Drawing on an essay by Sukehironari Hirakawa, this article examines a 2006 editorial in The Asahi Shimbun, the proposed broadcast of the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal that sought to judge Emperor Hirohito, and criticism of the emperor-war-responsibility argument in the British press.
It questions whether the Tokyo Trial view of history—which places responsibility solely upon Emperor Hirohito, Japan, and the so-called Class-A war criminals—can remain valid without also confronting the responsibility of those who ordered the atomic bombings.

June 20, 2020
Those who denounce Emperor Hirohito as the person responsible for starting the war would therefore consist of such British tabloids as The Sun, together with Japan’s Akahata, certain editorial writers at The Asahi Shimbun, and certain NHK employees.
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
The introductory passage has been omitted.
A 2006 Editorial in The Asahi Shimbun
The view presented by newspapers, television and radio reports, and textbooks—that responsibility for the past war rested entirely with Japan—is commonly referred to as the Tokyo Trial view of history.
Even today, there are people within major newspaper companies who advance the following kind of extreme argument regarding responsibility for “that war.”
Japan “internally absolved others by placing responsibility for the war upon the Class-A war criminals.
Emperor Showa was among those who were absolved.”
This is a passage from a 2006 editorial in The Asahi Shimbun.
However, if the newspaper believed that publishing such an editorial would increase its sales, that would be a serious problem.
Both the newspaper’s circulation and its authority steadily declined throughout the Heisei era.
In 1989, the President of the United States and other dignitaries attended the funeral ceremonies for Emperor Showa.
In light of that fact, should we not conclude that history’s judgment had already been internationally delivered?
Those who denounce Emperor Hirohito as the person responsible for starting the war would therefore consist of such British tabloids as The Sun, together with Japan’s Akahata, certain editorial writers at The Asahi Shimbun, and certain NHK employees.
They planned the broadcast of the “Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal,” which purported to put Emperor Showa on trial.
This view, which portrays Emperor Showa as a villain, is held by only a minority.
The British quality newspaper The Independent published an article stating, “Attempts are being made to link the atrocities committed by the Japanese military with Emperor Hirohito, but this would be like claiming that George VI directed the inhumane bombing of Germany during the Second World War” (November 1, 1988).
Despite being admonished in this way, the argument that Emperor Showa bore responsibility has continued to be persistently reproduced both inside and outside Japan.
In recent years, various interpretations of history have emerged, but will the so-called Tokyo Trial view of history continue to remain valid in its present form?
Even if Emperor Showa was not a villain, was Japan itself a villain?
Were all of Japan’s Class-A war criminals truly villains in the first place?
Even assuming that they were, could they be described as still more evil than those who ordered the atomic bombings?