Tokyo Trial

This miniseries starts off a little clunky, but any faults of the first episode, are forgotten by the end of the second episode. If it wasn't for one of the other reviewers who abandoned the series after watching just one episode, I would not have made this remark.

The series attempts to present the personalities and professional conduct of each Justice appointed to conduct the trails. It is not revisionist as some of the other reviewers have stated. We have had decades of documentaries about Japan's involvement in WW2, but none have attempted to cover the due judicial process to the extent of Tokyo Trial. And I think I would not have enjoyed the series if it was not dramatised, as I would have turned off to another narrated documentary.

For performances of the actors, the editing, and production are all good, especially from the end of the second episode. There is a lot to take in, I found myself enthralled by the story, and unexpectedly quite emotional at the end. I have worked on translation projects for academic material, related to this subject, but Tokyo Trial has a richer more human story to tell.

A great series , a must for historians and legal professionals and of course students and general public. Discussion of judges in their chamber, over different legal principles and appreciation and marshalling of evidence. As a judge I found this series excellent. Irfan Khan as Justice Radhabinod Pal incomparable. He adhered to the principles of criminal law and we saw the way of tribunal as they delivered judgement in th majority of 14 to one ,The line dissenter is yes Justice Radhabinod Pal.

Good history, fine acting. The moral nuances become very real as the Justices deliberate. I expect my attorney friends will really like this. For the most part the film succeeds in avoiding black and white characters and draws out the complexities of personalities and values. This is not a thriller, more of a morality play based on real high-stakes deliberations. The casting for General MacArthur was a minus, not because of the acting, there was little meat in the role, but there must be thousands of actors who would look like MacArthur and could handle this role. No one else's likeness was relevant, who knew the judges? But...

Not for the impatient, this 4 part series is designed for viewers who are willing to listen to everything that is said.

Ideas about atrocities, crimes against humanity, and what is acceptable in war-making are presented throughout. Always in the background: the Nuremberg Trials and how posterity will view the trial and the judges.

Production values are top-notch but never over the top. There's a very clever interpolation of actual courtroom newsreel footage with scenes from this show -- very good set and color matching.

This is a show about ideas and about how the winners view morality and their roles in defining what is and is not acceptable in warfare.

Recommended.

I was in the United States Army, 1st Cav Division 8th Cav Regt. stationed in Tokyo when this trial was going on. I spent a lot of time with one of the defense attorneys. I attended the trial when I could. One of my interests while I was in Japan (for one and a half years) was to learn as much as i could about the war and the Japanese people. This series was very interesting to me, as it was seen through others eves, not just mine. The scenes of the city were not what I saw, and the General Mac Arthur character did not match up with the real General, who i saw many times. The Imperial Hotel sets brought me back to my first week in Tokyo, as one of my first stops in Tokyo was to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece, The Imperial Hotel. To tell a story as complex as this one was, would take as many years as the trial took and in the end, I am sure we would not know or understand what actually happened and who was at fault. We do know that the Japanese lost the war but in the long run Japan was given a new start and the people of Japan were smart enough to make the most of it.