Robert F. Hardin World War II Japanese War Trials Photograph Collection

The Robert F. Hardin World War II Japanese War Trials Photograph Collection is a small collection consisting of 158 black-and-white photographs providing detailed visual documentation of the proceedings of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 1946-1948.

The bulk of the photographs depict the proceedings in the courtroom. There are approximately 55 wide-angle views of the courtroom during the trials; 51 close-up candid shots of people over the course of the proceedings, including images in the courtroom, in offices, and in other locations; 51 informal portraits of people involved, including a set of 25 2x3" pictures of defendants with their sentences hand-written along the bottom edge of the images; and one 8x10" print of an exterior view of the Japanese Imperial Army headquarters.

Among the people pictured are those central to the trials, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, justices, witnesses, and the accused. Many photos also depict those on the periphery of the event, such as the Language Arbitration Board, military police, secretaries and assistants, journalists and correspondents, and visitors, including a class of students from the Tokyo Dependent School. Representatives from all the countries involved in the trials, including Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, are among those pictured.

The bulk of the images are about 4x5", though some are slightly smaller and there is one larger print of the building, as noted above. Many photographs have stamped information on the backs providing descriptions of the scene pictured, identifications, dates, and photographer information, including credit to the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The bulk of the images date from August 1946 to March 1947; however, as there are some undated images, it is possible some of those date from either earlier in 1946 or later in the trials in late 1947 or early 1948.

Digitized Materials: This collection has been digitized in its entirety.

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