Looks like most comments were removed, just woke up. Anyway, I’m aware there were trials at the time, that’s not my question. There were also trials at the time of Nürmberg. Yet, we still try new Nazis, no? So why doesn’t that happen with Japan is my question.
I addressed this topic in a paper I wrote while studying for my Masters. I hope these excerpts might help answer the main thrust of your question!
In direct contrast to Germany — where the Allies forced civilians to confront the horrors of the Shoah first-hand — Japan’s worst atrocities were committed far from the home islands and away from most civilians. Thus the pain most keenly felt was that of the suffering inflicted by massive Allied air raids, not the horrors of the massacres perpetrated against peoples across the Asia-Pacific. Besides, Japanese war crimes were not generally perpetrated in a systematic manner as was the case in Eastern Europe, leaving behind little official evidence of criminality. In such a destructive and confused context, “Japanese myths of self-glorification and whitewashing won wide public resonance precisely because they captured the imagination of the general public in the aftermath of the war, when the nation was preoccupied with its own sufferings and in no mood to face up to Japan’s war guilt vis-à-vis other Asian nations.”^(1)
In the postwar Japanese politicians moved quickly to suppress coverage of the worst aspects of Japanese colonialism, worrying that excessive attention would undermine patriotism. Amidst this complicated maelstrom of myths, half-truths and propaganda, the Allies were faced with an especially a challenging political-cum-cultural environment to make restorative just work. Indeed, the reality on the ground in Japan was very much stacked against the occupiers. It was Japanese politicians and élites who had the power to shape the post-war narrative and they did so effectively. Early postwar memories focused on Japan’s early maritime triumphs against the United States and its allies, and eschewed discussion regarding wartime failures and atrocities. The zenith of this narrative was the “ultimate example of Japanese victimhood: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”^(2) With total control over the national education system, the press, public institutions and other important means of information dissemination, Japan’s élites were able to shape the narrative of the war into their favour.
For their part, the Allies did relatively little to prevent the re-emergence of the political and commercial élite whose collaboration with the military had precipitated the outbreak war to begin with. This two-faced hypocrisy was, of course, echoed in Germany and, to a lesser extent, in Italy, but nowhere was the cabal so quickly returned to power because of the Allies rather than despite them. As in Europe, the Americans actively undermined the moral direction of postwar governance by reinstating those who had worked with the governments of their enemies only years before. In a world in which the Soviet Union’s tentacles seemed to spread wide and the threat of Communism loomed large, reinforcing the corporatist-capitalist state was an essential element in the US containment strategy. America’s aggressive anti-Communism approach buoyed rightist and conservative elements in Europe, in South Korea and, of course, in Japan.
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First off, more of course can be said, but /u/kieslowskifan has written previously about the IMTFE here and here, and does touch on the topic of 'historical memory'. Again, more can be said and would lvoe to see others weigh in with similarly in-depth and comprehensive answers, but those are a good place to start while you wait.
Now, that out of the way...
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