Truth of Comfort Women- Explanation -
http://resistance333.web.fc2.com/english/english_comfort_women1.htm
truth-of-comfort-women-explanation.pdf
By Han’nichi seiryoku gekitaiyou html-ban siryoukan (反日勢力撃退用・html版資料館)
Survivors of Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery who Claim Compensation since the WWⅡ
The documents of the Imperial Japanese Army involvement
１．Background and development of the Comfort Women Issue
２．Verification of the controversies over the Comfort Women
３．Japanese made the Issue on comfort women into huge problem
Background and development of the Comfort Women IssueExamine the comfort women disputes through the mail magazine called“Japan on the Globe”
Masaomi Ise, an editor and publisher of “Japan on the Globe”
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/jogindex.htm “Comfort Women” problem（first part）September 25, 1999
１．U.S. Military information department reported the reality of the comfort women
United States Government reported a Japanese Army comfort place in Myitkyina, North Burma after the WWII as following.
The report says 1) Comfort women’s parents were usually indebted as much as Yen300 to Yen1000. But comparing with Yen1000 to Yen2000 what they earned par a month, it could be stated that their parents’ debt was as little as Yen300 to Yen1000. Their clients’ monthly salaries were only around Yen15 to Yen25 {*1} in that period. 2) Their share within what they earned was around 40% to 60%. 3) They were able to choose the clients and to decline servicing to whom they do not like. 4) They lived in fairly good housing conditions. 5) They could leave the place for Korea as long as they made repayments for the debts. {*2}
Mun Ok-Sun（文玉珠）is an ex-comfort woman of a brothel at Rangoon, Burma.
Her comments jibe with what United States Government reported.
“One-day, I went to shopping at a market in China town. I bought an alligator skinned handbag for myself, and some other things for my mother as well. Riding on an officer’s jeep with officers, I went to Pegu (Bago) to see Buddha statue. There, I prayed good fortune for Yamada Ichiro (Japanese soldier, her boy friend) and my mother in Korea.” {*3}
In 1992, Mun Ok-Sun（文玉珠） claimed to withdraw her postal saving that was the money she earned and deposited during 3 years of service in Rangoon, Burma. The amount she claimed was Yen26,145. In those days, one could have bought a nice house for Yen1000.
In addition, visited Japan in 1993, and made a lawsuit against the post office to return her saving of 26,145 yen, the money she saved while she was a comfort woman. She lost in the lawsuit, but saving this much of money during that time is simply amazing. She wrote that 1,000 yen would buy a small house in her hometown.
This means within three years this woman made equivalent of today’s 40,000,000 -50,000,000 yen. {*4}
Maybe the terms such as “sexual slave” and ”forced prostitution” are both quite misnomers for describing a comfort woman.
The word “comfort women” is often referred as the women kidnapped by Japanese military, no freedom, no salary, and just raped by Japanese soldiers. However, in this report by U.S. military and other writings, comfort women are described in totally different way from what the majority believes. The question is “which is true?”
Notes
{*1}秦郁彦 「慰安婦の戦場の性」 新潮選書 1999/6 270頁Ikuhiko_Hata “Nature of Comfort Women in the Battle Filed” shinchousensho(Publisher) June,1999 P,270
{*2}秦郁彦 「慰安婦の戦場の性」 新潮選書 1999/6 275頁Ikuhiko_Hata “Nature of Comfort Women in the Battle Filed” shinchousensho(Publisher) June,1999 P,275 Reference) “UNITED STATES OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION: Psychological Warfare Team. Attached to U.S. Army Forces India-Burma Theater APO 689” National Archives and Records Administration
{*3}秦郁彦 「慰安婦の戦場の性」 新潮選書 1999/6 276頁Ikuhiko_Hata “Nature of Comfort Women in the Battle Filed” shinchousensho (Publisher) June,1999 P,276
{*4}西岡力 「闇に挑む！」 徳間文庫 1998/9 301頁Tsutomu_Nishioka “Challenge the Darkness!” Tokumabunko (Publisher) September,1998 P,301
Mun Ok-Sun（文玉珠） and 26,145 yen of savings
Mainichi Newspaper(毎日新聞) May 22, 1992
Mun Ok-Sun (68), a Korean woman who used to be a comfort woman during the World War II in Myanmar (former Burma), and she has been demanding the returning of her savings made during the war. May 11, 1992 she found the original book of the saving was maintained in Shimonoseki post office in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi prefecture. She is now demanding the return of her savings, since savings was made while she was still a Japanese citizen. According the transaction record of the book, she put money in her account for twelve times from June 1943 to September 1945, and the balance is 26,145 yen.
Below is the basic the military personnel’s salaries; Comparing to these
figures, the amount of savings of Mun Ok-Sun（文玉珠）is obviously huge.
