The complete Chinese translation of the Trial Records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East is launched on April 30, 2026, at Zhejiang Yuexiu University in Shaoxing, East China’s Zhejiang Province, filling a domestic archival gap. Photo: Screenshot from the CCTV News

The release of a complete Chinese translation of the Trial Records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East delivers a powerful rebuttal to the denial of the Tokyo Trials by Japan's right-wing forces amid the latter's recent dangerous moves, experts told the Global Times Friday. 

An event to launch the complete Chinese translation of the Trial Records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was held on Thursday at Zhejiang Yuexiu University in Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang Province, the Xinhua News Agency reported.  

The translation spans 40 volumes, totaling more than 20,000 pages and over 22 million Chinese characters, and is published by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press. A translation and review team formed by the Research Institute of War Crimes Trial and World Peace at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang Yuexiu University, and the press spent more than a decade completing the work and translating the tribunal records into Chinese, according to Xinhua. 

Its release comes as the 80th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Trials, which falls on May 3, approaches, Xinhua said.  

As the country that launched the earliest resistance against fascism in World War II, suffered the longest duration of warfare and the heaviest losses, and made the greatest contributions, China also played an indispensable role in the Tokyo Trials and China deserves to have its own complete set of the trial records, Xiang Longwan, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and son of Xiang Zhejun, a Chinese prosecutor at the Tokyo Trials, told the Global Times on Friday. Xiang Longwan also attended the launch event on Thursday. 

The launch of the Chinese translation will enhance China's domestic research on the Tokyo Trials, boost international academic exchanges and help raise public attention to the history. Moreover, it serves as a stern warning to recent militarist tendencies in Japan, and demonstrates China's firm resolve to uphold historical truth, according to experts reached by the Global Times. 

Significance 

Far from being a literal translation alone, this complete Chinese translation cross-references the original English and Japanese editions to verify and rectify textual errors and contradictions. It standardizes proper names of people and places, and is supplemented with annotations, a preface and an index. Its academic rigor even surpasses that of the original English version, Xiang said.

He noted that the previously published English edition features detailed indexes and appendices. This Chinese version follows the same rigorous editorial standards, greatly facilitating retrieval and research for scholars at home and abroad, and has won high recognition from international experts, he said.

First and foremost, it is essential to clarify the exact nature of Trial Records of the International Military Tribunal as historical literature. It constitutes the most fundamental, original, and core historical document for research on the Tokyo Trials, documenting in exhaustive detail the entire judicial proceedings of the tribunal spanning over two years, Zhao Yuhui, an expert in war crime trials from the School of Humanities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told the Global Times on Friday.

In terms of historical source attributes, the trial records of the Tokyo Trials are equivalent to the official historical records in ancient Chinese historiography, representing primary source materials at the most original and authentic level. All subsequent textual research, interpretation, and academic studies on the subject must take these records as their core reference. As such, they rank among the indispensable and most vital core primary sources in the field of Tokyo Trials research, Zhao said. 

However, Zhao pointed out that, for a long time, since the working languages of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East were English and Japanese, only English and Japanese versions of the trial records have been available, with no complete Chinese translation ever published. Precisely due to the lack of authoritative Chinese historical materials, relevant research on the Tokyo Trials in China has long lagged behind academic circles in the West and Japan, she said.

"The publication of this Chinese translated edition of the trial records is of great significance. On the one hand, given China's important participatory role in the Tokyo Trials, this key historical resource now has its first official Chinese edition. On the other hand, public attention across all sectors of society continues to grow regarding the historical value of China's participation in the Tokyo Trials as well as research into the trials themselves," Zhao said.

The complete Chinese translation offers tremendous support both for professional academic research and for the general public to understand and popularize the history of the Tokyo Trials. It also fills the gap in China's historical resources and reverses the long-standing lag in domestic research. With the consolidation of foundational historical materials, the overall standard of Tokyo Trials research in China will be elevated, granting Chinese academia the confidence to engage in high-level scholarly dialogue with the international academic community. These constitute the core significance of the publication of the Chinese translated edition of this set of trial records, according to Zhao.

A stern warning

The launch of the complete Chinese translation promotes the popularization of historical knowledge, and raises public attention to this period of history across society. It also demonstrates China's profound emphasis on the history of the Tokyo Trials. By restoring historical truth through complete and authoritative historical materials, it helps the public keep historical lessons firmly in mind, Xiang said. 

Eighty years ago, on May 3, 1946, the Tokyo Trials convened. Based on substantial historical documents and testimonies, the trials held over 800 court sessions, prosecuting 28 Class-A war criminals. Nevertheless, voices in Japan denying and distorting the Tokyo Trials have never faded away over the past eight decades. 

These voices roared in particular recently due to a series of dangerous moves by the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. In just under a week recently, Japan lifted the ban on lethal arms exports, moved closer to establishing a new intelligence apparatus, and more than 100 politicians sent ritual offerings or visited the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Chinese Foreign Ministry has slammed the Takaichi administration's recent shifting security posture as dangerous, adventurist and provocative.

The newly-released complete Chinese translation delivers a powerful rebuttal to the denial of the Tokyo Trials by Japan's right-wing forces, serves as a stern warning to militarist tendencies, and demonstrates China's firm resolve to uphold historical truth, Xiang said. 

It also encourages the Japanese public and the international community to re-examine the landmark trial held 80 years ago. Drawing lessons from history, it helps prevent the repetition of historical tragedies, he told the Global Times.