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The Atomic Bombing, The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal and the Shimoda Case: Lessons for Anti-Nuclear Legal Movements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Yuki Tanaka  and
Richard Falk
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On May 14, 1946, ten days after the opening of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (popularly known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal), Captain George Furness, a member of the defense counsel, cast serious doubt on the fairness of the Tribunal conducted by the victorious nations in World War II:

‘We say that regardless of the known integrity of the individual Members of this Tribunal they cannot, under the circumstances of their appointment, be impartial; that under such circumstances this trial, both in the present day and history, will never be free from substantial doubt as to its legality, fairness, and impartiality.‘

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 44 , November 2009 , e3
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2009

References

Notes

1 R. John Pritchard, The Tokyo Major War Crimes Trial: The Records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1998) vol.2, p.200.

2 Ibid., p.200.

3 Ibid., p.206.

4 Ibid., p.209.

5 Ibid., p.212.

6 R. John Pritchard, The Tokyo Major War Crimes Trial: The Records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1998) vol.38, pp.17,655 - 17,663.

7 R.B. Pal, International Military Tribunal for the Far East: Dissentient Judgment of Justice (1953) p.621.

8 For details of this court case, see Ohoka Shohei, Nagai Tabi (A Long Journey) (Shinchosha, 1982). The court's judgement is here: Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State

In 2008, a feature film “Ashita e no yuigon (Best Wishes for Tomorrow)” was produced based upon this documentary book. The trailer of this film is available at this website. The Stars and Stripes review, Norio Murio, “Japanese film a poetic look at WWII war crimes trial,” can be found at this website.

9 The introduction to “Genbaku Minso Wakumon (Questions and Answers on the Civil Lawsuit over the Atomic Bombings)” by Okamoto Shoichi is reprinted in, Matsui Yasuhiro, Genbaku Saiban: Kakuheiki Haizetu to Hibakusha Engo no Hori (The A-Bomb Trial: Legal Principles for Abolishing Nuclear Weapons and Supporting A-bomb Survivors) (Shin-Nippon Shuppan-sha, 1986) pp.16 – 19.

10 Maruyama Mutsuo, ‘Genbaku Saiban no Imisuru-mono (The Meaning of the A-bomb Trial), ‘in Nippon Senryo: Kyodo Kenkyu (The Occupation of Japan: A Cooperative Research) ed. by Shiso no Kagaku Kenkyu-kai (Tokuma Shobo, 1972) p.383.

11 Ibid., p.383; Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.21 – 22.

12 Maruyama Mutsuo, op.cit., pp.383 – 389; Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.20 – 21.

13 For details of the U.S. censorship on the Japanese publications concerning the effects of the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, see Monica Braw, The Atomic Bomb Suppressed: American Censorship in Occupied Japan (M.E. Sharpe, 1997).

14 Maruyama Mutsuo, op.cit., p.383.

15 The information on Shimoda's personal background is included in the complaint submitted to the District Court of Tokyo on April 25, 1955. The full text of the complaint is reprinted in the aforementioned book by Matsui Yasuhiro. See Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.24 – 36.

16 Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., p.22. Regarding Matsui's personal background, see Matsui Yasuhiro, Senso to Kokusai-ho: Genbaku Saiban kara Rasseru Hotei e (War and International Law: From the Atomic Bomb Trial to the Russell Tribunal) (Sanseido, 1968) pp.55 – 57; and Ushiomi Toshitaka, Kitano Hirohisa, Oda Shigemitsu and Toriu Chusuke eds., Gendai Shiho no Kadai (The Problems of Modern Judicature) (Saegusa Shobo 1982) pp.451 – 456.

17 Richard Falk's article was reproduced in his book, Legal Order in A Violent World (Princeton University Press, 1968) pp.374 – 413. Fujita's work on this court case concentrates on the discussion of the illegality of the indiscriminate bombing and in no way deals with the issue of the plaintiffs' claims for damages. Francis Boyle also discusses the criminality of the atomic bombing in conjunction with this court case in Chapter 2 of his book, The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence: Could the U.S. War on Terrorism Go Nuclear? (Clarity Press, 2005).

18 For details of the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, see, for example, The Committee for the Compilation of Materials on Damage Caused By the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Nagasaki - the Physical Medical and Social Effects of the Atomic Bombings (Hutchinson & Co., 1981); and Leif E. Peterson and Abrahamson Seymour, eds., Effects of Ionizing Radiation: Atomic Bomb Survivors and Their Children:1945-1995 (Joseph Henry Press, 1998).

19 The court's decision, including the summaries of the complaint and the defense argument, was translated into English and published in The Japanese Annual of International Law for 1964. The full text of the English translation is also reprinted in R. Falk and S. Mendlovitz eds., Towards A Theory of War Prevention (World Law Fund, 1966). The original Japanese text of the decision is reproduced in full in the aforementioned book by Matsui Yasuhiro. See Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.206 – 246.

20 See the full text of the complaint reproduced in Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.24 – 36.

21 See “The Summary of the Defense Argument” reproduced in Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.218 – 225.

22 The plaintiffs submitted a copy of this Japanese government's official protest against the U.S to the court. This copy is reproduced in Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., pp.248 – 249.

23 For details of the bombing of Japanese cities by the U.S. Army Air Force and its effects on Japanese policies, see, for example, Mark Selden, ‘A Forgotten Holocaust: U.S. Bombing Strategy, The Destruction of Japanese Cities, and American Way of War From the Pacific War to Iraq, ‘in Bombing Civilians: A Twentieth Century History, ed. by Yuki Tanaka and Marilyn Young (New Press, 2009) pp.76 – 96.

24 Regarding the effect of the Soviet entry into the war and the invasion of Russian forces into Manchuria upon Japan's decision to surrender, see Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, ‘Were the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Justified? ‘in Yuki Tanaka and Marilyn Young, op.cit., pp.97 – 134.

25 Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., p.22.

26 See “The Reason for the Decision,” reproduced in Matsui Yasuhiro, op.cit., 225 – 246.