'Away From Tokyo': The Pacific Islands war crimes trials, 1945-1949

Over the years, a certain mantra has arisen in academic circles involving the post-World War II war crimes trials. Nuremberg, it is said, was a needed display of 'allied justice' and 'democratic fair play'. The Tokyo and Pacific region trials were exercises in 'victor's justice' and 'racism'. Accenting the determined, precedent-setting work of the Pacific Islands war crimes trials on Guam, 'Away from Tokyo' argues that justice was served well there. Evil should never go unpunished. Based on archival research at the Micronesian Area Research Center the US Territory of Guam, Stanford University and the Douglas MacArthur Memorial Archives, this paper examines the good work of both the prosecution and defence teams on Guam. Few trial participants viewed their efforts as part of a larger conspiracy of revenge and racism. In fact, that conspiracy never existed. 'Away from Tokyo' attempts to set the record straight, and re-examines some dramatic cases at the same time.