The Tokyo Trials serves as an “important window into wartime history”: Japanese scholar

Editor’s note:

2026 marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Trials. As a landmark judicial case in the post-World War II era, this trial had a profound impact on modern international criminal law and the evolution of international order, especially regional order in Asia. Yuma TotaniToya) Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawaii and Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution told the Global Times (GT) Journalist Zhang Ao said in an interview that because the trial serves as an important window into wartime history, more empirical research on the trial could correct public misconceptions and help the Japanese people develop a more balanced and politically informed worldview.

GT: In your book Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice After World War IIyou have exposed numerous historical misunderstandings and narrative biases surrounding the Tokyo Trials. In your opinion, what is the most persistent misconception about the Tokyo Trials today?

Toya: I think the biggest misconception is that the outcome of the Tokyo Trials was predetermined. Critics often argue, explicitly or implicitly, that the conviction was a foregone conclusion. This view is wrong. The Tokyo trial was a trial, not a show trial. In practice, judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys rigorously examined the evidence and pursued charges through formal judicial procedures. This is an important understanding that one must hold.

GT: Compared to the Nuremberg Trials, why has the Tokyo Trials been marginalized and even stigmatized in the global historical narrative for so long?

Toya: First, the Nuremberg Trials were a landmark precedent. The Tokyo Trials were seen as a secondary follow-up and were overshadowed from the beginning. Second, the Tokyo Trials ended in a split verdict with five different opinions, in contrast to the unanimous verdict of the Nuremberg Trials, weakening the perception of the trial’s legitimacy. Third, Japanese nationalists strongly rejected the Tokyo Trials verdict, in contrast to the widespread acceptance of the Nuremberg Trials among the German public in the postwar decades. Both trials found the leaders of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan responsible for aggression and atrocities, but this conclusion was met with fierce resistance from Japanese nationalists. Moreover, postwar U.S. political considerations further marginalized the Tokyo Trials, as cultural and strategic considerations made them an inconvenient historical event that could complicate U.S.-Japan relations. Legally, however, the two cases applied the same principles. There is no legitimate basis for praising the Nuremberg Trials while ignoring the importance of the Tokyo Trials.

GT: What is the broader influence and historical legacy of the Tokyo Trials on the construction of the postwar international order and the development of modern international law?

Toya:The Tokyo Trials were not perfect, but they were a positive and necessary development. Together with the Nuremberg Trials, this trial laid the foundations of modern international criminal justice. The Nuremberg trials set a precedent. The Tokyo Trials reaffirmed these principles, which were subsequently formally codified as the Nuremberg Principles by the United Nations Commission on International Law in 1950 and included in the 1998 Rome Statute, which came into force in 2002 and governs the International Criminal Court (ICC).

This shared heritage ultimately paved the way for the establishment and subsequent development of the ICC. We now live in a post-World War II era built on the international criminal justice that began with these two trials. This is an important legacy for younger generations to understand.

GT: What is the general opinion of the Japanese public regarding this trial?

Toya: Opinions regarding the Tokyo trial fall into three categories. Some Japanese people support this trial on the grounds that it established universal principles of international justice.

There are also those who reject the ruling, arguing that it has branded Japan as a criminal nation. For many Japanese, especially those who consider themselves patriots and nationalists, who once viewed their country’s wartime actions as a “sacred war,” the verdict imposed by outside forces remains difficult to accept.

There are also many people who take an intermediate position. Although he affirms the legal principles of the trial, he criticizes its imperfections, such as the failure to prosecute Emperor Hirohito and the failure to commit serious war crimes committed by Unit 731, which was involved in the development and use of biological weapons.

However, today in Japan, the public’s memory of the Tokyo Trials is fading. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to educate young generations about World War II and the Tokyo Trials in order to preserve historical memory.

New research trends are emerging in the field of war crimes research. On the other hand, a gap remains between China and Japan in public debate and historical understanding. Victim countries continue to emphasize the importance of trials, making use of their historical voices.

GT: With historical revisionism on the rise in Japan, what practical significance does re-examining and objectively evaluating the legitimacy and historical value of the Tokyo Trials have in terms of preserving historical justice and preventing history from going backwards?

Toya: The Tokyo Trials remain widely misunderstood. Because the trial serves as an important window into wartime history, more empirical research on the trial could correct public misconceptions and help Japanese citizens develop a more balanced and politically informed worldview. Unlike Germany, Japan’s political situation is not yet ripe for an open national dialogue on trials. We are continuing our research in the hope that this situation will change.

There is a fundamental mismatch between Japan’s historical understanding and its foreign policy, and this gap has persisted since the war. In contrast, Germany sees it in its national interest to face history head-on, and is aligned. In Japan, this connection has not yet been established, but it may become possible in the future.