Showa-History Research Group Report December, 1999（昭和史研究所会報１９９９年１２月号）
Annual salary of Japanese Military personnel by rank
| General | 6600yen |
| Lieut. General | 5800yen |
| Maj. General | 5000yen |
| Colonel | 4440～3720yen |
| Lieut. Colonel | 3720～2640yen |
| Major | 2640～2040yen |
| Captain | 1860～1470yen |
| Lieutenant | 1130～1020yen |
| Second Lieut. | 850yen |
| Monthly salary | |
| Master sergeant | 75～32yen |
| Sergeant | 32～23yen |
| Corporal | 20yen |
| Corporal-2 | 13.5yen |
| Private First class | 10.5yen |
| Junior technician | 9yen |
| Buck private | 9～6yen |
2. How the issue on comfort women was brought to pass.
Take a look at the disputes of comfort women in chronological order:
1) Seiji Yoshida originally started the comfort woman problem in his book called “Confessing war crimes and Korean people abducted” published in 1983. According to his book, he abducted some Korean women for comfort women as Women’s Teishintai (Volunteer Corps) in 1943. The Asahi Newspaper made a comfort women campaign from 1991 to 1992 as many as four times.
2) On August 11, 1991, The Asahi Newspaper had reported that it had found an ex-comfort woman who had been taken to the battlefield as a member of Women’s Teishintai and engaged in comfort services.
3) On January 11, 1992, The Asahi News paper reported that it had found an evidence of comfort women operation supervised by the military, which instructed to install and manage it. Prime Minister Miyazawa who had visited South Korea on the 16th of the same month. And he bore the brunt of the blame for the newspaper article. He was asked to apologize as many as eight times during his visit and gave an intimation of further investigation.
4) On August 4, 1993, Chief secretary Kono made an announcement that Japanese Government admitted the existence of abductions, compulsions and the authority’s involvement for operating of comfort stations during the WWII.
The discourse of Yohei Kono, Chief Cabinet Secretary meant that Japanese Government admitted the military involvement in coercing of comfort women. This brought about history textbooks revision. The comfort women were depicted for the Japanese high school students’ textbooks.
Today, more intensive research on this issue has shown whether those reports were made based on facts. In next paragraph, I would like to verify those 4 reports in detail.
Verification of the controversies over the Comfort Women
Masaomi Ise, an editor and publisher of “Japan on the Globe” http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/jogindex.htm “Comfort Women” problem（first part）September 25, 1999
3. Comfort women hunted by Seiji Yoshida
Verification of 1) Seiji Yoshida’s confession The sexual slave hunting conducted by Seiji Yoshida in South Korea is described in his book as follows:
One Japanese soldier shouted to a young big woman in a factory to proceed. She was so scary that she clung to an aged woman nearby. The soldier dragged her out by the arm. All the women in the factory started to scream. The wooden sword flailed her by the shoulders and hips because she resisted. As many as 16 women were abducted.
Like British navy did, Imperial Japanese Military had an organized private comfort house in order to prevent rape of local women. As a squadron was moved to the front line, the comfort house went along with. So it was reasonable that the military supervised running of the brothels including designating of business owners and locations. This is just an extension of the regulated prostitution system into the front.
The point of the argument is whether the military conducted the systematic abduction of women. It would be a serious state crime if the Imperial Japanese Military conducted abductions and compulsive prostitution such as Seiji Yoshida asserts
4. Cheap commercial enthusiasm
According to Seiji Yoshida, the abductions by Japanese soldiers were done at a shellfish button factory in a village named Sonsanpo of Chejudo Island. Ho Yon-son（許栄善）, the reporter of the Cheju newspaper investigated and concluded there were no such a thing took placeCheung Oc-tane, 85 years old women, who has been a resident in the island for her entire life pledges that every islander would have noticed right off the bat if as many as 15 women were taken away, because there were only 250 families in the island.Kim Pok-Tong（金奉玉）, the local historian of the island also declares the abductions Yoshida described were untrue. He had been continuing the research since the book published in 1983. He believes that Yoshida wrote the false book in order to make it controversial and make some money out of it. Ikuhiko Hata（秦郁彦）, the professor of Nihon University visited the island and had been asked why Seiji Yoshida wrote a spurious book by Ho Yon-son（許栄善）. This question left him agape. {*5}The Asahi Newspaper hunted down the timing of Prime Minister Miyazawa’s visited to South Korea, and it put recurring articles of faithless abductions as many as four times in a single year, although it had remained in abeyance since Professor Hata’s visit and research. Yoshiaki Yoshimi, the professor of Chuo University, who advocates strongly the crimes of Imperial Japanese Military, does not feel very vindicated in Seiji Yoshida’s book.
