was a Japanese officer during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he was put on trial during the

Yokohama War Crimes Trials The Yokohama War Crimes Trials was a series of trials of 996 Japanese war criminals, held before the military commission of the U.S. 8th Army at Yokohama immediately after the Second World War. The defendants belonged to class B and C, as define ...

for ordering executions of captured American aircrew in 1945. Okada was found guilty, sentenced to death, and hanged in 1949. Okada took responsibility for ordering the execution of 38 captured U.S. POWs, after he considered them to be war criminals for the firebombings of Japan.

In popular culture

The war crimes trial of Okada was depicted in the 2007 film, '' Best Wishes for Tomorrow''. He was played by

Makoto Fujita , born Makoto Harada (April 13, 1933 – February 17, 2010), was a Japanese actor. He was born in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, the son of silent-film actor Rintarō Fujima, and started his career as a comedian in 1952. Acting Roles Fujita appeared in bo ...

. Pulvers, Rogerbr>Maj. Gen. Okada: a rare leader who took the blame June 24, 2007
''

Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' Retrieved February 23, 2016

References

{{Japan-mil-bio-stub 1890 births 1949 deaths Executed Japanese mass murderers Executed military leaders Japanese perpetrators of World War II prisoner of war massacres Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Massacres in 1945 Military personnel from Tottori Prefecture World War II prisoner of war massacres by Imperial Japan Yokohama trials exections