For the first time, the complete court records of the Tokyo Trial have been published in Chinese, providing Chinese readers with a comprehensive view of Japan’s wartime crimes, according to state media.
The translation, comprising 40 volumes, was produced by a team of hundreds over more than a decade. It fills “a critical gap in domestic historical records,” Xinhua reported on Thursday.
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East, commonly known as the Tokyo Trial, convened from May 3, 1946, to November 12, 1948. Judges and prosecutors from 11 nations participated, generating nearly 50,000 pages of trial transcripts, witness statements, exhibit lists, prosecution and defense records, and judgment documents, Xinhua said.
Prior to the April 30 publication of the new volumes, the records were accessible only in English and Japanese, the report noted.
The Chinese public had limited awareness of the trial, generally knowing only basic facts, such as the execution of Japan’s wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo, said Wang Zhongyi, vice‑president of the China Society for Sino‑Japanese Relations History.
“Relying on the complete Chinese translation, readers can clearly trace the step‑by‑step progression of the aggression plans, understand the interconnected evidence behind the Nanking massacre, and observe the prolonged struggle between the forces of justice and the war criminals’ attempts to deny their crimes,” he said.