perspectives.^ Several of the essays in the collection are based on the authors' extensive archival research in Japan, Australia, the United States and New Zealand, providing rich insights into Japanese societal attitudes towards the Trial, biological experimentation by the Japanese Army in China, as well as the trial of Korean prison guards and prosecutions for rape and sexual assault in the post-war period. Some of the essays deal with particular participants in the Trial, examining the role of individual judges, and the selection of defendants and the decision not to prosecute the Emperor. Other essays analyse the Trial from a legal perspective, and address its impact on concepts such as command responsibility, conspiracy and war crimes. The majority of the essays seek to identify and address some of the 'forgotten crimes' in the Tokyo Trial.^ These include crimes committed in China and Korea (particularly the activities of the infamous Unit 731), crimes committed against comfort women, and crimes associated with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the conventional firebombing of other Japanese cities and the illicit drug trade in China. Finally, the collection includes a number of essays which consider the importance of studying the Tokyo Trial and its contemporary relevance. These issues include an examination of the way in which academics have 'written' the Trial over the last 60 years, and an analysis of some of the lessons that can be drawn for international trials in the future"--Provided by publisher.
Contents: The Tokyo Trial : humanity's justice v victors' justice / Fujita Hisakazu -- Writing the Tokyo Trial / Gerry simpson -- Japanese societal attitude towards the Tokyo Trial : from a contemporary perspective / Madoka Futamura -- Selecting defendants at the Tokyo Trial / Awaya Kentaro -- The decision not to prosecute the emperor / Yoriko Otomo -- Justice Northcroft (New Zealand) / Ann Trotter -- Justice Bernard (France) / Mickael Ho Foui Sang -- Justice Patrick (United Kingdom) / Lord Bonomy -- Justice Roling (the Netherlands) / Robert Cryer -- Justice Pal (India) / Nakajima Takeshi -- The case against the accused / Yuma Totani -- Command responsibility for the failure to stop atrocities : the legacy of the Tokyo Trial / Gideon Boas -- Reasons for the failure to prosecute unit 731 and its significance / Tsuneishi Kei-Ichi -- The legacy of the Tokyo Trial in China / Bing Bing Jia -- Forgotten victims, forgotten defendants / The hon o-gon kwon -- Knowledge and responsibility : the ongoing consequences of failing to give sufficient attention to the crimes against the comfort women in the Tokyo trial / Ustinia Dolgopol -- Silence as collective memory : sexual violence and the Tokyo Trial / Nicola Henry -- Women's bodies and international criminal law : from Tokyo to Rabaul / Helen Durham and Narrelle Morris -- The atomic bombing, the Tokyo Tribunal, and the Shimoda case : lessons for anti-nuclear legal movements / Yuki Tanaka -- The firebombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities / Ian Henderson -- Punishing Japan's 'opium war-making' in China : the relationship between transnational crime and aggression at the Tokyo Tribunal / Neil Boister -- Tokyo's continuing relevance / Sarah Finnin and Tim McCormack.