In February 1946, Tani was arrested on orders of the American occupation authorities and charged with Class B and Class C war crimes.
At the request of the Chinese government he was extradited to China to stand trial at the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal in August 1946.
Tani denied all charges at the trial, stating that his troops kept discipline, and the area of Nanjing assigned to his division had been largely evacuated due to the ferocity of the battle.
Furthermore, none of the witnesses against him could identify his unit numbers, and indeed the evidence presented to the court pertained to troops and areas of the city under General Kesago Nakajima and General Shigeharu Suematsu.
However, the presiding judge refused Tani's request to call on his chief of staff and surviving junior officers as witnesses, and stated that since the various atrocities which occurred in Nanjing were testified to by hundreds of surviving witness as well as several foreigners from Nanking Safety Zone, he was unwilling and unable to divide responsibility.
According to the ruling of the court, all of the Japanese commanders involved in the Battle of Nanjing had an equally shared responsibility for atrocities which occurred during the Rape of Nanjing, and this included Generals Iwane Matsui, Heisuke Yanagawa and Sadao Ushijima as well as Nakajima, Suematsu and Tani.
He was consequently sentenced to death as a BC-class war criminal and was executed by firing squad outside the gates of Nanjing on April 26, 1947.
In February 1946, Tani was arrested on orders of the American occupation authorities and charged with Class B and Class C war crimes. At the request of the Chinese government he was extradited to China to stand trial at the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal in August 1946. Tani denied all charges at the trial, stating that his troops kept discipline, and the area of Nanjing assigned to his division had been largely evacuated due to the ferocity of the battle. Furthermore, none of the witnesses against him could identify his unit numbers, and indeed the evidence presented to the court pertained to troops and areas of the city under General Kesago Nakajima and General Shigeharu Suematsu. However, the presiding judge refused Tani's request to call on his chief of staff and surviving junior officers as witnesses, and stated that since the various atrocities which occurred in Nanjing were testified to by hundreds of surviving witness as well as several foreigners from Nanking Safety Zone, he was unwilling and unable to divide responsibility. According to the ruling of the court, all of the Japanese commanders involved in the Battle of Nanjing had an equally shared responsibility for atrocities which occurred during the Rape of Nanjing, and this included Generals Iwane Matsui, Heisuke Yanagawa and Sadao Ushijima as well as Nakajima, Suematsu and Tani. He was consequently sentenced to death as a BC-class war criminal and was executed by firing squad outside the gates of Nanjing on April 26, 1947.
Hisao Tani