Episode 483 – Passion and Prejudice, Part 1

May 12, 2023 1 Comment

This week, we’re starting a look into how an Indian lawyer and judge from a relatively obscure background became a focal point of right-wing Japanese nationalism. Who was Radhabinod Pal, how did he end up a judge in the Tokyo Trials, and what led him to claim that there were no grounds to convict Japan’s leaders of any crime after World War II?

Note: this episode does contain indirect discussion of war crimes. Listener discretion is advised.

Sources

Nakazato, Nariaki. Neonationalist Mythology in Postwar Japan: Pal’s Dissenting Judgment at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. 

Nandy, Ashis. “The Other Within: The Strange Case of Radhabinod Pal’s Judgment on Culpability.” New Literary History 23, No 1 (Winter, 1992).

Ushimura, Kei. “Pal’s ‘Dissenting Judgment’ Reconsidered: Some notes on Postwar Japan’s Responses to the Opinion.” Japan Review 19 (2007).

Images

The IMTFE building in Ichigaya, Tokyo.
Radhabinod Pal in 1947, during his time as a judge at Tokyo.
A bust of Pal in Calcutta’s High Court today. This bust was actually paid for by Japanese nationalists after Pal’s death in 1967.

1 thought on “Episode 483 – Passion and Prejudice, Part 1”

  1. Hi Isaac,
    I’m just letting you know that this episode is misnumbered and now there are two episodes 483 (this one and the one about Oe Kenzaburo).

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