Chapter 45 Section Eleven

Before the "Matsukawa Incident", there would have been the "Fukushima Management Department Incident", so-called.At that time, the police force used Sagnon's name to intimidate the Japanese. Furthermore, during the first trial of the "Songchuan Incident", there was a situation like this: there was a second emperor from the U.S. Army sitting behind the presiding judge's seat and watching.The defender protested against this, and even the presiding judge had no choice but to ask him to withdraw.This shows how much the US authorities attach importance to the trial of the "Matsukawa Incident".But someone actually said such inexplicable words: What does it matter if there is an American soldier sitting on the trial bench!

This was raised in a speech at the symposium "Views on the "Matsukawa Incident"" published in the November 34th issue of "Legal Times".At this symposium, the central issue discussed was Aoyagi's paper on the Gwangjin Review mentioned above.Mr. Hirotsu mentioned this issue at the symposium.He said: "There is also the fact that when the first trial was held, the second senior military officer of the US military sat on the chair behind the judge. I think this raises a question: who is really exerting pressure? In short, if It is unusual for a senior U.S. military officer to sit behind a judge in a Japanese tribunal, and it is bound to be objected by the defendants and the defense team."

Regarding this matter, Ryuichi Hirano, a professor at the University of Tokyo who attended the symposium, said: "If the occupying forces really wanted to put pressure on the trial, I'm afraid they wouldn't do it this way. I don't know much about the situation. However, when we visited the courthouse in the United States, we were made to sit next to the judge. It is the etiquette for treating distinguished guests. Taking this time as an example, I think the soldier was also a distinguished guest and came to visit the trial. Is it too far to say that it is putting pressure on the trial based on this alone?"

The speech of Professor Hirano of the University of Tokyo is inexplicable.The Japanese visit to the United States is completely different from the "Matsukawa Incident" trial.In Japan, it is not customary for foreigners to sit on the judge's bench. Especially during the occupation period, if someone sat on the judge's bench wearing an American military uniform, it would naturally be considered to be to monitor the trial and exert pressure.What's more, people were suspecting that the US military had something to do with the "Matsukawa incident"!To say that this is a foreign etiquette, etc., is simply not common sense.

Furthermore, when the second trial was in session, the U.S. military police actually surrounded the tribunal from a distance, and posted sentries at various important locations. The "Matsukawa Incident" has always been the shadow of the US occupation forces.

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