THE TOKYO TRIBUNAL: HAD A GO AT, BUT CHOSE TO NOT UTTER A WORD OF PUNISHMENT
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Published:
Dec 31, 2025
Abstract
Guided by the idea of elaborating a comprehensive concept of punishment in international criminal law, present theoretical explication is devoted to the most extensive reflections stemming from the contemplation of the landmark, following the Nuremberg Tribunal’s activities, that represented a historical milestone for the international criminal justice, – the timeframe of the functioning of the Tokyo Tribunal. The main emphasis is focused on the goal of constructing a common context for the perception of punishment within the framework of the Tokyo Trial. It is established that the relevant challenge cannot be rationally addressed in a manner that is detached from the general sense of the Tokyo Tribunal as such. Derived from the general impression, the image of punishment by the Tribunal is found to be vulnerable to several principal challenges: 1) lack of independence in appreciation, typically in the benchmarking; 2) belittling of accomplishments; 3) the persistence of political scheming; 4) the cultivation of a paradigm of all-embracing criticism, leading to a forgetfulness, among others. Inappropriateness of interpretation of the operations of the Tribunal and the sentences it has imposed solely from the standpoint of total contempt, which ultimately undermines the foundations of international criminal justice was pointed out, and the necessity of further scholarly efforts to consider the severity and swiftness as cornerstones of the modern concept of punishment in international criminal law was outlined.
How to Cite
Kuzmin, E. (2025). THE TOKYO TRIBUNAL: HAD A GO AT, BUT CHOSE TO NOT UTTER A WORD OF PUNISHMENT. Academia Polonica, 72(5), 150-157. https://doi.org/10.23856/7217
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Keywords
punishment, Tokyo Tribunal, Tokyo Trial, Tokyo War Crimes Trials, International Military Tribunal for the Far East, fight against impunity, international criminal justice, international criminal law
References
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29. Matwijkiw, A. (2009). The No Impunity Policy in International Criminal Law: Justice versus Revenge. International Criminal Law Review, 9(1), 3‑4. doi:10.1163/157181209X398808
30. Minear, R. H. (1971). Victors’ Justice: The Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
31. Minow, M. (2019). Do Alternative Justice Mechanisms Deserve Recognition in International Criminal Law: Truth Commissions, Amnesties, and Complementarity at the International Criminal Court. Harvard International Law Journal, 60(1), 1-45.
32. Pritchard, R. J. (1995). The International Military Tribunal for the Far East and Its Contemporary Resonances. Military Law Review, 149, 25-35.
33. Safferling, C. (2020). Concluding Reflections: Nuremberg and Tokyo Twin Tribunals, Far Apart? The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory. V. E. Dittrich, K. von Lingen, P. Osten, J. Makraiová (Eds.). Brussel: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
34. Schwarzenberger, G. (1950). The Problem of an International Criminal Law. Current Legal Problems, 3(1), 263-296. doi:10.1093/clp/3.1.263
35. Sellars, K. (2010). Imperfect Justice at Nuremberg and Tokyo. European Journal of International Law, 21(4), 1085-1102. doi:10.1093/ejil/chq070
36. Simpson, G. (2009). Revisiting the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Pacific Historical Review, 78(4), 608-613. doi:10.1525/phr.2009.78.4.608
37. Simpson, G. (2020). Opening Reflections: Tokyoberg. The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory. V. E. Dittrich, K. von Lingen, P. Osten, J. Makraiová (Eds.). Brussel: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
38. Sinuna, B. (1999). The Impact of Nuremberg and Tokyo: Attempts at a Comparison. Japan and International Law Past, Present and Future. N. Ando (Ed.). The Hague; London; Boston: Kluwer Law International. doi:10.1163/9789004635326_011
39. Stahn, C. (2019). A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108399906
40. Takatori, Y. (2008). Remembering the War Crimes Trial: The Tokyo Trial View of History. The Power of Memory in Modern Japan. S. Saaler, & W. Schwentker (Eds.). Folkestone: Global Oriental. doi: 10.1163/ej.9781905246380.i-382.39
41. Tanaka, Y., McCormack, T., & Simpson G. (Eds.). (2010). Beyond Victor’s Justice? The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Revisited. Leiden; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. doi: 10.1163/ej.9789004203037.i-404
42. Totani, Y. (2008). The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center.
43. Totani, Y. (2010). The Case Against the Accused. Beyond Victor’s Justice? The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Revisited. Y. Tanaka, T. McCormack, G. Simpson (Eds.). Leiden; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004203037.i-404.66
44. Ushimura, K. (2003). Beyond the “Judgment of Civilization”: The Intellectual Legacy of the Japanese War Crimes Trials, 1946-1949. (S. J. Ericson, Trans.). Tokyo: The International House of Japan.
