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AKITA, (S̶u̶g̶ Hiroshi, Col. (Sugamo) 420 - 10 September. Akita was present at the November meeting to conceal executions, etc. |
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420 - 25 Feb. 1947 Statement of Sato. About 1 March Akita took Fukushima's place as Senior Staff Officer at WA Hqs. As such he would be apprised of all prisoners that were taken within Western Army jurisdiction. Wako assisted, in charge of the Western Army's Legal Section, and told Sato in the early part of May and in the presence of Akita, who supervised Staff Officers, that it was too much trouble to try the fliers and that permission should be obtained to execute them without trial. Sato asked Akita to get permission to so act, which Akita did, Akita later saying that he went directly to Yokoyama who said "all right". After Sato returned from the first operation he told Akita about it that night or the next day. Akita made no comment. The Kempetai report on the captured fliers, in which one flier is alleged to have confessed to have been ordered to kill all non-combatant Japanese, and which report was said not to incriminate but five or six of the captured survivors, was given to Akita who read it. Akita attended the 17 August meeting called by Yokoyama in which the concealment of atrocities was discussed. Akita also attended a meeting called by Inada after Sato's return from the Tokyo meeting in which all parties unanimously agreed to conceal the atrocities. In December, Akita told Sato that the atrocities might be discovered and, therefore, a meeting should be called (by implication he was referring to the executions and not the operations). |