Robert Franklin Hardin was born in Denver, Colorado on January 27, 1926. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army as a Tech 5. After the war he worked as a ship's architect. His wife was Sachiko Hardin. Robert passed away on July 28, 1965 in San Francisco, California. No further information is known.

Biographical information derived from donor information and Ancestry.com.

After the end of World War II, the governments of the four major allied powers (France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) set up the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) in Tokyo, Japan as a counterpart to the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremburg, Germany to prosecute the war crimes of the European Axis. The IMTFE presided over a series of trials of Japanese political and military leaders with the aim of trying and punishing Far Eastern war criminals. Whereas the IMT was established by the signing of the London Agreement in August 1945, the IMTFE emerged from the July 1945 signing by China, the United Kingdom, and the United States of the Potsdam Declaration. Later, at the Moscow Conference in December 1945, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States (with concurrence from China) agreed to a structure for the occupation of Japan. Subsequently, in January 1946, General MacArthur issued a special proclamation that established the IMTFE, and laid out its composition, jurisdiction, and functions.

Each of the countries that had signed Japan’s instrument of surrender (Australia, Canada, China, France, India, the Netherlands, the Philippines, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States) appointed judges and had a prosecution team. The defense consisted of Japanese and American lawyers. Similar to the IMT, the IMTFE had jurisdiction to try individuals for Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity, and the definitions were nearly identical to those contained in the Nuremberg Charter. However, the IMTFE had jurisdiction over crimes that occurred over a greater period of time, going back to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and up to Japan’s surrender in World War II in 1945.

The Tokyo War Crimes Trials occurred from April 1946 to November 1948. The tribunal convened on April 29, 1946 and the prosecution opened its case on May 3. The IMTFE presided over the prosecution of nine senior Japanese political leaders, 18 military leaders, and one scholar who were charged with 55 separate counts of waging of aggressive war, murder, and conventional war crimes committed against prisoners-of-war, civilian internees, and the inhabitants of occupied territories. During the proceedings, the court ruled that 45 of the counts, including murder charges, were redundant or not authorized under the IMTFE Charter. Two defendants died during the trials and one was found unfit to stand trial. The rest of the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to punishments ranging from seven years’ imprisonment to death. Japanese Emperor Hirohito and members of the imperial family were not indicted. Hirohito was permitted to retain his position on the throne, but with a lesser status. The tribunal concluded on November 12, 1948.

Historical Note information derived from:

• "International Military Tribunal for the Far East" accessed June 3, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Military_Tribunal_for_the_Far_East
• "The Nuremberg Trial and the Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1945–1948)" accessed June 3, 2021. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nuremberg#:~:text=The%20Tokyo%20War%20Crimes%20Trials%20took%20place%20from,trials%20were%20held%20to%20try%20%E2%80%9Cminor%E2%80%9D%20war%20criminals.