Researching Japanese War Crimes Records

Japanese war crimes committed in Asia and the Pacific between 1931 and 1945 concerned few Americans in the decades following World War II. Japan’s crimes against Asian peoples had never been a major issue in the postwar United States, and—with the notable exceptions of former U.S. prisoners of war held by the Japanese—even remembrance of Japanese wartime atrocities against Americans dimmed as years passed. American attitudes about Japanese war crimes changed markedly following the 1997 publication of Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking.2 Chang’s moving testament to the Chinese victims of the sack of Nanjing in 1937 graphically detailed the horror and scope of the crime and indicted the Japanese government and people for their collective amnesia about the wartime army’s atrocious conduct. The bestselling book spurred a tremendous amount of renewed interest in Japanese wartime conduct in China, Korea, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. The Rape of Nanking raised many issues that demanded further explanation. Why were the Japanese not punished as severely as the Nazis for their crimes? Did the United States suppress evidence of the criminal responsibility of activity by the emperor to ensure a smoothly running occupation of Japan? Did the U.S. government protect Japanese medical officers in exchange for data on human experimentation? Chang also charged the U.S. government with “inexplicably and irresponsibly” returning confiscated wartime records to Japan before microfilming them, making it impossible to determine the extent of Japan’s guilt.3 Others were convinced that the U.S. government retained highly classified documents that would prove Japanese guilt beyond doubt and implicate the highest levels of Japanese government and society in the crimes. These issues led concerned parties to investigate Japanese wartime records among the holdings at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, and at other U.S. government agencies. Thorough documentation of Japanese war crimes and criminal activities among these holdings seemed unavailable, leading to speculation of an official cover-up. Suspicions that the U.S. government was deliberately concealing dark secrets were fueled when, instead of finding the records they sought, researchers encountered a card stating the records had been “withdrawn for security reasons,” as well as when they received a notice that requested information could not be located.

This work makes it possible for the public to access a wide variety of documents related to Japanese war crimes committed in Asia and the Pacific. Noteworthy is the fact that the previously declassified documents corroborate much that is already known about Japan's wartime record. Furthermore, the material goes beyond the subject of war crimes and provides a wealth of historical information about the Axis nations. The range of Japanese-related documents, U.S. government as well as translated and original Japanese documents, merits extensive exploitation by academics, researchers, writers, veterans, and others interested in history. The files are filled with stories that need to be told.

Japanese war crimes committed in Asia and the Pacific between 1931 and 1945 concerned few Americans in the decades following World War II. Japan's crimes against Asian peoples had never been a major issue in the postwar United States, and--with the notable exceptions of former U.S. prisoners of war held by the Japanese--even remembrance of Japanese wartime atrocities against Americans dimmed as years passed.1 American attitudes about Japanese war crimes changed markedly following the 1997 publication of Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking.2 Chang's moving testament to the Chinese victims of the sack of Nanjing in 1937 graphically detailed the horror and scope of the crime and indicted the Japanese government and people for their collective amnesia about the wartime army's atrocious conduct. The bestselling book spurred a tremendous amount of renewed interest in Japanese wartime conduct in China, Korea, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. The Rape of Nanking raised many issues that demanded further explanation. Why were the Japanese not punished as severely as the Nazis for their crimes? Did the United States suppress evidence of the criminal responsibility of activity by the emperor to ensure a smoothly running occupation of Japan? Did the U.S. government protect Japanese medical officers in exchange for data on human experimentation? Chang also charged the U.S. government with "inexplicably and irresponsibly" returning confiscated wartime records to Japan before microfilming them, making it impossible to determine the extent of Japan's guilt.3 Others were convinced that the U.S. government retained highly classified documents that would prove Japanese guilt beyond doubt and implicate the highest levels of Japanese government and society in the crimes.These issues led concerned parties to investigate Japanese wartime records among the holdings at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, and at other U.S. government agencies. Thorough documentation of Japanese war crimes and criminal activities among these holdings seemed unavailable, leading to speculation of an official cover-up. Suspicions that the U.S. government was deliberately concealing dark secrets were fueled when, instead of finding the records they sought, researchers encountered a card stating the records had been "withdrawn for security reasons," as well as when they received a notice that requested information could not be located. Motivated by Chang's assertions, disparate groups who had struggled to raise awareness of Japanese crimes and win justice for the victims were galvanized in their pursuit of answers and documentation. Armed with this latest evidence and capitalizing on a heightened consciousness in the United States about Japanese wartime crimes, victims and advocates pressed their cases with more determination and with greater popular and political support than had been the case in years prior.

