Japanese class B and C war criminals in the Pacific War were executed by Japanese generals after a military trial at a military court in Shanghai, China. At an open-air execution site in Shanghai, the condemned were strapped to their backs with a stupa, a grave marker for the dead with the war criminal's crimes written on it. The Chinese public clamored around the kneeling Japanese general. The executioner aimed a pistol at the back of the Japanese general head.
During World War II, the Allies established the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo to try Class A Japanese war criminals. Other trials for Class B and C war criminals were held in Shanghai, Jinan, Wuhan, Taiyuan, Taiwan, Manila, Singapore, Yangon, Saigon, and Khabarovsk. The total number of various Japanese war criminals indicted by the Allies was about 5,423, and those sentenced were about 4,226, of which about 941 were executed. By February 1949, about 145 Japanese war criminals had been sentenced to death. Military tribunals were also established in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, and about six people were executed in the U.S., 21 in the U.K., and five in Australia.
While the Tokyo Trials tried Class A war criminals after the Pacific War, the Yokohama, Manila, Rabaul, Singapore, Shanghai, Guangdong, and other war zones tried Class B and C war criminals, military tribunals for those who committed atrocities against non-combatants (including POWs), a common war crime. Many of the Class B and C war criminals, including Generals Yamashita Bokufumi and Honma Masaharu, who were held responsible for their management as commanders, and others who were accused of committing atrocities, were harshly treated without satisfactory protection and procedures under the law, and those sentenced to death were executed in the penitentiary. Japanese generals sentenced to death were executed in the penitentiary.
Although there were unavoidable aspects to the atrocities committed by the Japanese military, such as the testimonies of victims and eyewitnesses, were used as evidence without examination. It is undeniable that some of those executed or imprisoned were innocent, partly due to misunderstandings caused by mistaken identity and customs, and partly due to accusations of personal grudges.
Class BC war criminals are war criminals who are categorized as "common war crimes" or "crimes against humanity" under the ordinances of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Ordinances of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which were promulgated by the Allied Powers. Those who were considered war criminals and charged with crimes were referred to as "Class A war criminals" under Paragraph A. Those charged with crimes against peace were referred to as "Class A war criminals" under Paragraph B. Japanese Class BC war criminals were tried by GHQ in 49 military courts around the world, including Yokohama and Manila. It was estimated that there were about 5,700 defendants and about 1,000 were sentenced to death.
At the execution site in Shanghai, the executioner fired a bullet into the back of the head with his pistol, and then fired all the bullets he could muster at the Japanese general condemned prisoner. The executed prisoner became a corpse lying on the execution site.