Description:

(TOKYO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL) SUMMATION OF THE CASE AGAINST FIELD MARSHAL SHUNROKU HATA IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE
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 a period mimeographed document, 63pp. legal folio, the summation of the international prosecuting team's case against Imperial Japanese Army field marshal SHUNROKU HATA (1879-1962). Hata was charged with conspiracy, waging aggressive war and disregarding his duty to prevent atrocities for his role in the collapse of the government of pro-British and American Prime Minister Mitsumasa Yonai, which paved the way for the premiership of Hideki Tojo and was brought about by Hata's resignation as Army Minister, and for his conduct as Commander in Chief of the China Expeditionary Army. The summation also describes in detail the capture of eight airmen who crash-landed in China following James Doolittle's ‘Tokyo Raid' on April 18, 1942, their subsequent sham trial and the execution of three of the prisoners under Hata's authority, and Hata's issuance of Military Order No. 4, the ‘Enemy Airmen's Act', which was used as the legal basis for the execution of other Allied airmen throughout World War II. In small part: '...On 18 April 1942 American flyers dropped bombs aimed at military objectives in Japan and landed in China. These are known as the Doolittle Flyers. They [eight crewmen captured immediately] were imprisoned and kept under HATA's jurisdiction until they were brought to Tokyo on 25 April 1942. They were kept in Tokyo until 17 June and then returned to Shanghai and placed in Bridge House Jail and were therefore continuously under HATA's jurisdiction. Their so-called trial was held on 20 August and they were all sentenced to death. The death sentence was subsequently commuted for five of them and the other three were executed…' This copy of the summation against Hata, bound in a plain manila folder cover with a metal file clip, was prepared from the court record for 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. On the front cover, Sutton pens the title ‘International Military Tribunal for the Far East – HATA Summation' in black ink. A label bearing Sutton's name is affixed at bottom right, and the report is accompanied by a War Department air mail envelope transmitting it to Mrs. Louise L. Medlin of West Point, VA, likely his paralegal or secretary. Also present is a second mimeographed document, 79pp. oblong 4to., a copy of the summation against Hata in Japanese, with titles and Sutton's name typed on the front cover. The defense counsel consisted of 25 American and 79 Japanese attorneys, and thus the entire tribunal had to be spoken and recorded in both English and Japanese. Both pieces originate directly from Sutton's archives, and both are in very good condition.

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March 26, 2026 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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