Japanese War Crimes

Japanese War Crimes PDF Author: Peter Li
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351511084
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
The question of national responsibility for crimes against humanity became an urgent topic due to the charge of ethnic cleansing against the previous Yugoslav government. But that was not the first such urging of legal and moral responsibility for war crimes. While the Nazi German regime has been prototypical, the actions of the Japanese military regime have been receiving increasing prominence and attention. Indeed, Peter Li's volume examines the phenomenon of denial as well as the deeds of destruction. Certainly one of the most troublesome unresolved problems facing many Asian and Western countries after the Asia Pacific war (1931u1945) is the question of the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army throughout Asia and the Japanese government's repeated attempts to whitewash their wartime responsibilities. The psychological and physical wounds suffered by victims, their families, and relations remain unhealed after more than half a century, and the issue is now pressing. This collection undertakes the critical task of addressing some of the multifaceted and complex issues of Japanese war crimes and redress. This collection is divided into five themes. In "It's Never Too Late to Seek Justice," the issues of reconciliation, accountability, and Emperor Hirohito's responsibility for war crimes are explored. "The American POW Experience Remembered" includes a moving account of the Bataan Death March by an American ex-soldier. "Psychological Responses" discusses the socio-psychological affects of the Nanjing Massacre and Japanese vivisection on Chinese subjects. The way in which Japanese war atrocities have been dealt with in the theater and cinema is the focus of "Artistic Responses." And central to "History Must not Forget" are the questions of memory, trauma, biological warfare, and redress. Included in this volume are samples of the many presentations given at the International Citizens' Forum on War Crimes and Redress held in Tokyo in Decem

Hidden Horrors

Hidden Horrors PDF Author: Toshiyuki Tanaka
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 9781538102695
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Now in a significant new edition, this landmark book documents little-known wartime Japanese atrocities during World War II, including cannibalism; the slaughter and starvation of prisoners of war; the rape, enforced prostitution, and murder of noncombatants; and biological warfare experiments.

Japanese War Criminals

Japanese War Criminals PDF Author: Sandra Wilson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231542682
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
Beginning in late 1945, the United States, Britain, China, Australia, France, the Netherlands, and later the Philippines, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China convened national courts to prosecute Japanese military personnel for war crimes. The defendants included ethnic Koreans and Taiwanese who had served with the armed forces as Japanese subjects. In Tokyo, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried Japanese leaders. While the fairness of these trials has been a focus for decades, Japanese War Criminals instead argues that the most important issues arose outside the courtroom. What was the legal basis for identifying and detaining subjects, determining who should be prosecuted, collecting evidence, and granting clemency after conviction? The answers to these questions helped set the norms for transitional justice in the postwar era and today contribute to strategies for addressing problematic areas of international law. Examining the complex moral, ethical, legal, and political issues surrounding the Allied prosecution project, from the first investigations during the war to the final release of prisoners in 1958, Japanese War Criminals shows how a simple effort to punish the guilty evolved into a multidimensional struggle that muddied the assignment of criminal responsibility for war crimes. Over time, indignation in Japan over Allied military actions, particularly the deployment of the atomic bombs, eclipsed anger over Japanese atrocities, and, among the Western powers, new Cold War imperatives took hold. This book makes a unique contribution to our understanding of the construction of the postwar international order in Asia and to our comprehension of the difficulties of implementing transitional justice.

Judgment at Tokyo

Judgment at Tokyo PDF Author: Timothy P. Maga
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 9780813128986
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
In the years since the Japanese war crimes trials concluded, the proceedings have been colored by charges of racism, vengeance, and guilt. In this book, Tim Maga contends that in the trials good law was practiced and evil did not go unpunished. The defendants ranged from lowly Japanese Imperial Army privates to former prime ministers. Since they did not represent a government for which genocide was a policy pursuit, their cases were more difficult to prosecute than those of Nazi war criminals. In contrast to Nuremberg, the efforts in Tokyo, Guam, and other locations throughout the Pacific received little attention by the Western press. Once the Cold War began, America needed Pacific allies and the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers throughout the 1930s and early 1940s were rarely mentioned. The trials were described as phony justice and "Japan bashing". Keenan and his compatriots adopted criminal court tactics and established precedents in the conduct of war crimes trials that still stand today. Maga reviews the context for the trials, recounts the proceedings, and concludes that they were, in fact, decent examples of American justice and fair play.

