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Networking for War Criminal Amnesty: The Establishment of Japan's War Convicted Benefit Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Keyao Pan
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Précis

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This article makes use of network analysis to examine the establishment of the War Convicted Benefit Society (Sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai), an influential advocacy group in the popular movement that pushed for amnesty for Japanese war criminals from 1952 to 1958. By graphing the networks created by members of the Society, I demonstrate that early Occupation policies, precisely those that convicted and purged these old elites and resulted in the detention of many of them in Sugamo prison, actually created a new network of conservative power figures by linking the otherwise unconnected old mid-rank military network and the old colonial/political elite network to rally around their common experience of being “prosecuted.”

Keywords

war crimeswar criminalswar responsibilityAllied Occupation of Japanright wingcivil societynationalismamnestysocial movement
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 18 , Issue 7 , April 2020 , e1
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2020

References

Notes

1 In this period, the definition of “nationality” or kokuseki in Japan was undergoing drastic changes. What I mean by this term here is that they were the former colonial subjects of the Japanese empire and had ethnic Korean origins. Some with Korean and Taiwanese origins who were convicted of war crimes for their conducts and association with the Japanese imperial military had lived on the Japanese archipelago, while others had never been to the archipelago before their incarceration. Those who settled in Japan would be later categorized as zainichi, while many others returned to their places of origin after they completed their sentences.

2 ‘Dai ni jimu hōkoku (5. 6. 7 gatsu)‘ “jukei-sha sewa-kai Shōwa 29-nen sensō jukei-sha sho taisaku,” National Archive of Japan「第二事務報告(5.6.7月)」『受刑者世話会・昭和２９年・戦争受刑者諸対策』 国立公文書館 本館-4B-024-00・平１１法務07280100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716432112869; conversions from “Shōwa 40-nen no 1 man-en o, ima no okane ni kansan suru to donogurai ni narimasu ka?” Nipponginkō “昭和40年の1万円を、今のお金に換算するとどの位になりますか？” 日本銀行. https://www.boj.or.jp/announcements/education/oshiete/history/j12.htm/

3 Ibid.

4 Newly available sources include 戦争犯罪裁判関係資料 (The Records of War Crimes Trials) transferred from the Ministry of Justice to National Archive of Japan in 1995. Notable Anglophone scholarship includes Barak Kushner, Men to Devils, Devils to Men: Japanese War Crimes and Chinese Justice. Harvard Univ. Press, 2015. John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. W.W. Norton & Co./New Press, 2000. Recent Japanese works include 林博史『BC級戦犯』岩波新書: 2005 [Hayashi Shirobumi. BC kyūsenpan. Iwanami Shinsho: 2005]. For a list of Japanese works, see footnote 1 to 7 of the article 大江洋代, 金田敏昌「国立公文書館所蔵「戦争犯罪裁判関係資料」の形成過程とBC級戦争裁判研究の可能性」Oe Hiroyo, Kaneda Toshimasa (The Records of War Crimes Trials in the National Archives of Japan : The Formation Process of the Depository and Its Potential as a Source on BC Class War Crimes Trials) 『歴史学研究』 = The journal of historical studies (930), 19-33,39, 2015-04.青木書店. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40020408702

5 For English-language literature dealing with this topic, see Franziska Seraphim, “A ‘Penologic Program’ for Japanese and German War Criminals after World War II” in Joanne Cho, Lee Roberts, and Christian Spang, eds. Transnational Encounters and Comparisons between Germany and Japan, 1860s-2000s. Palgrave, 2015, pp. 185-206. Sandra Wilson, R. Cribb, B. Trefalt., D. Aszkielowicz. Japanese War Criminals: The Politics of Justice after the Second World War. Columbia University Press, 2017. Sandra Wilson. “The Shifting Politics of Guilt. The Campaign for the Release of Japanese War Criminals” in Barak Kushner and Sherzod Muminov, editors. The Dismantling of Japan's Empire in East Asia: Deimperialization, Postwar Legitimation and Imperial Afterlife. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017. pp. 87-106.

Japanese literature on the topic includes 中立悠紀「戦犯釈放運動とメディア : メディアから読み取る戦犯に対する「世論」」Nakadate Yuki (Liberation Movement of the War Criminals and the Media)『日本史研究』 = Journal of Japanese history (686), 26-53, 2019-10. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40022037058 中立悠紀「旧帝国陸海軍軍人と靖国戦犯合祀の関係 : BC 級戦犯合祀の経緯」Nakadate Yuki (The role played by former Imperial Army and Navy officers in the collective enshrinement of war criminals at Yasukuni Shrine)『史学雑誌』 128(7), 1101-1126, 2019-07. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/40021976596

6 Here I use the concept liberally to denote a network that spans both the traditionally understood sphere of the “state” and the “society.” For the use of the concept, see Peter Holquist. Making War, Forging Revolution: Russia's Continuum of Crisis, 1914-1921. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 2002. p.4

7 豊田隈雄『戦争裁判余録』（泰生社、一九八六年）Toyoda, Kumao. Sensō Saiban Yoroku. Itō Takuji, 1986. Also see 中立Nakadate, 2019

8 豊田 Toyoda, 1986. pp.445-447

9 Sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai (kashō) junbi iinkai kaisoku'“sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai ni kansuru tsudzuri (hōmu chōsa-ka)” National Archive of Japan「戦争受刑者世話会（仮称）準備委員会会則」『戦争受刑者世話会に関する綴（法務調査課）』国立公文書館、平１１法務06298100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2005080509513804112

