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International Military Tribunal for the Far East records
49016
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Title: International Military Tribunal for the Far East records
Date (bulk): 1920-1948
Collection Number: 49016
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material: In English, Japanese, and Chinese
Physical Description:
115 manuscript boxes, 1 envelope, 242 volumes.
(81.5 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Court exhibits, transcripts, summaries of proceedings, summations of counsel, judgments, photographs, and indices relating
to the trial of Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes during the Second World War.
Creator:
International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1949.
[Identification of item], International Military Tribunal for the Far East records, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover
Institution Library & Archives.
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal or the Tokyo Trials,
lasted from April 29, 1946 to November 12, 1948. Established by special proclamation of the Supreme Commander for the Allied
Powers (SCAP), U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, the IMTFE sought to try Japanese government officials and military leaders
for the incitement and perpetration of World War II and war crimes throughout the conflict.
For more than two years, eleven judges representing the Allied signatories of the Instrument of Surrender, as well as India
and the Philippines, heard cases against twenty-eight defendants, including General Hideki Tojo. From November 4 to 12, 1948,
the tribunal rendered judgments against twenty-five defendants (two defendants died during the trial and one was deemed incompetent
to stand trial). Seven defendants were sentenced to death, sixteen to life imprisonment, one to twenty years' imprisonment,
and one to seven years' imprisonment.
Similar to its German counterpart in Nuremberg, the trial's charges, evidence, defense, and rulings mark the IMTFE as an important
moment in the reshaping of modern international law in the post-World War II period.
Exhibits, evidence, transcripts, indices of the record, and other documents relating to the trial of Japanese officials and
military leaders accused of war crimes during the Second World War. Documents reflect significant contributions to international
law within the contexts of crimes against humanity, wars of aggression, and other relevant subjects.
The collection, consisting of both loose documents and bound volumes, is arranged alphabetically by subject. To request bound
volumes, please note the title of the volume and the volume number, if applicable.
Exhibits, Rejected Defense Documents, and
Rejected Prosecution Documents contain corresponding indices that can be used to identify the documents found in these series. A link to a PDF version of
each corresponding index can be found in a scope and content note at the beginning of these series.
List of Indices in the Hoover Archives Reading Room
1. Dull and Umemura. The Tokyo Trials: A Functional Index (1957). 94 p.
2. Index of Rejected Prosecution Documents (undated). 17 p. (2 copies)
3. Index of Rejected Defense Documents (undated). 44 p.
4. Index of (defense) witnesses, 28 February 1947 - 10 February 1948 (undated). 117 p.
5. Index of (prosecution) witnesses, 17 June - 16 August 1946; 28 August - 29 November 1946 (undated). 13 p. (2 copies)
6. Index of motions, arguments, decisions, objections in open court (undated). 36 p.
7. Supreme Command for the Allied Powers. International Prosecution Section (IPS). Revised index to documents by defendants
(at the Tokyo War Crime Trials). Also, numerical list of IPS documents introduced as court exhibits (1947). 55 p. and 32 p.
8. General Index of the Record of the Prosecution's Case (1947). 101 p.
9. General Index of the Record of the Defense Case (1947). 152 p.
10. Maxon, Yale Candee. Index to documents (by phase and subject) (1947). 20 p.
11. Maxon, Yale Candee. Index to documents not specifically linked to one or more of the defendants (1947). 17 p.
12. Index of Exhibits (undated). 592 p.
International Military Tribunal proceedings, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan
War crime trials -- Japan
Tokyo Trial, Tokyo, Japan, 1946-1948