Description:

(TOKYO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL) ‘REPORT FROM CHINA: OPIUM AND NARCOTICS TRADE IN JAPANESE OCCUPIED TERRITORY'
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), popularly known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, convened in April 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity, leading up to and during World War II. Presented here is an interesting period mimeographed document, 41pp. legal folio, prepared by American associate counsel for the prosecution DAVID NELSON SUTTON (1895-1974) who was responsible for gathering witness testimony related to Japanese war crimes in China. Titled ‘Report From China: Opium and Narcotics Trade in Japanese Occupied Territory', the document lays out evidence collected by Sutton and other investigators ‘...That the use of and traffic of opium and narcotics was not only permitted but encouraged and sponsored by the Japanese controlled puppet governments in China for two primary purposes: a. As a source of revenue for the puppet governments. b. To weaken and undermine the health and will to resist on the part of the Chinese people…' The report goes on to trace the supply of opium from its sources in Mongolia, through the Mongolian puppet government and its distributors in the Japanese Army to local drug kingpins and local peddlers in major cities. It contains affidavits from members of the Shanghai police force, individuals involved in the opium trade, and Miner S. Bates, a leader of the International Committee for the Nanking [now Nanjing] Safety Zone and witness to the Rape of Nanjing, who describes the deleterious effect on the city's population of the widespread availability of narcotics allowed under Japanese rule. The report is bound in plain paper covers with a metal file clip, and features the title handwritten in ink on the front cover in Sutton's hand. It originates directly from Sutton's archives. Shows some folds throughout and a few chips to the page edges, else very good.

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November 13, 2025 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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