

International scholars are gathered in Shanghai to discuss the Tokyo Trials, 70 years after Western powers took Japan's leaders to court for war crimes during World War Two.





The two-day forum, which began Saturday, brings together 20 international law and history scholars from China, Japan, the US, UK and New Zealand to examine the impact the international trial has had on the world since then.





Gao Wenbing, 95, was the Chinese delegation's secretary at the Trials, which began on April 29, 1946 and concluded on November 12, 1948. And he said the sentences that followed were a shock to the Japanese people, who did not know what their troops had done during the war.





"After the Tokyo Trials, many Japanese, especially women, all lowered their heads and felt ashamed when we walked out, because their soldiers had committed many inhumane crimes, including raping Chinese women," Gao told journalists at the conference.







Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichii Murayama delivered a speech by video, in which he said Japan should face the history of China-Japan relations, and reflect on it. He also quoted renowned Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, who said "every man has his responsibility to inherit historical memories, and history is something that cannot be easily erased."





In all, 28 civilian and military leaders of the Empire of Japan were put on trial in 1946-48, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Seven were eventually sentenced to death and 16 to life in prison.







Fujita Takakage, director of the Murayama Statement Association, a Japanese non-governmental organization, said it was important to remember the values taught by the verdicts.





"The Japanese government has promised to accept the verdict of the Tokyo Trials in the past. However the current government wants to abandon this promise, which damages the international reputation of Japan," Takakage told journalists.







"It is very necessary and meaningful to look back at the Tokyo Trials nowadays from this perspective," he said.





Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that the 28 military and political leaders charged of so-called "Class-A" crimes in Tokyo were "not war criminals under the laws of Japan."





The International Academic Forum on Tokyo Trial and World Peace is set to last two days, and six sub-forums will be held on key issues of this historical event.







