Judgement at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia

A landmark, magisterial history of the postwar trial of Japan’s leaders as war criminals, and their impact on the modern history of Asia and the world, from the prizewinning author of the acclaimed The Blood Telegram.

In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, the victorious powers turned to the question of how to move on from years of carnage and destruction. To them, it was clear that Japan’s militaristic leaders needed to be tried and punished for their crimes.

For the Allied powers, the trials were an opportunity both to render judgment on their vanquished foes and to create a legal framework to prosecute war crimes and prohibit the use of aggressive war. For the Japanese leaders on trial, it was their chance to argue that their war had been waged to liberate Asia from Western imperialism and that the court was no more than victors’ justice.