Finishing the Job

Abstract

After the war came to an end, British linguists in Burma and Malay were busy screening Japanese surrendered personnel in order to identify war crimes suspects. Also, they interviewed Japanese commanders to gain a historical understanding of the war in South-East Asia, for the Japanese forces had destroyed all their records. The British Commonwealth Occupation Force reached Japan in 1946 and was given responsibility for policing the Occupation of Japan in the south-western part of the country. Few of those who participated felt that the Occupation was worthwhile. For the Tokyo Trials, Allied interpreters were not used: instead, members of the Japanese Foreign Ministry acted as interpreters, though their work was supervised by American linguists.