Ikuhiko_Hata（秦 郁彦）
Born in Yamaguchi prefecture on December 12, 1932.He started his carrier at the Ministry of Finance in 1956 and served as an instructor of the National Institute for Defense Studies in Japan, Defense Agency. Lecturer of National Defense Academy in Japan.From 1971 to 1976, Director of Historical Studies Office in the Ministry of Finance (財政史室室長). Secretariat for the Finance Minister.Guest professor at Princeton university. Professor of department of Politics and Economies at Takushoku University(拓殖大学). Professor of Chiba University (千葉大学). Professor of department of law at Nihon University (日本大学).After retirement in 2003, he works as a lecturer in Nihon University.
He majored in history of warfare mainly on modern Japanese history and World War II. When he was a Tokyo university student, he conducted hearings with Japanese commissioned officers of WWⅡincluding category-A war criminals. He is known as a historian who attaches a high value to subjective and positive analysis. As a financial official, he participated in a collaborative project promoted by “Nihon Kokusai Seijigakkai Taiheiyosenso Geninkyumeibu（日本国際政治学会太平洋戦争原因究明部）”. As the result, this works led the issue of “the way to the Pacific War （Taiheiyo Senso heno miti:太平洋戦争への道）”, a definitive book of the diplomatic history of outbreak of the war.As the Director of Historical Studies Office (財政史室長) in the Ministry of Finance, he was engaged in editing financial records under the U.S. Occupation. He is also known for editing many subject-books about modern history. “Comprehensive Dictionary of Imperial Japanese Army and Navy（Nipon Rikukaigun sogojiten: 日本陸海軍総合事典）” published by University of Tokyo Press is a book of ultimate authority.He also turned state’s evidence in the Ienaga-Textbook suit.
Following the works by Akira Nakamura (中村粲), an emeritus professor at Dokkyo University (獨協大学), Yoshiaki Itakura (板倉由明), an expert of the history of warfare, and Chitoshi Uesugi (上杉千年), a history textbook researcher, he exposed the frauds in “My war crimes/Record of abduction of Korean（Watashino sensou hanzai/Chosenjin kyouseirenkou nokiroku:私の戦争犯罪・朝鮮人連行強制記録）” written by Yoshida_Seiji（吉田清治） by on-the-spot coverage{*6}
5. Coming out of ex-comfort women
Verification of 2) the ex-comfort woman on Asahi Newspaper The Asahi Newspaper on August 11, 1991 ran a hoopla at the top of the front page titled “I cannot help bursting into tears every time I recall” “Former Korean comfort woman finally tells her story after half a century”. The article stated that “a woman who forced to work as a member of Women’s Teishintai (Volunteer Corps) during the war was discovered”, and that “former Korean comfort woman who was forced to work as a prostitute finally came out.” {*7} This article was proved to be totally untrue 3 days later. On Aug. 14, the former Korean comfort woman, Kim Hak-Sun (金学順), herself in a press conference refuted and elucidated. ” I had never been a member of the Women’s Teishin Tai, and I had never been taken by force” to the reporters. A Korean newspaper reported her story as follows:
Her family was poor, and they became desperate. Her mother sold her to a Gisaeng house at the age of 14. After she learned to be a Gisaeng for three years, her adopted father** who was the owner of the Gisaeng house told her that he would help her by finding a job. She was taken to a place that served a troop of about 300 Japanese soldiers in Northern China. The Hankyoreh（ハンギョレ新聞）August 15, 1991* Gisaeung (妓生) = Korean traditional prostitute** It was common I Korea that girls sold to Gisaeung house were adopted by the owner.
Therefore, she was sold by her own mother and by her adopted father of the Gisaeng house to a prostitution dealer for the military.
Her story was nothing to do with organized or forced recruitment by the government at all. “Women’s Teishintai” (Women’s volunteer corps) was first established at a Cabinet meeting on September 1943. It has not existed in 1939 when Kim Hak-Sun (金学順) was 17 years old. Besides, “Women’s Teishintai” was different from so-called “Ianfu” the comfort women. During the war, young female laborers were drafted because males were drafted as soldiers. “Women’s Teishintai” were drafted in order to supplement the lack of laborers.
Unfortunately, the term “Jugun Ianfu (military comfort women)” did not exist at that time even thought the term is widely used in recent years.
“Jugun Ianfu” is just a coined word. The word “Jugun” is used like:
“Jugun Kangofu” Nurses attached to the army belonged to the military;
“Jugun Kisha” War correspondents;
“Jugun Sou” Priests attached to certain troops.
These are the social positions assured by the statute. They were assigned to specific troops.