45. Walkinshaw, R. B. (1949). The Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials: Another Step Toward International Justice. American Bar Association Journal, 35(4), 299-302, 362-363.
46. Watanabe, M., & Field, N. (2021). Reopening the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, Fifty‑Four Years Later: As Recorded in the Documentary Video, Breaking the History of Silence. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 19(4), 1-6. doi: 10.1017/S1557466021030813
47. Yasuaki, O. (1986). The Tokyo Trial: Between Law and Politics. The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: An International Symposium. C. Hosoya, N. Ando, Y. Onuma, R. Minear (Eds.). Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.; Kodansha International Ltd.
2. Boister, N. (2014). The Tokyo Military Tribunal: A Show Trial? Historical Origins of International Criminal Law: Volume 2. M. Bergsmo, C. Wui Ling, Y. Ping (Eds.). Brussels: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
3. Boister, N., & Cryer, R. (2008a). The Tokyo International Military Tribunal: A Reappraisal. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278527.001.0001
4. Boister, N., & Cryer, R. (Eds.). (2008b). Documents on the Tokyo International Military Tribunal: Charter, Indictment and Judgments. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780199541928.001.0001
5. Brackman, A. C. (1987). The Other Nuremberg: The Untold Story of the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.
6. Cherif Bassiouni, M. (2000). Searching for Justice in the World of Realpolitik. Pace International Law Review, 12(2), 213-231. doi: 10.58948/2331-3536.1227
7. Cho, S. Y. (1967). The Tokyo War Crimes Trial. The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress, 24(4), 309-318.
8. Cohen, D., Totani, Y. (2018). The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal: Law, History, and Jurisprudence. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316348659
9. Comyns Carr, A. S. (1948). The Judgment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Transactions of the Grotius Society, 34, 141-151.
10. Cryer, R. (2018). The Tokyo International Military Tribunal and Crimes Against Peace (Aggression): Is There Anything to Learn? Seeking Accountability for the Unlawful Use of Force. L. N. Sadat (Ed.). Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781316941423.006
11. Daqun, L. (2020). The Present Day Significance of Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials in Modern International law – Jurisprudence Aspect. European Studies, 20, 83-93.
12. Daqun, L., & Binxin, Z. (Eds.). (2016). Historical War Crimes Trials in Asia. Brussels: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
13. Dittrich, V. E., Makraiová, J. (2020). Towards a Fuller Appreciation of the Tokyo Tribunal. The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory. V. E. Dittrich, K. von Lingen, P. Osten, J. Makraiová (Eds). Brussel: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
14. Dittrich, V. E., von Lingen, K., Osten, P., & Makraiová, J. (Eds.). (2020). The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory. Brussel: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
15. Futamura, M. (2007). War Crimes Tribunals and Transitional Justice: The Tokyo Trial and the Nuremburg Legacy. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203945926
16. Futamura, M. (2011). Japanese Societal Attitudes Towards the Tokyo Trial: A Contemorary Perspective. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 9(29), 1-20. doi: 10.1017/S1557466011011612
17. Green, L. C. (1989). [Review of The Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Edited by C. Hosoya and Others. N.Y.: Harper & Row, for Kodansha International, Tokyo, 1986. 226 pp.]. Dalhousie Law Journal, 12(1), 190-198.
18. Guillemin, J. (2017). Hidden Atrocities: Japanese Germ Warfare and American Obstruction of Justice at the Tokyo Trial. New York: Columbia University Press.
19. Hayashi, H. (2020). Reassessment of the Tokyo Trial. European Studies, 20, 103-104.
20. Hirsch, F. E. (1946). Lessons of Nuremberg. Current History, 11(62), 312‑318.
21. International Military Tribunal for the Far East. (1949). International Organization, 3(1), 184-186. doi:10.1017/S0020818300014399
22. Ju-ao, M. (2018). The Tokyo Trial and War Crimes in Asia (Foreword by M. Xiaokan, M. Xiao’ao). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
23. Kaufman, Z. D. (2010). The Nuremberg Tribunal v. the Tokyo Tribunal: Designs, Staffs, and Operations. The John Marshall Law Review, 43(3), 753‑768.
