2012

Yuma Totani

  • Associate Professor
  • University of Hawaii at Manoa
Picture of Yuma Totani

Project

In the Shadow of the Tokyo Trial: The Allied War Crimes Prosecution in the Pacific Region, 1945-1951

Program

Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowships for Recently Tenured Scholars

Department

History

Location

For residence at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences during academic year 2012-2013

Abstract

This project explores the war crimes trials that the Allied Powers held for Japanese war crimes suspects in the wake of the Pacific War. Some 5,700 individuals were tried at various locations in the former theaters of war. This study focuses on a selection of prominent cases including the well-known command responsibility trial of Gen. Yamashita in Manila (1945); the Tokyo Trial and two successive proceedings (1946-49); and several other high-command cases by American, Australian, British, Chinese, Dutch, French, and Philippine authorities (1945-1951). Multi-disciplinary and transnational in its scope, this project sheds light on the complex historical and jurisprudential legacy of WWII Pacific-area war crimes trials in our understanding of war, war crimes, and international justice.