Tojo before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
After Japan's surrender in 1945, U.S. general Douglas MacArthur issued orders for the arrest of forty alleged war criminals, including Tojo. Soon, Tojo's home in Setagaya was besieged with newsmen and photographers. Three American GIs (Corporal Paul Korol, Private First Class John Potkul, and Private First Class James Safford) and two Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) Officers (one of whom was John J. Wilpers, Jr., who received the Bronze Star for his efforts at age 90 in 2010 and died in 2013) were sent to serve the arrest warrant on Tojo.
Two American war correspondents, Hugh Bailey and Russell Braun, had previously interviewed Tojo and were also present when the attempt was made to serve the arrest warrant. Inside, a doctor named Suzuki had marked Tojo's chest with charcoal to indicate the location of his heart. When American military police surrounded the house on September 11, 1945, they heard a muffled shot from inside. Major Paul Kraus and a group of military police burst in, followed by George Jones, a reporter for The New York Times. Tojo had shot himself in the chest with a pistol, but despite shooting directly through the mark, the bullets missed his heart and penetrated his stomach. Now disarmed and with blood gushing out of his chest, Tojo began to talk, and two Japanese reporters recorded his murmured words: "I am very sorry it is taking me so long to die. The Greater East Asia War was justified and righteous. I am very sorry for the nation and all the races of the Greater Asiatic powers. I wait for the righteous judgment of history. I wished to commit suicide but sometimes that fails."
Tojo was arrested and underwent emergency surgery in a U.S. Army hospital. After recovering from his injuries, Tojo was moved to Sugamo Prison. While there he received a new set of dentures made by an American dentist. The phrase "Remember Pearl Harbor" had been secretly drilled into the teeth in Morse code.
It was not until approximately two hours after his suicide attempt that military police and a physician attended to Tojo. Thereafter, when the subsequent arrest was to occur for Admiral Shimada, military police, a physician, and an ambulance were included in that arrest process, as the U.S. learned from Tojo's suicide attempt.
Tojo was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes and found guilty of the following:
Tojo before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Hideki Tojo accepted full responsibility in the end for his actions during the war, and made this speech:
It is natural that I should bear entire responsibility for the war in general, and, needless to say, I am prepared to do so. Consequently, now that the war has been lost, it is presumably necessary that I be judged so that the circumstances of the time can be clarified and the future peace of the world be assured. Therefore, with respect to my trial, it is my intention to speak frankly, according to my recollection, even though when the vanquished stands before the victor, who has over him the power of life and death, he may be apt to toady and flatter. I mean to pay considerable attention to this in my actions, and say to the end that what is true is true and what is false is false. To shade one's words in flattery to the point of untruthfulness would falsify the trial and do incalculable harm to the nation, and great care must be taken to avoid this.
Tojo was sentenced to death on November 12, 1948 and executed by hanging 41 days later on December 23, 1948. Before his execution he gave his military ribbons to Private First Class Kincaid, one of his guards; they are now on display in the National Museum for Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida. In his final statements, he apologized for the atrocities committed by the Japanese military and urged the American military to show compassion toward the Japanese people, who had suffered devastating air attacks and the two atomic bombings.
Many historians criticize the work done by General Douglas MacArthur and his staff to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and all members of the imperial family from criminal prosecutions. According to them, MacArthur and Brigadier General Bonner Fellers worked to protect the Emperor and shift ultimate responsibility to Tojo.
According to the written report of Shūichi Mizota, interpreter for Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai, Fellers met the two men at his office on March 6, 1946 and told Yonai: "It would be most convenient if the Japanese side could prove to us that the Emperor is completely blameless. I think the forthcoming trials offer the best opportunity to do that. Tojo, in particular, should be made to bear all responsibility at this trial."
The sustained intensity of this campaign to protect the Emperor was revealed when, in testifying before the tribunal on December 31, 1947, Tojo momentarily strayed from the agreed-upon line concerning imperial innocence and referred to the Emperor's ultimate authority. The American-led prosecution immediately arranged that he be secretly coached to recant this testimony. Ryūkichi Tanaka, a former general who testified at the trial and had close connections with chief prosecutor Joseph B. Keenan, was used as an intermediary to persuade Tojo to revise his testimony.
