Yesterday, UN panel called on Japan and South Korea to revise ‘comfort women’ deal. I suspect most of the people in the world, including those in UN, are not familiar with the case more than that in the report of Radhika Coomaraswamy, which, I consider, was written with prejudice for seeking some political fruits but not for seeking the historical truth.
Here, I refer the visitors to an article of myself which has been published in a different blog site in 2014. Although I'm not a researcher of this field, I wrote this with my best efforts as a Japanese citizen. (a few grammatical errors were corrected on 5/16)
"Comfort Women" were not sex slaves : A fake story made by Korea
With hoping a good relation between Japan and Korea
1) On August 5 and 6 in 2014, Asahi Shinbun (a major newspaper of Japan) has withdrawn the article published in 1982, which reported that the army of Imperial Japan abducted many woman of Jeju (South Korea) as comfort women (1). The story had been taken maliciously from the book written by a forger Seiji Yoshida(2). Later, are searcher of modern history, Prof. Ikuhiko Hata, visited Jeju to find out the evidences and testimonies to check the Yoshida’s story, but nothing was found(3).
This fake article of Asahi Shinbun (4) made an essential role in the international community (United Nations, USA, China, etc)to give the basis to accuse Japan of abusing many Korea women as sex slaves in the military bases. Since South Korea has been very active in lobbying in the foreign countries for the Comfort Women Issue, it has appeared at the UnitedNations in 1994 (Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1994/45 ) and resulted in the so-called “Coomaraswamy Report” (Addendum) in 1996.Now that the Seiji Yoshida's testimony has been identified as a fake, there is no "sex slave in Japan military", and the sex-slave scandal to Japan should be erased.
2) It is true that many crimes including rape occurred around the military bases near the battlefields. It was also the case for the Japanese soldiers. For example, Japanese soldiers sent to Indonesia abducted women forcibly as comfort women. Since the incident was a crime against the rules of Japan Military Force, the soldiers were punished as the result of military tribunal and the brothel there was closed (5). In addition, military personnel involved in the matter actually convicted in the InternationalMilitary Tribunal for the Far East, and has been sentenced to death by hanging.
Since most of the intellectuals of Japan had been affected by the sprit of Bushido (the sprit is still alive in Japan as many foreign visitors admit) (6),
Japan army had prohibited filthy conducts such as entrainment of women by force, even though they helped the managers of the brothel.
The original cause of war is poverty of people in the corresponding area. This is similar to the chemical reaction: a chemical reaction, including combustion, occurs because a large free energy change accompanies. (7) A small flame of a match triggers it, which is not the real cause. In the 1940s, Far East Asia was covered with poverty and many girls were sold or solicited by their family to save other members lives. The Comfort Women Issue should be analyzed with taking into account of these miserable situations.
Comfort women were sent from all the territories of Imperial Japan, including Korea andTaiwan. Most of them (70% or more) were from the whorehouses of Japan. Comfort-woman system was invented by the Japan army for the soldiers to prevent raping of citizens, and to keep their fighting sprit high by removing the risk of STD. In addition, those who run a brothel was able to collect the customers easily. All these are realized with the sacrifice of many miserable women. It was really a sad story. However, I would ask to the peoples who blame Japan and keep living in peace and rich environment: Are you all qualified to condemn those who were involved in this filthy affair, "comfort woman"?.
I would like to point out that the comfort woman case has not come out from either Japan orTaiwan. I also lay stress on the fact that the most miserable fates were of the soldiers, who killed in the battlefield by their enemy or by hunger.
3) From the political point of view, it is very important to recollect that Japan and Korea had signed Japan‐Republic of Korea Basic Relations Treaty in 1965. The comfort women issue should be the domestic issue after that in both countries. During the negotiation for the treaty, the sovereignty over a small island Takeshima was discussed and left shelved for the future resolution, but no serious discussion was made on the "comfort woman". No women had claimed compensation to their miserable experiences even after 20 years of that time.
