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Japanese Military and International Treaties
Treaties signed by the Japanese
• 1899 and 1907―Hague Convention: the fi rst formal statements of the laws of war and
war crimes. Concerned the treatment of POWs and civilians; forbade looting, destruction
of undefended property, and poison gas. Banned the use of certain types of
modern technology in war
• 1919―League of Nations: Japan a charter member
• 1921-1922―Washington Conference Treaties: Concerning stability in Asia and helping
China evolve into a modern state
• 1922―Five Power Naval Disarmament: Pledged adherence to limitations on the tonnage
of capital ships and accepted a moratorium on new naval construction.
• 1925―Geneva Protocol: Banned the use of all forms of chemical and biological warfare.
Japan ratifi ed but did not sign until 21 May 1970.
• 1928―Kellogg-Briand Pact (Pact of Paris): renounced war; embraced diplomacy. The
pact served as the legal basis for the creation of the notion of crime against peace.
• 1929―Third Geneva Convention: defi nes humanitarian protections for prisoners of war.
Updated in 1949.
Unlike the other major powers, Japan did not ratify the Geneva Convention—which stipulates the
humane treatment of civilians and POWs—until after World War II. Nevertheless, an Imperial Proclamation
(1894) stated that Japanese soldiers should make every effort to win the war without violating international
law. According to historian Yuki Tanaka, Japanese forces during the First Sino-Japanese War, released 1,790
Chinese prisoners without harm, once they signed an agreement not to take up arms against Japan again. After
the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), over 75,000 Russian Empire prisoners were released, and were paid for
labor performed, in accordance with the Hague Convention. Similarly the behavior of the Japanese military
in World War I (1914-18) was at least as humane as that of other militaries, with some German POWs of the
Japanese fi nding life in Japan so agreeable that they stayed and settled in Japan after the war.
During the Edo era, the samurai of Japan had been taught unquestioning obedience to the shoguns,
as well as to be recklessly brave in battle. After the Meiji Restoration and the collapse of the Tokugawa
Shogunate, the emperor became the focus of military loyalty.
As with other imperial powers, the Japanese became increasingly jingoistic (extreme nationalism
characterized especially by a belligerent foreign policy) through the end of the 19th century and into the 20th
century. The rise of Japanese nationalism was seen partly in the adoption of Shinto as a state religion from
1890. Shinto believed the emperor, as a descendant of the sun goddess, to be divine. Thus the emperor and
his representatives must be obeyed without question. The Army emphasized its special relationship with the
Emperor by dropping the term kokugun (“national army”) in favor of kōgun (“imperial army”) in the early
1920s.
In the Japanese military of the 1930s and 1940s, perceived failure or a lack of devotion to the emperor
would attract physical punishment. Offi cers would assault and beat men under their command, who would
pass the beating on to lower ranks.
Japanese author Tasaki Hanama described training of new recruits in the Japanese Army:
Five offi cers went down the line and without warning, slapped each soldier soundly on his cheek. Those
that could not keep their posture of attention were slapped more than the others. The sergeant then demanded
of each recruit why he thought he had been slapped. As each gave what he thought might be the answer,
he was soundly slapped again. Finally, one recruit, when his turn came said that he didn’t know. “That is
right!” The squad leader said. “When you are slapped don’t give excuses. As His Majesty has been pleased to
admonish in his Imperial Rescript, ‘Uninfl uenced by worldly thoughts and unhampered by politics, guard well
your single destiny of patriotism.’ Our sole duty is to be patriotic to the Emperor. You need only obey what
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