On the other hand, local pimps hired comfort women, and there was no direct relation with the military. “Military comfort women” is a made up term. It was probably made up in association with “front nurses” and “war correspondents”. It was designed to trick people to believe that the comfort women belonged to certain troops.
After the discovery, Kim Hak-Sun (金学順) became one of the plaintiffs of the suit against Japanese government. One of the organizations that support her is the “Pacific War Victim Bereaved”. Reporter Makimura (槙村) who wrote this phony article for the Asahi Newspaper is married to the daughter of the director of the organization. Of course, he is proficient in Korean as well, and he must have very well understood what Kim Hak-Sun meant.
This reporter did not mention that Kim Hak-Sun had been sold. The article indicating, “she was taken to work as Women’s Teishintai ” is an intentional fabrication by reporter Makimura. He did not even bother to write an article to set the record straight.
Kim Hak-Sun（金学順）
She was born in Jilin Province (吉林省) of Manchuria (満州), in 1923. She is the first Korean who declared herself a victim of the comfort woman on August 14, 1991. In the press conference in Korea, she testified that she had been sold by her adapted father. On December 16, 1991, she filed an action against Japanese government to ask for apology and compensation.
Kim Hak-Sun’s complaint
In 1923, she was born in Jilin Province（吉林省）of Manchuria（満州）, northern China. However, soon after this, she was back to Pyongyang（平壌） because of death of her father. Her mother worked as a housekeeper though, her family was poor. She dropped out of 4th grade elementary school. She was adopted by Kim Tae-Won (金泰元) and had Gisaeng (妓生) training for 3 years from age of 14 {*8}. In 1939, she had been convinced that she could earn money, she went to
China with her adopted father and Emiko (エミ子), her one year older sister
(also adopted by the owner). She went to a small village named Tiebizhen (鉄壁鎮) via Beijing (北京), and her father left her to a brothel in the village. Then she was forced prostitution for Japanese soldiers. There were periodical health checks by army doctors. In spring of the same year, she escaped from the brothels with the help of Cho Won-Jang（趙元ﾁｬﾝ）, a Korean merchant. She got married with him in Shanghai after moving from place to place. They lived in French settlement as a pawnbroker dealing with Chinese and had 2 sons. In the following year of war end, they went back to Korea. During Korean War, her husband died of an accident and her sons died of disease. She spent time moving place to place in Korea and started drinking and smoking. Having no place to go, she is on welfare. She says her misfortune started from being forced to be a comfort woman. Japanese government should acknowledge the wartime wrongdoings and apologize.
＊Her claim was the compensation for “the misfortune in her life” and stated that she had been sold by her adopted father. However, she later switched her statement that she was kidnapped by Japanese army. {*9}
6. Were there any comfort women actually abducted by the military?
“Korean council for women drafted for military sexual slavery by Japan (Teishintai issue council)” deals with the comfort woman problem in Korea. Fifty-five former comfort women are registered for the council. The council interviewed just over 40 of them, and conducted the logical evaluations. As a result, 19 of them are chosen because of their reliability, and the council published a collection of the testimonies. Then, their testimony was verified logically. Nine among them stated that they were taken forcefully; however, only four were considered as reliable enough to include in the book. Further, two of them told that they had worked as comfort women in Toyama (Japan) and Pusan (Korea). However, neither of these locations was the war front. No troops, no brothels. The remaining reliable witnesses are Kim Hak-Sun (金学順) and the aforementioned Mun Ok-Sun (文玉珠) who saved up around 40 to 50 million yen (about four to five hundred thousand dollars); However, neither of them stated in the book that they were taken forcefully. After all, none of the believable testimony gathered by the Korean investigation proved that they were taken by force as “military comfort women.” {*10}
7. About military involvement
Verification of 3) the evidence of the military involvementNext, let us look at an article by the Asahi Newspaper regarding evidence of “the military involvement in the comfort stations”. This article was published just before the Prime Minister Miyazawa visited Korea. As a result, the Prime Minister made an official apology. The uncovered document was titled “regarding military comfort stations and the recruitment of female employees” which was issued in 1938 by the Department of the Army.Contents of the document:When the local prostitution business tried to recruit comfort women, the following problems aroused:1) Local businesses wrongfully referred as “Military Approved”.2) Unruly recruitment methods using war correspondents and visitors to the front.3) Many businesses used unlawful recruitment methods that were reported to the police. We strongly advice not to cause such problems. Utmost care should be taken when you choose the business. Also, keep close contact with the local military police force. {*11}Therefore, “the military involvement” was the military’s warning. The military was trying to stop the forced draft by the crooked local businesses with the help of the local police force. The Asahi Newspaper re-posted the content of the document. It was a front-page article titled “official document showing the military involvement of the comfort stations”, and ” control/monitor the setup/recruitment to the troops”. The following was in the article:
Military Comfort Women: During 1930s, many Japanese soldiers committed random sexual violence toward women in China. In order to prevent the local anti-Japanese feeling and venereal diseases, the comfort stations were established. According to the ex-soldiers and army doctors, about 80% were Korean women since the opening of the stations. After the break out of the Pacific War, mostly Korean women were forcefully taken as “Teishintai (volunteer corps”. Estimated ranges were between 80,000 and 200,000.
