After a long war that saw the death of several million Japanese servicemen and civilians, the fate of these few thousand accused war criminals in faraway places did not initially attract great attention within Japan. Although the revelation of widespread Japanese atrocities did make an impression on the general populace, many appear to have regarded these distant exercises in Allied justice as little more than another example of how, in war and in peace, individuals lower in the hierarchy of authority had to pay for the misdeeds of men with real power. When all was said and done, it was
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