Japanese war crimes committed in Asia and the Pacific between 1931 and 1945 concerned few Americans in the decades following World War II. Japan's crimes against Asian peoples had never been a major issue in the postwar United States, and--with the notable exceptions of former U.S. prisoners of war held by the Japanese--even remembrance of Japanese wartime atrocities against Americans dimmed as years passed.American attitudes about Japanese war crimes changed markedly following the 1997 publication of Iris Chang's The Rape of Nanking.2 Chang's moving testament to the Chinese victims of the sack of Nanjing in 1937 graphically detailed the horror and scope of the crime and indicted the Japanese government and people for their collective amnesia about the wartime army's atrocious conduct. The bestselling book spurred a tremendous amount of renewed interest in Japanese wartime conduct in China, Korea, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.1. Introduction2. Documentary Evidence and the Studies of Japanese War Crimes: An InterimAssessment3. Recently Declassified Records at the U.S. National Archives Relating to JapaneseWar Crimes4. Japanese War Crimes Records at the National Archives: Research StartingPoints5. Wartime COMINT Records in the National Archives about Japanese WarCrimes in the Asia and Pacific Theaters, 1978-19976. The Exploitation of Captured and Seized Japanese Records Relating to WarCrimes, 1942-19457. A "Constantly Recurring Irritant": Returning Captured and Seized JapaneseRecords, 1946-19618. The Intelligence that Wasn't: CIA Name Files, the U.S. Army, and IntelligenceGathering in Occupied Japan

This finding aid will help researchers interested in Japanese war crimes, war criminals, and war crimes trials to navigate the vast holdings of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration at College Park (NARA). It will also be useful to anyone interested in military, intelligence, political, diplomatic, economic, financial, social, and cultural activities in the Far East during 1931-1951, as well as to those searching for information regarding Allied prisoners of war; the organization, functions, and activities of American and Allied agencies; and the Japanese occupation of countries and the American occupation of Japan. While not aimed at researchers interested in the strategic and tactical military and naval history of the war in the Far East, this finding aid may nevertheless be useful to those with such interests, if only to identify record groups and series of records that may bear on those topics. This finding aid covers records from over twenty record groups and includes materials declassified under the Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-567) as well as records that were never classified and those declassified before the passage of the Disclosure Act. Because the process of identifying, declassifying, accessioning, and processing of records under the Act is taking place as this finding is being compiled, late arriving records may not be identified in this finding aid. Researchers should consult the IWG Web site (http://www.archives.gov/iwg/) for a complete and up-to-date list of records declassified under the Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Act. Federal agencies involved in the identification and declassification of relevant classified records ascertained that there were relatively few pertinent records that were still classified. Most relevant records were either never classified or were declassified decades before the Act and were already in NARA’s custody. While this finding aid’s coverage is broad, it is not comprehensive. Researchers may find other relevant series of records within the record groups mentioned or not mentioned. Researchers are encouraged to use other finding aids and consult with NARA staff to locate records of interest. In addition, the National Archives at College Park holds nontextual records (such as still photographs and motion pictures) that researchers may want to examine. Other NARA facilities hold many records and donated material related to World War II, including records related to the subjects covered in this finding aid. This is particularly true of the Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Harry S. Truman, and the Dwight D. Think of archives as vast mountain ranges of records with the archivists guiding the expeditions. Explorations on familiar, well-trodden paths produce new perspectives when examined with fresh eyes and imagination.

The question of national responsibility for crimes against humanity became an urgent topic due to the charge of ethnic cleansing against the previous Yugoslav government. But that was not the first such urging of legal and moral responsibility for war crimes. While the Nazi German regime has been prototypical, the actions of the Japanese military regime have been receiving increasing prominence and attention. Indeed, Peter Li's volume examines the phenomenon of denial as well as the deeds of destruction. Certainly one of the most troublesome unresolved problems facing many Asian and Western countries after the Asia Pacific war (1931u1945) is the question of the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army throughout Asia and the Japanese government's repeated attempts to whitewash their wartime responsibilities. The psychological and physical wounds suffered by victims, their families, and relations remain unhealed after more than half a century, and the issue is now pressing. This collection undertakes the critical task of addressing some of the multifaceted and complex issues of Japanese war crimes and redress. This collection is divided into five themes. In "It's Never Too Late to Seek Justice," the issues of reconciliation, accountability, and Emperor Hirohito's responsibility for war crimes are explored. "The American POW Experience Remembered" includes a moving account of the Bataan Death March by an American ex-soldier. "Psychological Responses" discusses the socio-psychological affects of the Nanjing Massacre and Japanese vivisection on Chinese subjects. The way in which Japanese war atrocities have been dealt with in the theater and cinema is the focus of "Artistic Responses." And central to "History Must not Forget" are the questions of memory, trauma, biological warfare, and redress. Included in this volume are samples of the many presentations given at the International Citizens' Forum on War Crimes and Redress held in Tokyo in Decem

This book assesses the historical significance of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE)--commonly called the Tokyo trial--established as the eastern counterpart of the Nuremberg trial in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Through extensive research in Japanese, American, Australian, and Indian archives, Yuma Totani taps into a large body of previously underexamined sources to explore some of the central misunderstandings and historiographical distortions that have persisted to the present day. Foregrounding these voluminous records, Totani disputes the notion that the trial was an exercise in "victors' justice" in which the legal process was egregiously compromised for political and ideological reasons; rather, the author details the achievements of the Allied prosecution teams in documenting war crimes and establishing the responsibility of the accused parties to show how the IMTFE represented a sound application of the legal principles established at Nuremberg. This study deepens our knowledge of the historical intricacies surrounding the Tokyo trial and advances our understanding of the Japanese conduct of war and occupation during World War II, the range of postwar debates on war guilt, and the relevance of the IMTFE to the continuing development of international humanitarian law.