10 ‘(Sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai setsuritsu hokkinin e no shūnin yōsei bun’“jukei-sha sewa-kai sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai kankei tsudzuri” National Archive of Japan「(戦争受刑者世話会設立発起人への就任要請文」『受刑者世話会・戦争受刑者世話会関係綴』国立公文書、平１１法務07314100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716462713400 ‘Riji kōhoshamei-bo (an)’“jukei-sha sewa-kai sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai kankei tsudzuri” National Archive of Japan「理事候補者名簿(案)」『受刑者世話会・戦争受刑者世話会関係綴』国立公文書 館、平１１法務07314100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716460213328

11 ‘Hokkinin meibo (sho 27. 5. 21 Genzai)’“jukei-sha sewa-kai sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai kankei tsudzuri” National Archive of Japan「発起人名簿(昭27.5.21現在)」『受刑者世話会・戦争受刑者世話会関係綴』 国立公文書館、平１１法務07314100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716461913377; ‘Jōmu riji ninmu buntan (an)’“jukei-sha sewa-kai sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai kankei tsudzuri” National Archive of Japan「常務理事任務分担(案)」『受刑者世話会・戦争受刑者世話会関係綴』国立公文書館、平１１法務07314100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716461213357

12 秦郁彦『靖国神社の祭神たち』東京: 新潮社2010 Hata Ikuhiko, Yasukunijinja no saijin-tachi Tōkyō: Shinchōsha. 2010.

13 中立 Nakadate, 2019.

14 Nakadate also identifies Inoue as the key governmental employee who provided support for popular movements advocating the release of war criminals. See 中立 Nakadate, 2019.

15 中立 Nakadate, 2019 p.3

16 中立 Nakadate, 2019 p.8.

17 ‘Burēkunī fānesu ryōshi to no kondan shiryō‘“jukei-sha sewa-kai Shōwa 29-nen sensō jukeisha sho taisaku” National Archive of Japan「ブレークニー・ファーネス両氏との懇談資料」『受刑者世話会・昭和２９年・戦争受刑者諸対策』国立公文書館 平１１法務07280100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716430412822

18 ‘Daisankoku-jin senpan jyukeisha ni taisuru nariwai shikin no kashitsuke ni tsuite‘“jukei-sha sewa-kai senpan kankei (senpan kankei o izoku no tegami, kaikei hōkoku (29 - 5 - 26 Nihon kurabu no riji-kai) nado) (sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai) Shōwa 29-nen 3 gatsu ~ 33-nen 2 gatsu” National Archive of Japan「第三国人戦犯受刑者に対する生業資金の貸付について」『受刑者世話会・戦犯関係（戦犯関係御遺族の手紙、会計報告（２９－５－２６日本倶楽部の理事会）など）（戦争受刑者世話会）・昭和２９年３月～３３年２月』国立公文書館平１１法務07306100 https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716573314850

19 Ibid.

20 ‘Sensō kankei-sha no kyūjutsu engo ni kansuru sewa dantai no setsuritsu ni kansuru kōsō ni tsuite‘“jukei-sha sewa-kai sensō jukei-sha sewa-kai kankei tsudzuri” National Archive of Japan「戦争関係者の救恤援護に関する世話団体の設立に関する構想について」『受刑者世話会・戦争受刑者世話会関係綴』国立公文書館所蔵、[請求番号] 平１１法務07314100 http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716463213415

21 Other studies have amply demonstrated the Society's crucial roles in the 1950s movement advocating for the early release of war criminals, such as assisting the Ministry of Health and Welfare in enshrining the executed war criminals in the Yasukuni Shrine. See 中立 Nakadate, 2019.

22 内海愛子『朝鮮人BC級戦犯の記録』岩波現代文庫2015. Utsumi Aiko, Chōsen hito BC kyūsenpan no kiroku. Iwanami gendai bunko, 2015. pp.224-265; Also see Chapter 2 of Seraphim, Franziska. War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Asia Center, 2006.

23 For example, see Ri Yongmi, “Politics of Immigration Control and Detention in Post-war Japan: The Mobility Experiences of Koreans”. University of Santo Tomas, UNITAS, No89. vol.2 2017.12. pp.153-188.

24 Japanese scholars and activists have been using the term “戦後責任 sengo sekinin (postwar responsibility)” in order to surpass the term “戦争責任 sensō sekinin (war responsibility),” which collapses all the negative colonial and war legacies into the problem of war, and to emphasize the possibility of holding Japan responsible for such legacies in the postwar period. See 内海 愛子, 大沼 保昭, 田中 宏, 加藤 陽子『戦後責任 アジアのまなざしに応えて』岩波書店 2014. Utsumi Aiko, Onuma Yasuaki, Tanaka Hiroshi, Kato Yoko. Sengo sekinin Ajia no manazashi ni kotaete. Iwanami Shoten, 2014.

25 内海愛子『スガモプリズン : 戦犯たちの平和運動』東京 : 吉川弘文館 2004. Utsumi Aiko, Sugamopurizun: Senpan-tachi no heiwa undō Tōkyō: Yoshikawakōbunkan 2004. pp.130-131.

26 ‘Shadanhōjin zenkoku sensō gisei-sha engo-kai setsuritsu shui-sho’“jukei-sha sewa-kai Shōwa 29-nen sensō jukei-sha sho taisaku” National Archive of Japan「社団法人全国戦争犠牲者援護会設立趣意書」『受刑者世話会・昭和２９年・戦争受刑者諸対策』国立公文書館 本館-4B-024-00平１１法務07280100

https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716431812861 ‘Shiragiku izoku-kai kaihō dai 1-gō’“jukei-sha sewa-kai izoku kankei (Shōwa 28 ~ 30-nen)” National Archive of Japan「白菊遺族会会報第1号」『受刑者世話会・遺族関係（昭和２８～３０年）』国立公文書館本館-4B-024-00平１１法務07287100

https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/das/meta/M2008052716434312933