Editing Nanjing Massacre (section)

=== Sentences ===
On November 12, 1948, Matsui and Hirota, along with five other convicted Class-A war criminals, were sentenced to death by hanging. Eighteen others received lesser sentences. The death sentence imposed on Hirota, a six-to-five decision by the eleven judges, shocked the general public and prompted a petition on his behalf, which soon gathered over 300,000 signatures but did not succeed in commuting the Minister's sentence. All of them were hanged on December 23, 1948.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dower |first=John |author-link=John W. Dower |title=Embracing defeat: Japan in the wake of World War II |year=2000 |publisher=Norton |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-32027-5 |page=459 |edition=Paperback}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Brackman |first=Arnold C. |title=The other Nuremberg: the untold story of the Tokyo war trials |year=1988 |publisher=Quill |location=New York |isbn=0-688-07957-1 |page=395}}</ref>