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Story: International law

Shigenori Tōgō on trial, 1947

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Shigenori Tōgō on trial, 1947

Shigenori Tōgō, former Japanese foreign minister, is shown here on trial at the War Crimes International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Tokyo, in December 1947. At the end of the Second World War the victorious allies set up international military tribunals in Nuremberg, to try Nazi German war crimes, and in Tokyo, to try Japanese war crimes. Erima Harvey Northcroft was appointed as one of the judges on the Tokyo tribunal, the only New Zealander to hold such a position. Tōgō was found guilty of war crimes and died in prison in 1950, while serving a 20-year sentence.

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Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury

Reference: MB1549/25959

by United States Army Signal Corps

Permission of the Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

K. J. Keith, International law – Who is subject to international law?, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/38141/shigenori-togo-on-trial-1947 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by K. J. Keith, published 5 June 2012.