24. Kaufman, Z. D. (2013). Transitional Justice for Tojo’s Japan: The United States Role in the Establishment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and other Transitional Justice Mechanisms for Japan after World War II. Emory International Law Review, 27(2), 755-798.
25. Klaus, J. (2025). ‘The Right of Existence of Peoples as Independent Nations’: Raphael Lemkin, the Tokyo Tribunal, and Aggression. Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d’histoire du droit international, 27(3), 319-355. doi:10.1163/15718050-bja10133
26. Liu, J. T. C. (1948). The Tokyo Trial: Source Materials. Far Eastern Survey, 17(14), 168-170. doi:10.2307/3023313
27. Maga, T. (2001). Judgment at Tokyo: The Japanese War Crimes Trials. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.
28. Martinez, J. (2012). Judgment at Tokyo: Crimes against Humanity in the Tokyo War. Columbia Undergraduate Law Review, 6(2), 43-53.
29. Matwijkiw, A. (2009). The No Impunity Policy in International Criminal Law: Justice versus Revenge. International Criminal Law Review, 9(1), 3‑4. doi:10.1163/157181209X398808
30. Minear, R. H. (1971). Victors’ Justice: The Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
31. Minow, M. (2019). Do Alternative Justice Mechanisms Deserve Recognition in International Criminal Law: Truth Commissions, Amnesties, and Complementarity at the International Criminal Court. Harvard International Law Journal, 60(1), 1-45.
32. Pritchard, R. J. (1995). The International Military Tribunal for the Far East and Its Contemporary Resonances. Military Law Review, 149, 25-35.
33. Safferling, C. (2020). Concluding Reflections: Nuremberg and Tokyo Twin Tribunals, Far Apart? The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory. V. E. Dittrich, K. von Lingen, P. Osten, J. Makraiová (Eds.). Brussel: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
34. Schwarzenberger, G. (1950). The Problem of an International Criminal Law. Current Legal Problems, 3(1), 263-296. doi:10.1093/clp/3.1.263
35. Sellars, K. (2010). Imperfect Justice at Nuremberg and Tokyo. European Journal of International Law, 21(4), 1085-1102. doi:10.1093/ejil/chq070
36. Simpson, G. (2009). Revisiting the Tokyo War Crimes Trial. Pacific Historical Review, 78(4), 608-613. doi:10.1525/phr.2009.78.4.608
37. Simpson, G. (2020). Opening Reflections: Tokyoberg. The Tokyo Tribunal: Perspectives on Law, History and Memory. V. E. Dittrich, K. von Lingen, P. Osten, J. Makraiová (Eds.). Brussel: Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.
38. Sinuna, B. (1999). The Impact of Nuremberg and Tokyo: Attempts at a Comparison. Japan and International Law Past, Present and Future. N. Ando (Ed.). The Hague; London; Boston: Kluwer Law International. doi:10.1163/9789004635326_011
39. Stahn, C. (2019). A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108399906
40. Takatori, Y. (2008). Remembering the War Crimes Trial: The Tokyo Trial View of History. The Power of Memory in Modern Japan. S. Saaler, & W. Schwentker (Eds.). Folkestone: Global Oriental. doi: 10.1163/ej.9781905246380.i-382.39
41. Tanaka, Y., McCormack, T., & Simpson G. (Eds.). (2010). Beyond Victor’s Justice? The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Revisited. Leiden; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. doi: 10.1163/ej.9789004203037.i-404
42. Totani, Y. (2008). The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center.
43. Totani, Y. (2010). The Case Against the Accused. Beyond Victor’s Justice? The Tokyo War Crimes Trial Revisited. Y. Tanaka, T. McCormack, G. Simpson (Eds.). Leiden; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004203037.i-404.66
44. Ushimura, K. (2003). Beyond the “Judgment of Civilization”: The Intellectual Legacy of the Japanese War Crimes Trials, 1946-1949. (S. J. Ericson, Trans.). Tokyo: The International House of Japan.
45. Walkinshaw, R. B. (1949). The Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials: Another Step Toward International Justice. American Bar Association Journal, 35(4), 299-302, 362-363.
46. Watanabe, M., & Field, N. (2021). Reopening the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, Fifty‑Four Years Later: As Recorded in the Documentary Video, Breaking the History of Silence. The Asia-Pacific Journal, 19(4), 1-6. doi: 10.1017/S1557466021030813
47. Yasuaki, O. (1986). The Tokyo Trial: Between Law and Politics. The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: An International Symposium. C. Hosoya, N. Ando, Y. Onuma, R. Minear (Eds.). Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.; Kodansha International Ltd.
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