Japanese War Criminals

This exemplary work of collaborative scholarship represents a genuine breakthrough in our understanding of the processes behind, and consequences of, Allied efforts to prosecute Japanese war crimes in the aftermath of the Second World War. Drawing on archival sources gathered from all corners of the globe, it not only provides an impressive overview of the thousands of individual trials conducted by the Allies across the Asia-Pacific region, but also details the complex tangle of considerations that resulted in the release of all remaining prisoners by the end of 1958. Rejecting the simple opposition between politics and justice that has so often been used to frame discussions of the trials, it instead offers a deeply compelling account of the moral, legal and practical dilemmas that haunt every episode in this profoundly important history. -- Daniel Botsman, Yale University I cannot think of a similar work with such a broad scope...This book is a product of an enormous, novel, research effort and it shows. The authors illustrate the development of an Inter-Allied system of legal assistance for purposes ranging from the transfer of evidence to suspects and prisoners developed from 1946 and which worked until 1959. It makes for a fascinating account of international cooperation. -- Neil Boister, University of Waikato The Allied authorities meted out retributive justice to thousands of Japanese war criminals in the immediate aftermath of World War II. However, "the sentences were only the start of a new phase in applying justice to war criminals," so this book warns us, and compels us to consider the implications of the complex interplay of domestic politics and diplomacy that led to the eventual release of all convicted war criminals -- Yuma Totani, University of Hawaii