After reading this document and the false description, most readers think that the Japanese military was involved in the forced draft. What a clever trick it was.
This article had a tremendous effect because it was published just 5 days before Prime Minister Miyazawa’s visit to South Korea as if it was intended for that purpose. People in Seoul protested, and a demonstration was organized.
Opposition meetings took place one after another and the Japanese flags were burned. Without verifying the truthfulness of the article, the Prime Minister Miyazawa could not help apologizing to President Roh Tae-Woo no less than eight times.
＊Probably, many people from both Europe and United States will have hard time understanding why Miyazawa apologized before the verification of the issue. In the Western world “apology” means action taken after admitting its fault.On the other hand, in Japan “apology” is use to help other to calm down and avoid the conflict, and apologizing does not necessary means that one have admitted its fault.For example, in Japanese train (been packed all the time) when a person steps on other person both side immediately apologies, and this is to prevent occurring of the conflict.The action Miyazawa has taken was very the “Japanese style apology to calm down people’s emotion”.The alleged evidence of drafting of women
Matters regarding recruitment at military comfort station
English translation
Title: “Matters regarding recruitment at military comfort station”
<Notification>From: AssistantTo: Army Chief Generals of the troops in northern China and of the expeditionary force in central ChinaWhen brokers recruited comfort women for establishment of the brothels during Sino-Japanese war, there were not a few infamous cases to which we need to pay attention: the case that some brokers used the authority of Japanese military for their recruitment, as the result, they ruined Japanese military’s credibility and led to a misunderstanding of ordinary people, the case that some brokers took unruly method of recruiting through embedded journalists and visitors causing social problem, the case that some brokers were arrested and placed under investigation because the way of their recruiting was like kidnapping. From now, as regards the recruitment of comfort women, the expeditionary force properly chooses and controls brokers which recruit comfort women. Also, it is necessary to cooperate with military polices and law enforcement authorities. To keep the prestige of Japanese military and to consider social problems, take careful note of no omission.March 4, 1938
Notes
{*5} 秦郁彦 「慰安婦の戦場の性」 新潮選書 1999/6 323頁Ikuhiko_hata “Nature of Comfort Women in the Battle Filed” Shinchousensho(Publisher) June,1999 P,323
{*6} 「諸君」 1992年7月号・1992年8月号。「週刊新潮」“ゴールデンウィーク特集号「従軍慰安婦強制連行 『虚偽レポート』の元凶」” 1996年5月2・9日 Reference1) Syokun(Monthly periodical) July, 1992 issue & August, 1992 issue Reference2) “principal source of false report, carting off comfort women” Shuukanshinchou(Weekly magazine) May 2・9, 1996
{*7}西岡力 「闇に挑む！」 徳間文庫 1998/9 291頁Tsutomu_nishioka “Challenge the Darkness!” tokumabunko(Publisher) September,1998 P,291
{*8}Gisaeng ＝ Traditional prostitute in Korea
{*9}京都新聞 1997年12月16日夕刊kyoutosinnbun(newspaper) December 16, 1997（The evening paper）
{*10}西岡力 「闇に挑む！」 徳間文庫 1998/9 275頁Tsutomu_nishioka “Challenge the Darkness!” tokumabunko(Publisher) September,1998 P,275
{*11}西岡力 「闇に挑む！」 徳間文庫 1998/9 267頁Tsutomu_nishioka “Challenge the Darkness!” tokumabunko(Publisher) September,1998 P,267
Japanese made the Issue on comfort women into huge problem
Masaomi Ise, an editor and publisher of “Japan on the Globe” http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/jogindex.htm “Comfort Women” problem（Latter part）October 2, 1999
1. No documents showing the forced recruits was found Prime Minister Miyazawa promised to conduct the investigation to the President Roh Tae-Woo. On August 4, Chief Secretary of the Cabinet Kono announced the results of the government investigation that there were many incidents of kidnapping and forced recruit, and that in some cases, there was a direct involvement of government officials. Therefore, the existent of forced recruit became the official government opinion. For this announcement, the government not only extensively investigated the official documents, but also interviewed former comfort women. The US military reports that I quoted earlier were discovered during this investigation. Then, why did the government conclude that there had been direct involvement by government officials? The head of the politics deliberation room, Hirabayashi Hiroshi, conducted this investigation. On Jan. 30, 1997, he was asked by Congressman Katayama Toranosuke (of the Liberal Democratic Party) at the House of Councilors budget committee. He gave the following answer:
The government investigated twice. Some materials and testimonies were found. As far as the “forced recruit” problem that you indicated, we did not find any documents indicating the forced recruit of comfort women by the military nor the government officials. However, after comprehensive study, we concluded that some forced element existed. Therefore, we made that announcement. {*12}
2. Results after the comprehensive study
They concluded after the comprehensive study that the forced recruitment had existed even though they did not find any documents supporting their conclusion. How come they reached such a conclusion? Mr. Ishihara Nobuo who was the vice-chief of the cabinet secretariat gave the following explanation:
We did not find the evidence. We tried to find the individual who forcefully recruited comfort women, but we were unsuccessful. After all, we judged from the testimonies of 16 former Korean comfort women. The South Korean officials urged us to ” recognize their testimonies
for their honor.” There were neither convincible evidence nor testimonies, but we cannot help recognizing the “forcefulness” of recruits.
