Repatriation and the limits of resolve: Japanese war criminals in Australian custody

Aszkielowicz, D. (2011) Repatriation and the limits of resolve: Japanese war criminals in Australian custody. Japanese Studies, 31 (2). pp. 211-228.

Abstract

In 1953, the Australian government repatriated convicted Japanese war criminals. These were the last war criminals held by the wartime allies to be returned to Japan. The Australian government's decision to repatriate war criminals was made after a complex series of negotiations with other wartime allies and within the government itself. At play was the need to balance domestic opinion and the interests of the Australian government with a desire to have similar policies on war criminals to those of key allies such as the United States. Moreover, after 1952, Japan and Australia entered a new era of diplomatic and economic relations, far removed from the immediate postwar years. Official sources reveal that the Australian government aimed to strike a balance between maintaining a tough stance on Japanese war criminals and not hampering the emerging new era of foreign relations with Japan.