2007 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Research on the Japanese Red Cross Society documents concerning the treatment of western prisoners of war in Japanese hands during the World War II
| Project/Area Number |
18530015
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Fundamental law
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| Research Institution | Aichi University |
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Principal Investigator |
OKAWA Shiro Aichi University, Faculty of Law, Associate Professor (70185205)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
KATO Junichi Shobi Gakuen Univ., Faculty of Policy Studies, Professor (90259359)
HARA Yoshitsugu Yamanashi Gakuin Univ., Faculty of Law, Associate Professor (80257493)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2006 – 2007
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| Keywords | History of law / History of international humanitarian law / International law / Japanese history / Political science |
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| Research Abstract |
Firstly, we have examined the view of Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) Authorities toward the Prisoners of War (POW), through the “Activity Records" which the former Army Surgeon Director Setsuzo Kinbara kept writing during the war. At the beginning of the war, the Director of the POW Information Bureau, insisted on the observance of the Geneva Convention of the 27^<th> July, 1929 relative to the treatment of Prisoners of War, which the Japanese Government did not ratify. But the Minister of Army at that time rejected this proposal. The view of Army Minister toward POW as such, through the military hierarchy, was canalized to Japanese officers and men at battlefields or POW-camps. This might have resulted in many POW-maltreatment cases. Secondly, we examined former Japanese Red Cross Society (JRCS) Records during the World War II, but, most of which were lost after the war. To make up this lack, we consulted corresponding former Records kept at the Archives of the International Committee o
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f the Red Cross (ICRC) at Geneva. But, the former ICRC Records were so immense that we could consult those from1942until the first half of 1944. So, we considered the reality of (1) POW-camp-visits, (2) Relief-Distribution, (3) Red Cross Messages, consulting the former Records of JRCS and of ICRC from 1942 until the first half of 1944. As a result, we found following three points:a) owing to the prohibition to talk freely with POWs without witness, the POW-camp-visits by the ICRC delegates were of little effect, except for the Hakodate main camp visit of 1944, b) the JRCS Relief Committee for War Prisoners, in cooperation with the ICRC Delegation at Japan, distributed Relief goods to each POW-camp, but being unable to verify whether those goods really arrived at the right destination, c) the system of the Red Cross Messages was established with the mutual cooperation of the POW Information Bureau, the JRCS Relief Committee for War Prisoners and the ICRC Delegation at Japan. On the whole, in spite of the negative attitude from the IJA, the JRCS Relief Committee for War Prisoners, together with the ICRC Delegation at Japan, continued their relief activities for the POWs. Less
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Research Products
(2 results)