However, we never would have admitted if they were asking for compensation from Japan. In that case, we will ask for evidence from the careful investigation just like the regular court trials. We admitted it as a good will gesture after taking the relationship with Korea into consideration. We were criticized for admitting the “forcefulness” only from the testimonies of the former comfort women. We are well aware of that, and ready to be criticized. We do not make any excuses after the decision.” {*13}
The testimonies were not only heard in private but also unsubstantiated. However, the government officials admitted the “forcefulness” without sufficient evidence or testimony because of strong pleas from South Korean officials.
The hearing ended on July 30. Kono’s announcement was on Aug. 4, only five days after the end of the hearing. On the same day, all members of the Miyazawa administration resigned.
3. Japanese media had created anti-Japanese emotion among Korean
About the Korean Government’s strong request, at the meeting with other
Diet members, Mr. Ishihara said,
“It did not seemed to me that Korean Government was interested in talking about comfort women issue. They had no earthly ideas to put this issue on the table at the beginning. It had been so until one Japanese lawyer incited the issue among the Korean people. He was quite a successful instigator, and both Korean Congress & Government were forced to pay heed to the issue in a sharp about-face.” For first several years Korean government never fanned this problem, rather they did not want to bring this issue on the table. However, certain person in Japan went to different places and increased public attention to this problem, this person also influenced Japanese government to bring this topic to the congress. From all these effort comfort women became quite a problem, and at this point Korean government could no longer ignore this problem.{*14}
Mr. Ishihara remains the name of the Japanese lawyer as anonymous.
The former Korean President Roh Tae-Woo (盧泰愚), also acknowledges that Japanese media had originally provoked the comfort women issue. He said, “It also ”
“Japanese mass-media has created the Korean people’s wrath against Japanese people.” {*15}
No Tae-woo（盧泰愚）
He was born in Daegu（大邱） on September 4, 1932. He was the 13th President of South Korea（1988―1993）. With the outbreak of Korean war, he entered the army and worked as Secretary of airlift Special war brigade, Secretary of 9th Division and etc. In 1981, he retired from the army. Ron made a speech on June 29, 1987 promising a wide program of reforms including democratic constitution and popular election of the president（6.29Democratization declaration）. He won the election and became the country’s first democratically elected president.
In 1995 after his retirement, his hidden political funds was uncovered.
He was pursued his criminal responsibility for Gwangju massacre（光州事件） in which the government suppressed demos with weapons and served a jail sentence. In September of 1997, he was released from prison under an amnesty.
4. Japanese Lawyers also appeared in Indonesia
Kenichi Takagi (高木健一), who leads the lawsuit against the Japanese Government for South Korean comfort women, in together with 2 other Japanese lawyers arrived in Indonesia in 1993. It was the last shoe to drop. They put an advertisement on local newspapers for ex-comfort women to be compensated. This brought about the comfort women problem in Indonesia. {*16} Raharojo, the chairman of the society of former Indonesian assistant soldiers to Japanese Imperial Army (兵補協会) {*17}, who conducted a research for ex-comfort women, stated that the whole thing was delineated by Takagi. According to Shinzaburo Nakajima (中嶋慎三郎), representative of ASEAN, Raharojo pouted his lips and said that Japan should pay Yen 2,000,000- per an ex-comfort woman as compensation. In other words, it was announced that Yen 2,000,000- might be handed out to each Indonesian woman at once only if she admitted that she was an ex-comfort woman.Yen 2,000,000- was quite a big bonanza in Indonesia. With such amount of money, one can enjoy rest of life luxuriously without having a job. Over 22,000 women deluged the 3 Japanese lawyers with compensation. During WWII, only 20,000 Japanese soldiers were dispatched to Indonesia, however, 22,000 women proclaimed that they were all ex-comfort women. Chukyo TV, one of Japanese local broadcasting stations reported this brouhaha titled as “IANFU: the comfort women in Indonesia”. Jamal Ali, the Chairman of Indonesia Times, who had witnessed this TV program, was piqued and commented to Nakajima as follows: {*18}
“What a cockamamie it is! More than one Indonesian comfort women for one Japanese soldier? I am sure it is an oxymoron. This TV program is nothing but detrimental on Japanese-Indonesian relationship. Indonesians have been standing tall for not begging money from other nations including Dutch, which seized Indonesia for 360 years. ” {*19}
5. Tricks on the TV program
On the TV program, there was one Indonesian ex-comfort woman, in her local Indonesian language, stated that “Korean had gone right after the war and all the comfort women were left unpaid”.The particular comfort station that she had served for during the war
was run by a Korean operator, not by Japanese Imperial Army. However, the
Japanese superimposition put on the film by the TV reporter went; “Japanese had left Indonesian comfort women unpaid”.