After the publications of the book written by SeijiYoshida and the following articles in both Asahi News Paper, both referred above, and the weekly “Asahi Journal”, the government of Republic of Korea employed the "comfort women issue" to redirect the dissatisfactions of peoples with the policy of the president. In fact, the propaganda to condemn Japan with the “comfort women issue” has been intensified recently by both presidents of Korea Lee Myung-bak (李明博) and Park Geunin (朴槿恵).
The presidents know well that this method is very effective, since Korea has been suffering from national inferiority complex, which was planted when they lost their national regime and they could not avoid
occupancy by Japan. Before Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula, Korean people had enjoyed a superior complex, because Korea had been authorized byChina, but Japan was, they considered, merely a barbaric country.
The direct proof, indicating that the comfort women were actually sex slaves, was lost completely now as mentioned in 1) and2). They now totally rely on the concept of "force in the broad sense". However, this phrase, “the force of a broad sense”, belongs to the world of sophistry.
4) In the World War II, many Japanese conscripts died in South East Asia without any awards from their country and also without any military effect to the enemy. In the final stage of the war many students of universities, including SeoulUniversity in Korea, were drafted and killed in vain. In the final stage of the war, USA dropped the atomic bomb on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki and hundreds of thousands of citizens were burnt to death. These tragedies were partly due to the incompetent leaders of the Imperial Japan, and also due to the ugly nature of human being including that of USA and other western countries.
After Japan notified the acceptance of Potsdam Declarations, the Soviet Union sent many soldiers to the territory of Japan after discarding unilaterally non-aggression pact. Many soldiers of Japan alive were taken to Siberia, and engaged in forced labor. As the result a lot of soldiers were frozen to death or died of malnutrition.
All the historical events should be assessed by taking into account of the circumstances and values of that era, and they should not be interpreted in the modern sense and values. The modern people should be more humble before these harsh events and facts. Here, I condemn of the damn act of Korean presidents who take advantage of the old harsh history to improve their present political situation, and also to improve the relative international position ofKorea by disgracing the honor of Japan. It is really an ugly conduct of Korea to build the statues of comfort woman in a foreign country, i.e. USA, with the false statement "she was abused as sex slaves by the JapanArmy".
Reference:
1) A special type of prostitute. Brothel and prostitutes moved with the army.The army was cooperative to the manager of the brothel in every aspect, but the army was not the manager. Most comfort women are sent from Japan and the rest from Korea and Taiwan. They fought with the soldiers when enemy attacked the base.
2) Seiji Yoshida, “My crime in the war time (私の戦争犯罪)”, San-IchiShobo (1983)；”Korea comfort women and Japanese （朝鮮人慰安婦と日本人）” Shin-Jinnbutu Ohraisha （新人物往来社）(1977)
3) Ikuhiko Hata, “ComfortWomen and Sexual Life in the Battlefields （慰安婦と戦場の性）”,Shincho-Shinsho, 1999 (ISBN:9784106005657 (4106005654)).
Several years later , ProfIkuhiko Hata （秦郁彦）went to Jeju to gather up the testimonies and evidences to make check the content of Yoshida’s book, in which he wrote that he joined the group to abduct many women. However, no evidence was obtained.
Recently some reporters of a TV station went to Jeju and got an interesting response of men there, who said that they should have fought against Japanese soldiers if their wives or children were going to be abducted.
4) Asahi News Paper (daily), Sept.02, 1982. with drawn on Aug.05, 2014.
5) Koichi Sugiyama, “The arm against the sex slave scandal is facts （唯一の武器は「事実」）”,Will (a monthly journal of japan), pp 230-239, No 8 (2007).
6) Inazo Nitobe, “Bushido, the soul of Japan”, The Leeds and Biddle Company, Philadelphia, 1899. 2’d edition; G. P. Putman’s and Sons, New York, 1905.
7) For example W. J. Moore, “Physical Chemistry”,3'rd ed., Prentice Hall, N.J., chap.6