Two American war correspondents, Hugh Bailey and Russell Braun, had previously interviewed Tojo and were also present when the attempt was made to serve the arrest warrant. Inside, a doctor named Suzuki had marked Tojo's chest with charcoal to indicate the location of his heart. When American military police surrounded the house on September 11, 1945, they heard a muffled shot from inside. Major Paul Kraus and a group of military police burst in, followed by George Jones, a reporter for The New York Times. Tojo had shot himself in the chest with a pistol, but despite shooting directly through the mark, the bullets missed his heart and penetrated his stomach. Now disarmed and with blood gushing out of his chest, Tojo began to talk, and two Japanese reporters recorded his murmured words: "I am very sorry it is taking me so long to die. The Greater East Asia War was justified and righteous. I am very sorry for the nation and all the races of the Greater Asiatic powers. I wait for the righteous judgment of history. I wished to commit suicide but sometimes that fails."
Tojo was arrested and underwent emergency surgery in a U.S. Army hospital. After recovering from his injuries, Tojo was moved to Sugamo Prison. While there he received a new set of dentures made by an American dentist. The phrase "Remember Pearl Harbor" had been secretly drilled into the teeth in Morse code.
It was not until approximately two hours after his suicide attempt that military police and a physician attended to Tojo. Thereafter, when the subsequent arrest was to occur for Admiral Shimada, military police, a physician, and an ambulance were included in that arrest process, as the U.S. learned from Tojo's suicide attempt.
Tojo was tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East for war crimes and found guilty of the following:
- Count 1 (waging wars of aggression, and war or wars in violation of international law)
- Count 27 (waging unprovoked war against the Republic of China)
- Count 29 (waging aggressive war against the United States of America)
- Count 31 (waging aggressive war against the British Commonwealth of Nations)
- Count 32 (waging aggressive war against the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
- Count 33 (waging aggressive war against the French Republic)
- Count 54 (ordering, authorizing, and permitting inhumane treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) and others)
Tojo before the International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Hideki Tojo accepted full responsibility in the end for his actions during the war, and made this speech:
It is natural that I should bear entire responsibility for the war in general, and, needless to say, I am prepared to do so. Consequently, now that the war has been lost, it is presumably necessary that I be judged so that the circumstances of the time can be clarified and the future peace of the world be assured. Therefore, with respect to my trial, it is my intention to speak frankly, according to my recollection, even though when the vanquished stands before the victor, who has over him the power of life and death, he may be apt to toady and flatter. I mean to pay considerable attention to this in my actions, and say to the end that what is true is true and what is false is false. To shade one's words in flattery to the point of untruthfulness would falsify the trial and do incalculable harm to the nation, and great care must be taken to avoid this.
Tojo was sentenced to death on November 12, 1948 and executed by hanging 41 days later on December 23, 1948. Before his execution he gave his military ribbons to Private First Class Kincaid, one of his guards; they are now on display in the National Museum for Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida. In his final statements, he apologized for the atrocities committed by the Japanese military and urged the American military to show compassion toward the Japanese people, who had suffered devastating air attacks and the two atomic bombings.
Many historians criticize the work done by General Douglas MacArthur and his staff to exonerate Emperor Hirohito and all members of the imperial family from criminal prosecutions. According to them, MacArthur and Brigadier General Bonner Fellers worked to protect the Emperor and shift ultimate responsibility to Tojo.
According to the written report of Shūichi Mizota, interpreter for Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai, Fellers met the two men at his office on March 6, 1946 and told Yonai: "It would be most convenient if the Japanese side could prove to us that the Emperor is completely blameless. I think the forthcoming trials offer the best opportunity to do that. Tojo, in particular, should be made to bear all responsibility at this trial."
The sustained intensity of this campaign to protect the Emperor was revealed when, in testifying before the tribunal on December 31, 1947, Tojo momentarily strayed from the agreed-upon line concerning imperial innocence and referred to the Emperor's ultimate authority. The American-led prosecution immediately arranged that he be secretly coached to recant this testimony. Ryūkichi Tanaka, a former general who testified at the trial and had close connections with chief prosecutor Joseph B. Keenan, was used as an intermediary to persuade Tojo to revise his testimony.