6. Indonesian government ? Please sort out this mess, Japanese people. -
Indonesian Government promptly recognized that all those hoopla was unjust and could be negative for good relationship with Japan. It was initially considered done by Japanese Communist Party, which put a prior notice of the TV program on their bulletin paper. Inten Suweno, the Minister for Social Affairs of Indonesia had a press conference over the issue. His statement is as follows: {*20}
1）Government of Indonesia has never asked for compensations concerning for the issue.
2）There is no reason for Indonesian Government to decline Japanese Government ‘s monetary offer, however, the fund granted will not be paid to ex-comfort women. It will be used for improving the welfare of all the women in Indonesia.
3）It is a Government of Indonesia’s understanding that the war compensation by Japan had already settled at the agreement of 1958
With the strong resistance by Indonesian government, the lawyer Takagi’s
speculation was failed. After this press conference, several Indonesian
government officials told Mr. Nakajima as following.
“Japan was the one who brought this problem on comfort women, and this is really vicious action. This case shows that there are some groups intending to ruin the relationship between Japan and Indonesia through publicizing our shame and harming the honor of Indonesians. We will ask Japan to sort out this messy situation.”
7. Losing Public Attention
Several investigations on the issue were done. No evidence of coercive
sexual slavery conducted by Japanese Imperial Army was found. Proponents
who deprecated the result of the investigations, therefore, conspired to
restate the definition of “coercive”. Professor Yoshiaki Yoshimi of Chuo
University said, “”
If there are other options, none is willing to be a comfort woman. Even if it looks women’s own decision, actually the poverty and unemployment under Japanese occupation during the war forced those women coercively becoming comfort women. {*21}
Based on his theory that widens the definition of “forced recruiting”,
all prostitutes women on the streets nowadays are compulsively forced to
do their business. Very few people supported Professor Yoshimi’s theory,
and public interests on comfort women were lost quickly.
8. Proceedings in United Nations
Although the issue on comfort women was settled in Japan, accurate information did not quite spread worldwide. Using this uncertainty, attempts to scandalize the issue are still on going in the international community.On Feb 17th, 1992, Etsuro Totsuka (戸塚悦郎), a member of Bar Association of Japan, brought an indictment to United Nations Human Right Committee against Japanese Government for brushing aside the comfort women problems. It was just after the Prime Minister Miyazawa visited Korea.Mar 1996, Radhika Coomaraswamy Report was submitted to the Human Right Committee held in Geneva. Although her report mainly focused on the violence among family members, in its supplementary section, it also mentioned about expropriated women for sexual abuse by Japanese Military during WWII.Within the report, a folly statement of ex-comfort woman from North Korea, who claimed that she was expropriated at the age of 13 by Japanese Military, continues “One of my colleague, one day, complained that it was too much to make services more than 40 customers for a day to Commander Yamamoto. And she was tortured and killed by him. Moreover, he ordered me to chop the head off from the dead body, to boil and to serve it for him on a dish.” The woman who made this averment was born 1920. It was an ordinary period around in 1933 in Korea. There were no military comfort stations existed although there were some brothels run by private operators. Without such primitive verifications, three other zany, frothy and untrue statements were seen in the report.Although Mr. Totsuka, in cahoots with Mr. Shouji Motooka, a Japanese Diet member (former Socialist party, currently SDP) demonstrated in Geneva and lobbied the UN committee members against Japanese Government, they snapped their activities as the outpost of Ministry of Foreign affairs of Japan submitted the 40 pages of statement on absurd ex-comfort women’s avowals. UN Human Rights Committee concluded that it “will take note” on comfort women issue, which is a parlance in UN means “disregard”. Most of representatives from all over the world supported the conclusion. None raised a hue and cry except those from South Korea, North Korea, PRC and Philippines. {*22}
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights
One of the functional commissions, which belonged to ECOSOC in the UN, abbreviation: UNCHR. Its purpose was the promotion and protection of human rights in its cooperation. On March 15, 2006, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to replace UNCHR with the UN Human Right Council
9. Defense to war over information
Ms.Gay-Macdugal had investigated the violence against women in Yugoslavia during wartime. And she made the report in August ,1998． The attached document mentions the comfort women problem again. She recommended Japanese Government accusing of the personnel in charge of the “rape center” and the users of it. She also recommended making compensations to former comfort women. Japanese Government however regards these as her personal opinions based on her wrecked ideas than official recommendations because UN Human Rights committee dose not deem a comfort house as a “rape center”. August 2000, assemblies of the State of California also mistakenly resolved that they urge Japanese Government to make apologies to former comfort women in addition to the victims of coercive labor of prisoners in war and Nanking. {*23} In addition, the book “Rape of Nanking” written by Iris Chang influenced quite match to passing of this bill. For publishing the book, Chang was strongly supported by Chinese American groups that Chinese government sponsored.
