Sakutaro Tachi was a Japanese expert on international law.

Studied law at Tokyo Imperial University, and graduated in 1897. In 1900-1904 studied law in Europe. In 1904 became professor of law at Tokyo Imperial University.

In 1919 served as member of the Commission of Responsibilities

Commission of Responsibilities

A commission of experts at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 that dealt with the issue of prosecution for war crimes committed during the First World War.-Background:...

, which dealt with the issue of war crimes. In 1921-1922 served as member of the Japanese delegation to the Washington naval conference.

He opposed the idea to outlaw war in the Kellog-Briand Pact, arguing the idea was unrealistic. From 1931 onward, justified Japanese policy in north-China as self defense relating to Japanese interests. Regarding the mandates system under the League of Nations, held the view that the mandatory power had total sovereignty over the mandate territory.

Works (partial list)

• La Souveraineté et l'Independance de l'État et les Questions intérieures en Droit International (Paris, Les Éditions Internationales, 1930)
• The Principle of the Open Door in China and Manchoukuo (Tokyo: The Foreign Affairs Association of Japan, 1937)
• "Pearl Harbour Raid and Roberts Report" Contemporary Japan: A Review of East Asiatic Affairs, vol. XII, No. 4 (April, 1943), pp. 417-425

External links

• Shinohara Hatsue, "An Intellectual Foundation for the Road to Pearl Harbor: Quincy Wright and Tachi Sakutaro" Keisen Jogakuen College Bulletin 8 (January 1996)