For all the publicity given to the Tokyo War Crimes Trial, only 7 were actually hanged.
These included General Doihara Kenji for drug trafficking in Manchuria (the names here are given in the correct Japanese form with the surname in front and the given name last) and General Matsui Iwane for the Nanjing Massacre. (P 6 and 8, Men to Devils, Devils to Men, by Barak Kushner, 2015).
This book examines the trials conducted by the Kuomintang and the CCP in China.
At the time of the surrender, there were about 7 million Japanese in China.
This book shows that the Kuomintang’s goal was to seek justice, while the CCP’s goal was to make war criminals reflect on their crimes and repent. (P 248).
The book shows that both the Kuomintang and the CCP were keen to show the world they were not seeking revenge.
The Japanese, on their part, view themselves as ‘victims of circumstances.’ They had little awareness that they had committed war crimes.
Devils to Men was the mantra of the CCP. They wanted to convert the Japanese war criminals back to men through reflection and repentance. According to the book, all the Japanese war criminals tried by the CCP repented and confessed their sins.