☆JOG(60) China’s diplomatic tactics in Nanking propaganda
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/jogbd_h10_2/jog060.html
The issues on “Nanking” and the “comfort women” share the same mechanism. Both were conspired to ruin the relationship between Japan and two countries. “Nanking” was set up by Chang’s book in the U.S. to bother Japan-U.S. alliance. The “comfort women” was plotted when Japan and South Korea started to setup friendship. This means blaming on the attitudes of the U.S. or South Korea against these issues without careful verification makes China’s conspiracy effective.
Threatens that affect national security are not only weapons like missiles or spy ships. Information war is rather a new form of warfare we must recognize. Anti-Japanese forces inside and outside Japan are cooperating to launch such attacks continuously. It is essential to defend the country from propaganda by enemies to maintain country’s reputation and good relationship with other countries.
Notes
{*12}太子堂経慰 「慰安婦強制連行はなかった」 展転社 1999/2 204頁Tsuneyasu_Taishidou “There was no abduction of comfort women” Tendensha(Publisher) February, 1999 P,204
{*13}櫻井よしこ“密約外交の代償”「文塾春秋」平成9年4月号Sakurai_Yoshiko “Price of Secret Diplomacy ” Bungeishunju(Monthly periodical) April, 1997 issue
{*14}若手議員の会編 「歴史教科書への疑問」、日本の前途と歴史教育を考える 展転社 1997/12/23 314頁the meeting of junior lawmakers “Question to the History Textbook; Discuss Japanese outlook and the education of history” Tendensha(Publisher) December 23, 1997 P,314
{*15}「文芸春秋」 平成５年３月号Bungeishunju(Monthly periodical) March, 1993 issue
{*16}中嶋慎三郎 「日本人が捏造したインドネシア慰安婦」 祖国と青年 1996/12ASEAN center Shinzaburo_Nakajima ”Indonesian comfort women was forged by Japanese” Sokokutoseinensha (Organization paper) Nihonseinenkyougikai (Publisher) December, 1996
{*17}Heiho (兵補) = Supplementary soldiers who was recruited from indigenous people, mainly from Indonesia, in order to enhance and support Japanese military force in the battle of southern Asia (the Greater East Asia War) Reference) ［series of history of the war（senshisousho:戦史叢書） 102, the chronological charts of military and naval forces: attachment, explanation of military words and terms.
{*18}日本テレビ系列「NNNドキュメント’96」の96年9月29日、放送分From TV program”NNN Document 96″ broadcasted by NIPPON TELEVISION on September 29, 1996
{*19} This is the comments that Shinsaburo Nakajima who has been a close friend of chairman Ali directly heard from him. The comments come from “Indonesian comfort women who was made up by Japanese”
{*20}1996年11月14日、情報省ビル会議室の記者会見にてSummarized from press conference in the building of the Indonesian Ministry of Information in Nov 14, 1996 by Menteri Sosial Inten Suweno.
{*21} 吉見義明 「従軍慰安婦」 岩波新書 1995/4 103頁Yoshiaki_yoshimi “Comfort Women” iwanamishinsho(Publisher) April, 1995 P,103
{*22}秦郁彦 「慰安婦の戦場の性」 新潮選書 1999/6Ikuhiko_hata “Nature of Comfort Women in the Battle Filed” shinchousensho(Publisher) June,1999
{*23}産経新聞 1999/08/27 東京朝刊 4頁 国際２面Sankei(newspaper) August 27, 1999（Tokyo morning newspaper) P,4
Truth of Comfort Women-Verification(Non-translation)-
Truth of Comfort Women- plot -
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