The Japanese delegates board the USS Missouri during the surrender ceremony, 2 September 1945. Shigemitsu and Umezu are at the front, on the left and right respectively. (U.S. National Archives USA-C-2719)

Suzuki Kantarō, Prime Minister of Japan 1944–45.

H.V. Evatt, Australian Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs, 1941–49. (Max Dupain, National Library of Australia PIC P2241/3 LOC Q33)

The infamous photo of Douglas MacArthur with Hirohito, 27 September 1945. Never before had the people of Japan seen the Emperor in such an unflattering light. (Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. Accession no. 98-2431)

Prince Konoe Fumimaro, Prime Minister of Japan 1937–39 and 1940–41. Despite his promise as a statesman, he was unable to prevent a militarist takeover of the Japanese government.

US Army doctors treat Tōjō after his attempted suicide. The sergeant who provided him with a life-saving blood transfusion was a veteran of the New Guinea campaign, and wanted to ensure his former adversary lived to face justice. (Harry S. Truman Library & Museum. Accession no. 98-2453)

The judges of the IMTFE. Top row, L to R: Radhabinod Pal (India), B.V.A. Röling (Netherlands), Edward Stuart McDougall (Canada), Henri Bernard (France), Harvey Northcroft (New Zealand), Delfín Jaranilla (Philippines). Bottom row, L to R: Lord Patrick (UK), Myron G. Cramer (US), Sir William Webb (Australia), Mei Ju-ao (China), I.M. Zaryanov (USSR). (U.S. National Archives 111-SC-251115)

Chief Prosecutor at Tokyo, Joseph B. Keenan, whose erratic handling of the prosecution’s case damaged the reptuation of the IMTFE.

The IMTFE Courtroom in session, 3 May 1946. The judges are on the left and the defendants on the right.

Kido Kōichi, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, in the witness box at the IMTFE.

A defiant Tōjō in the witness box at the IMTFE. (U.S. National Archives 238-FEC-48-138)

The bodies of Chinese civilians killed in the Nanking Massacre lie beside the Qinhuai River outside the city’s West Gate. (Photograph by Moriyasu Murase)

Private Leo Ayers on Ambon at the time of his liberation, August/September 1945. His condition shows the effects of two and a half years of Japanese captivity after being captured in the Fall of Singapore in February 1942. Many prisoners of war were in a similar state. (AWM 116271)

Japanese prisoners guarded by Australian military police outside the courtroom at Labuan, December 1945. The four prisoners – Lieutenant Ojima, Lieutenant Yamamoto, Captain Nakata and Captain Takino – were sentenced to death and shot. (AWM 123170)

Captain Hoshijima Susumu (centre) confers with his defence counsel at Labuan. Journalists consistently described him as ‘tall’ and ‘arrogant’. (AWM 133913)

Three Australian escapees from Ranau. From L to R, Private Nelson Short, 2/18th Battalion; Warrant Officer Hector ‘Bill’ Sticpewich, Australian Army Service Corps; Private Keith Botterill, 2/19th Battalion. Sticpewich’s testimony was critical to the prosecution at Labuan. (AWM OG3553)

The gallows at Rabaul, with a viewing platform for witnesses.

General Imamura Hitoshi, commander of the Eighth Area Army and defendant at Rabaul. A quiet man with a fondness for gardening, he didn’t match the profile of the ruthless and fanatical Japanese commander.

Chint Singh identifying alleged war criminals at Mission Point, New Guinea, November 1945. Singh’s evidence was critical in the trial of General Imamura Hitoshi. (AWM 098708)

Japanese defendants bow to the court at Darwin. This extremely deep bow is called saikeirei, and is used to show respect, humility or apology in Japanese culture. (AWM NWA1064)

The court at Darwin attracted the most media attention, as journalists were able to cover the trials without travelling to remote locations overseas. (AWM NWA1067)

Four Japanese prisoners on Morotai awaiting the outcome of their appeal. They had been sentenced to death for the execution of a downed Australian airman. (AWM OG3692)

Captain Iwasa Tokio listens as the court on Morotai finds him guilty of murdering an Australian POW. On the night before his execution, Iwasa played a lively tune on his shakuhachi, to which several women from the Australian Women’s Army Service danced the jitterbug. (AWM OG3667)

Japanese soldiers face their accusers at Darwin, 1 March 1946, while an AIF soldier stands guard. (AWM NWA1040)

Prime Minister Robert Menzies’ visit to Japan in 1957 marked a significant thawing in Australia–Japan relations, and shortly before it the remaining Japanese war criminals in Australian custody were quietly released. From L to R, Crown Prince Akihito, Pattie Menzies, Empress Kōjun, Emperor Hirohito, Robert Menzies. (Special Collections, Baillieu Library, The University of Melbourne, MENZ00196_0001)

Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi (standing, at right) signs the Australia–Japan Commerce Agreement in 1957. A member of the Tōjō cabinet originally detained as a suspected class-A war criminal, Nobusuke was rehabilitated quickly and became a successful postwar politician. Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Country Party leader John McEwen (standing, at left) looks understandably enthusiastic at the prospect of Japanese markets being opened to Australian farmers. (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade)

This monument to IMTFE judge Radhabinod Pal was added to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine in 2005.