Tokyo Trial

With so much mindless fluff on television, how great it is to see a serious and superbly done docudrama. Tokyo Trial covers the legal and political battles that were bitterly fought behind closed doors for two years after the Japanese surrender. The tribunal wrestled with the issue of whether Japanese leaders could be punished for aggression when there really was no law against aggression and whether the Japanese incursion into China was really any different from the British in India or the Americans' genocide of their native population. We are privy to some superb behind the scenes legal discussions. The series exudes honesty and accuracy. It uses one very effective technique. The scenes in the courtroom are shown in newsreel style black and white while the dialogue is heard in the tinny, halting voice of the translator. Most effective! The various judges are brilliantly drawn. Each is a unique personality. The clothing, the accents, even the body language, are all carefully presented and give the series a genuine " slice of the past" quality that few films achieve. I sometimes despair that we use our amazing video technology for trivialities and trash. This series shows what television can accomplish but so seldom does.

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.

This is one of the finest courtroom dramas after 12 Angry Men. There is never over the top sentimental (or) emotional narrative despite the subject taken is highly sensitive. This is exactly how judges go about and come to their conclusion inspite of political interference. Fanstically made series based on true history!! Must watch for every Management aspirants!

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.

Far less remembered than the Nuremberg trials, the Tokyo Trials were nonetheless a turning point in Asian history. This series brilliantly brings out the factors at play during the trial, not least the Colonial history of the Allies.

All characters are thoughtfully portrayed and excellently played, but it's Irrfan Khan as justice Pal who provides the philosophical backbone to the story. He's a last minute addition from India because the Allies wanted some (token) Asians, but ironically India was then still a British colony. The proud Philippine judge, the questioning Dutchman, the British judge who still has a case of colonial hangover: these traits are portrayed through nuance rather than caricature.

Asia still lives in the aftermath of the wounds that the war opened. While the trials drew a line under one traumatic incident, what has followed in the 80 years since almost directly follows those events.

I'm thankful for the show being made and for exploring dissenting opinions. In a time where infantile soaps like Stranger Things are the norm on Netflix, this series was a delight, and it should be to anyone interested in history in general, and Asian history in particular.