Editing Occupation of Japan (section)

=== Punishing war criminals ===
{{Main|Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal}}

[[File:Japanese War Crimes Trials. Manila - NARA - 292612.jpg|thumb|[[Hideki Tōjō]] (Prime Minister of Japan, took office from 1941 to 1944) takes the stand at the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East|Tokyo war crimes tribunal]].]]

While these other reforms were taking place, various military tribunals, most notably the [[International Military Tribunal for the Far East]] in [[Ichigaya]], were trying Japan's [[Japanese war crimes|war criminals]] and sentencing many to death and imprisonment. However, many suspects such as [[Masanobu Tsuji]], [[Nobusuke Kishi]], [[Yoshio Kodama]] and [[Ryōichi Sasakawa]] were never judged, while the Emperor [[Hirohito]], all members of the [[Imperial House of Japan|imperial family]] implicated in the war such as [[Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu]] (younger brother of Hirohito), [[Prince Yasuhiko Asaka]], [[Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu]], former prime minister [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]] (father-in-law of [[Shigeko Higashikuni|Princess Shigeko]], Hirohito's eldest daughter) and [[Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda]], and all members of [[Unit 731]]—including its director Dr. [[Shirō Ishii]]—were granted immunity from criminal prosecution by General MacArthur.

Before the war crimes trials actually convened, the SCAP, its International Prosecution Section (IPS) and [[Shōwa era|Shōwa]] officials worked behind the scenes not only to prevent the imperial family from being indicted, but also to slant the testimony of the defendants to ensure that no one implicated the Emperor. High officials in court circles and the Shōwa government collaborated with Allied GHQ in compiling lists of prospective war criminals, while the individuals arrested as ''Class A'' suspects and incarcerated in [[Sugamo]] prison solemnly vowed to protect their sovereign against any possible taint of war responsibility.{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=325}} Thus, months before the [[Tokyo tribunal]] commenced, MacArthur's highest subordinates were working to attribute ultimate responsibility for [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] to former prime minister [[Hideki Tojo]]<ref>{{harvnb|Bix|2001|p=585}}</ref> by allowing "the major criminal suspects to coordinate their stories so that the Emperor would be spared from indictment."<ref>{{harvnb|Bix|2001|p=583}}</ref> According to historian [[John W. Dower]], "With the full support of MacArthur's headquarters, the prosecution functioned, in effect, as a defense team for the emperor."{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=326}}

In Dower's view, {{blockquote|Even Japanese peace activists who endorse the ideals of the Nuremberg and Tokyo charters, and who have labored to document and publicize Japanese atrocities, cannot defend the American decision to exonerate the emperor of war responsibility and then, in the chill of [[Cold War]], release and soon afterwards openly embrace accused right-wing war criminals like the later prime minister [[Kishi Nobusuke]].{{sfn|Dower|1999|p=562}}}}