Compared to the scale of Japanese atrocities in China, the response by the Chinese government in 1945 was rather merciful. A few small scale war crimes tribunals were held (separate from the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal) but no high level leaders were executed. Notably, the two officers who became famous for their competition to kill 100 Chinese with swords were executed at the Chinese run Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal.
Alleged execution of a Japanese war criminal in 1947
As for the experiences of everyday Japanese, they pretty much got off without a problem. There were over a million Imperial Japanese Army personnel in China at the time of surrender and they expected cruel reprisals after what they did. But the Nationalists had more pressing concerns in in preparing for the impending civil war so quickly disarmed the Japanese for their valuable equipment and allowed them to return home as quickly as possible. A few tens of thousand were kept as technical experts, army doctors, and advisers by both the Nationalists and Communists whenever the opportunity arose but they were generally treated well. Some of this lenient treatment owed to Chiang Kai-Shek’s personal connection to Japan as he and many other Nationalist leaders had spent time studying in Japan years ago. As a result, men like Yasuji Okamura, who organized a scorched earth campaign that killed nearly 3 million civilians, were granted immunity or pardoned of any crimes. Okamura himself was retained as a personal adviser to Chiang until 1949 when he returned to Japan as Chiang fled to Taiwan.
An American marine supervises surrendered Japanese soldiers
Besides these soldiers, there were about 1.5 million Japanese colonists, merchants, and civilian officials in China, mostly the northeast. Those who were in territory held by the Nationalist government were treated similarly to troops and repatriated as soon as possible. Still, the quickly escalating Chinese Civil War often made it hard to carry this out, with thousands starving or freezing to death while waiting for American ships, but this wasn’t any worse a fate than that faced by most people in China, a country facing general devastation. Many of those who were captured by the Soviets were kidnapped as forced labor for years.
Japanese POW’s in Russian winter gear
A final note. Even if Chinese people took revenge, it wouldn’t be just for the Nanjing Massacre. Although it is the most famous event in the war, it was just one incident in an eight year long war where such mass killings and rapes were common. Nanjing wasn’t a special case that was burned into people’s memories, it was just the highlight of eight years of brutality.
*This picture is often thrown around as the execution of a Japanese war criminal in 1947. However, the executioner’s German helmet and pistol would have been exceedingly rare in China after 10 years of continual warfare. The Sino German cooperation ended a decade before when Germany chose Japan over China as an ally, stopping all shipments of weapons and equipment. Who knows what the picture is really of.