Japanese War Crimes during World War II

Japanese War Crimes during World War II PDF Author: Frank Jacob
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
A challenging examination of Japanese war crimes during World War II offers a fresh perspective on the Pacific War-and a better understanding of reasons for the wartime use of extreme mass violence. The 1937 Rape of Nanjing has become a symbol of Japanese violence during the Second World War, but it was not the only event during which the Japanese used extreme force. This thought-provoking book analyzes Japan's actions during the war, without blaming Japan, helping readers understand what led to those eruptions. In fact, the author specifically disputes the idea that the forms of extreme violence used in the Pacific War were particularly Japanese. The volume starts by examining the Rape of Nanjing, then goes on to address Japan's acts of individual and collective violence throughout the conflict. Unlike other works on the subject, it combines historical, sociological, and psychological perspectives on violence with a specific study of the Japanese army, seeking to define the reasons for the use of extreme violence in each particular case. Both a historical survey and an explanation of Japanese warfare, the book scrutinizes incidents of violence perpetrated by the Japanese vis-à-vis theories that explore the use of violence as part of human nature. In doing so, it provides far-reaching insights into the use of collective violence and torture in war overall, as well as motivations for committing atrocities. Finally, the author discusses current political implications stemming from Japan's continued refusal to acknowledge its war-time actions as war crimes.

Japanese War Crimes

Japanese War Crimes PDF Author: Peter Li
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351511084
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 339

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Book Description
The question of national responsibility for crimes against humanity became an urgent topic due to the charge of ethnic cleansing against the previous Yugoslav government. But that was not the first such urging of legal and moral responsibility for war crimes. While the Nazi German regime has been prototypical, the actions of the Japanese military regime have been receiving increasing prominence and attention. Indeed, Peter Li's volume examines the phenomenon of denial as well as the deeds of destruction. Certainly one of the most troublesome unresolved problems facing many Asian and Western countries after the Asia Pacific war (1931u1945) is the question of the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army throughout Asia and the Japanese government's repeated attempts to whitewash their wartime responsibilities. The psychological and physical wounds suffered by victims, their families, and relations remain unhealed after more than half a century, and the issue is now pressing. This collection undertakes the critical task of addressing some of the multifaceted and complex issues of Japanese war crimes and redress. This collection is divided into five themes. In "It's Never Too Late to Seek Justice," the issues of reconciliation, accountability, and Emperor Hirohito's responsibility for war crimes are explored. "The American POW Experience Remembered" includes a moving account of the Bataan Death March by an American ex-soldier. "Psychological Responses" discusses the socio-psychological affects of the Nanjing Massacre and Japanese vivisection on Chinese subjects. The way in which Japanese war atrocities have been dealt with in the theater and cinema is the focus of "Artistic Responses." And central to "History Must not Forget" are the questions of memory, trauma, biological warfare, and redress. Included in this volume are samples of the many presentations given at the International Citizens' Forum on War Crimes and Redress held in Tokyo in Decem

Defending the Enemy

Defending the Enemy PDF Author: Elaine B. Fischel
Publisher: Bascom Hill Publishing Group Limited
ISBN: 9781935456032
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
From 1946-48 Elaine B. Fischel worked in Tokyo alongside the American attorneys assigned to defend the Japanese war criminals held responsible for the torture and deaths of millions of civilians and prisoners of war. She recounts the post-WWII transition in Japan to the country's occupation by their former enemy, and the subsequent surprise on the part of the Japanese citizenry that the U.S. allegiance to democracy meant providing a fair trial even to the men considered the most evil perpetrators of atrocities. In letters to her family at the time, the author as a young woman tries to explain her relationships with the defendants and her own surprise at the growing fondness she felt for many of the "villains" of WWII-particularly prime minister and general Hideki Tojo, known during the war as "Razor." Defending the Enemy is also the story of a young woman who wants to make the most of her time in a country so full of beauty. Fischel interweaves the activities and intrigues of the trial alongside her tales of travel throughout Japan, her social engagements with high-ranking military and civilians, and her unique enduring relationships, such as her friendship with Emperor Hirohito's brother, Prince Takamatsu. In doing so, Fischel illuminates the paradoxes inherent during this period in history. Elaine B. Fischel was born in New York. Her widowed mother moved her girls out of the big city and raised Elaine and her sister in Southern California. In addition to "honors" grades in high school, Elaine's athletic abilities led to a number-one ranking in Junior tennis and, while representing UCLA, she became a National Intercollegiate Tennis Champion. The end of World War II found Elaine working in Tokyo for two-and-a-half years at the trial of the twenty-eight accused Japanese war criminals. General Douglas MacArthur, the leader of the Occupation, recruited American lawyers to defend the fallen leaders to insure that history would say this was a "fair trial." Elaine's assignment to the Defense enabled her to interact with the fallen leaders, who had become "clients," and with military leaders, diplomats, the Japanese royal family, and Japanese citizens from all walks of life. When the trial was over, Fischel returned home and attended the University of Southern California School of Law. She went on to practice law for fifty-seven years. Book jacket.

