Sunday, November 25, 2007
Executions → Hanging of Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo was a General in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from October 18, 1941 to July 22, 1944. He was sentenced to death on December 23, 1948 for war crimes after the war and executed by hanging after a vote by judges of the International Military Tribunal of the Far East. As prime minister, Tojo was firmly convinced of the importance of maintaining the "superiority" of the Japanese race. He thus authorized laws ordering the sterilization of "inferior" citizens and appointed his wife Katsuko as the promoter of natality programs for the production of perfect warriors.
Video: Download "tojo_hanging.wmv"
He was hanged using the "long-drop" method. In 1872, William Marwood introduced the concept of an accurately calculated drop for the execution of Frederick Horry at Lincoln prison, as a scientifically worked out way of giving the prisoner a humane death. It is thought to have been invented by doctors in Ireland. Longer drops were in use elsewhere by the 1850's, e.g. in America, but the short drop was still used by many countries at this time e.g. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland & Russia.
The long drop method was designed to break the prisoner's neck by allowing them to fall a pre-determined distance and then be brought up with a sharp jerk by the rope. At the end of the drop, the body is still accelerating under the force of gravity but the head is constrained by the noose. If the eyelet is positioned under the left angle of the jaw it rotates the head backwards, which combined with the downward momentum of the body, breaks the neck and ruptures the spinal cord causing instant deep unconsciousness and rapid death. The later use of the brass eyelet in the noose tended to break the neck with more certainty.
The accurately measured and worked out drop removed most of the prisoner's physical suffering and made the whole process far less traumatic for the officials who now had to witness it in the confines of the execution shed instead of in the open air.
The drop given in the 19th century was usually between 4 and 10 feet depending on the weight and strength of the prisoner. The weight used to calculate the correct drop is that of the prisoner's body. Up to 1892, the length of drop was calculated to provide a final "striking" force of approximately 1,260 lbs. force which combined with the positioning of the eyelet caused fracture and dislocation of the neck, usually at the 2nd and 3rd or 4th and 5th cervical vertebrae. This is the classic "hangman's fracture". The length of the drop was worked out by the formula 1,260 foot pounds divided by the body weight of the prisoner in pounds = drop in feet. Between 1892 and 1913, a shorter length of drop was used, probably to avoid the decapitation and near decapitations that had occurred with old table. After 1913, other factors were also taken into account and the drop was calculated to give a final "striking" force of around 1,000 lbs. The Home Office issued a rule restricting all drops to between 5 and 8 feet 6 inches as this had been found to be an adequate range. In Britain, the drop was worked out and set to the nearest quarter of an inch to ensure the desired outcome.
A proper table of drops for hangmen to use was issued by the Home Office in 1892 and were subsequently revised in 1913. The 1913 table is still used in Singapore and probably Malaysia and may have been adopted by other countries which use the British method, e.g. Australia, Canada, the Caribbean nations and Egypt. Pakistan India and Bangladesh use the measured long drop but it is not known whether they use the British drop tables.
Wiki Article: Hideki Tojo
Article: Hanged by the neck until dead! The processes and physiology of judicial hanging.
Your Comments
| Dave Fuller |
| With 108th Graves Reg. Platoon July 1948 Yokohama Buried 7 Japanese War Criminals executed and buried after 0100 hours one of which was Tojo. Buried at a site with 5 other executed war criminals, called a number of historians about this episode no one ever returned my call. |
| 2016-01-02 03:37:25 |
| Harry |
| Tojo was a criminal and indeed deserved his fate. But what about the criminals of the infamous unit 731 at Harbin Manchuria ? Most of them "scientists" and "doctors" escaped any sanction whereas they should have been judged and sentenced to death for the atrocities of those "experimental centres". Instead, some of them went on enjoying positions in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. This is a shame ! |
| 2015-12-18 10:12:24 |
| Jim |
| Vern, you're a fool. And, you need more education .. regardless of your high opinion of yourself. |
| 2015-08-23 02:54:26 |
| 성지슨례 |
| 일뽕들 방사능 처먹고 뒤지게해주세요 |
| 2015-07-12 10:44:17 |
| Nullification of Rotaku Nakamura |
| Rotaku Nakamura has officially been nullified |
| 2014-09-14 02:33:53 |
| vern |
| Oil embargo against Japan in 1940 left 11-months of survival. Up until 1939, leaders that did not follow the Army's direction were assassinated. Rather than starve to death, Tojo began WW11 for oil. He took blame to keep the Emperor sovereign. Emperor took care of his family in return. |
| 2014-09-10 01:07:41 |
| vern |
| Oil embargo against Japan in 1940 left 11-months of survival. Up until 1939, leaders that did not follow the Army's direction were assassinated. Rather than starve to death, Tojo began WW1 for oil. He took blame to keep the Emperor sovereign. Emperor took care of his family in return. |
| 2014-09-10 01:06:57 |
| Fucking Japan |
| Japanese people in the world, the young are not ignorant enough to not be polite. Bar to go! Japan earthquake destroyed halgeotyida soon! Drop dead monkey offspring soon! You will die, I am feasting! The day of destruction in Japan most happy day for me! |
| 2014-06-27 05:46:15 |
| Fucking Japan |
| 世界中で日本人だけの例のない無知 子はいないだろう。バーに行くと！ 本はすぐに大地震で滅亡になる！！ 一日も早く死んでしまえサル子たち あなたがたは死ぬ私はごちそうだ！ 本が滅亡する日は私にとって最も嬉 しい日！ |
| 2014-06-27 05:45:20 |
| Nakamura Rotaku |
| He was hanged for nothing! He simply followed his emperor's words, and accepted all responsibility. MACARTHUR!!!!!!! |
| 2014-05-16 20:58:16 |
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