minals had been brought to trial by British military courts. Sentenced to death were 21 Kempetai for the murder of Malay civilians, and 8 others for the torture and murder of British prisoners of war. There methods of torture included burning with cigarettes and lighted candles, hot irons, boiling water and electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body, removal of finger and toe nails, flogging and water torture where the victim was forced to drink water till he lost consciousness. The water was then forced out by jumping on his abdomen. Suspension was another form of torture used where the victim was hung up by the arms or legs and left hanging till he confessed or died.
WAR CRIMES TRIALS (Pacific)
The Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal began on May 3, 1946, with twenty-eight defendants including fourteen generals, one Field Marshal and three Admirals. The trials were held in the old Japanese War Ministry building at the Ichigaya Garrison and ended on November 12, 1948. The trials lasted two years and ninety days and adjourned at 4.12pm on November 12, 1948. Altogether 314 cases were heard and 419 witnesses were called before before eleven Judges from eleven countries. Emperor Hirohito was granted immunity from prosecution, although all the evidence points to his implication in the planning of aggressive war. He was forced to renounce his divine status. President of the Tribunal was Sir William Webb of Australia. All defendants were found guilty. Prime Minister Tojo and five generals were hanged, sixteen others were sentenced to life imprisonment, six of whom died in prison. The executions took place in Sugamo Prison where the defendants were held, starting at one minute past midnight on Dcember 23, 1948. The bodies were then placed in wooden coffins and taken to Yokohama Municipal Crematorium for cremation. The ashes were then scattered to the four winds. All the others were released by April 1958.In other trials outside Tokyo (2,200 in all) conducted by the major Allies, more than 4,300 individuals were convicted of whom 984 received the death sentence and 475 to life imprisonment. Captured Japanese documents and diaries, amounting to 419,064 were shipped the the USA in late 1947 and early 1948. To help normalize US relations with Japan, after the Peace Treaty was signed in January, 1951, most of these documents were returned to Japan in 1958 but not before some 400,000 pages were reproduced on 163 reels of microfilm.
In December, 1958, Sugamo Prison was closed, all remaining prisoners being freed. In 1971, the prison complex, covering six acres, was sold to the Japan Urban Development Company for 17.7 million US dollars and then demolished. On the site now stands the 'Sunshine City' shopping centre, including a sixty-storey sky scraper. In a corner of the complex is a small park on which stands a large stone placed on the site of the former gallows. The inscription on the stone reads "Pray for Eternal Peace."