Researching Japanese War Crimes Records

Researching Japanese War Crimes Records PDF Author: Edward J. Drea
Publisher: Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Int
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description


Researching Japanese War Crimes Records: Introductory Essays

Researching Japanese War Crimes Records: Introductory Essays PDF Author:
Publisher: Jeffrey Frank Jones
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Japanese war crimes committed in Asia and the Pacific between 1931 and 1945 concerned few Americans in the decades following World War II. Japan’s crimes against Asian peoples had never been a major issue in the postwar United States, and—with the notable exceptions of former U.S. prisoners of war held by the Japanese—even remembrance of Japanese wartime atrocities against Americans dimmed as years passed. American attitudes about Japanese war crimes changed markedly following the 1997 publication of Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking.2 Chang’s moving testament to the Chinese victims of the sack of Nanjing in 1937 graphically detailed the horror and scope of the crime and indicted the Japanese government and people for their collective amnesia about the wartime army’s atrocious conduct. The bestselling book spurred a tremendous amount of renewed interest in Japanese wartime conduct in China, Korea, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. The Rape of Nanking raised many issues that demanded further explanation. Why were the Japanese not punished as severely as the Nazis for their crimes? Did the United States suppress evidence of the criminal responsibility of activity by the emperor to ensure a smoothly running occupation of Japan? Did the U.S. government protect Japanese medical officers in exchange for data on human experimentation? Chang also charged the U.S. government with “inexplicably and irresponsibly” returning confiscated wartime records to Japan before microfilming them, making it impossible to determine the extent of Japan’s guilt.3 Others were convinced that the U.S. government retained highly classified documents that would prove Japanese guilt beyond doubt and implicate the highest levels of Japanese government and society in the crimes. These issues led concerned parties to investigate Japanese wartime records among the holdings at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, and at other U.S. government agencies. Thorough documentation of Japanese war crimes and criminal activities among these holdings seemed unavailable, leading to speculation of an official cover-up. Suspicions that the U.S. government was deliberately concealing dark secrets were fueled when, instead of finding the records they sought, researchers encountered a card stating the records had been “withdrawn for security reasons,” as well as when they received a notice that requested information could not be located.

Hidden Horrors

Hidden Horrors PDF Author: Yuki Tanaka
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429720890
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
This book documents for the first time previously hidden Japanese atrocities in World War II, including cannibalism; the slaughter and starvation of prisoners of war; the rape, enforced prostitution, and murder of noncombatants; and biological warfare experiments. The author describes how desperate Japanese soldiers consumed the flesh of their own comrades killed in fighting as well as that of Australians, Pakistanis, and Indians. Another chapter traces the fate of 65 shipwrecked Australian nurses and British soldiers who were shot or stabbed to death by Japanese soldiers. Thirty-two other nurses, who landed on another island, were captured and sent to Sumatra to become “comfort women ̳prostitutes for Japanese soldiers. Tanaka recounts how thousands of Australian and British POWs died in the infamous Sandakan camp in the Borneo jungle in 1945. Those who survived were forced to endure a tortuous 160-mile march on which anyone who dropped out of line was immediately shot. Only six escapees lived to tell the tale. Based on exhaustive research in previously closed archives, this book represents a landmark analysis of Japanese war crimes. The author explores individual atrocities in their broader social, psychological, and institutional milieu and places Japanese behavior during the war in the broader context of the dehumanization of men at war—without denying individual and national responsibility.

Hidden Horrors

Hidden Horrors PDF Author: Toshiyuki Tanaka
Publisher: Westview Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Documents previously hidden Japanese WWII atrocities, including cannibalism, the slaughter of prisoners of war, rape and enforced prostitution, biological warfare experiments, and the murder of noncombatants, based on previously classified documents. Explores the social, institutional, and psychological milieu of individual atrocities, and places Japanese behavior in the broader context of the dehumanization of men at war. Includes bandw photos. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR