Nikon’s canceled “comfort women” photo exhibition continues to make headlines

Nikon’s canceled “comfort women” photo exhibition continues to make headlines

CNN published this video report on the canceled "comfort women" photo exhibition by Ahn Sehong that was supposed to take place in the Nikon Salon gallery in Tokyo. The exhibition was canceled by Nikon without any explanations.


http://www.petapixel.com/2012/06/12/nikon-in-hot-water-after-canceling-wwii-comfort-women-exhibit/
Nikon In Hot Water After Canceling WWII “Comfort Women” Exhibit
DL Cade · Jun 12, 2012

Nikon found themselves at the center of a controversy this last weekend after they decided to cancel a sensitive photography exhibit without giving a reason why. The exhibit, a photographic documentary on the theme of “Comfort Women” (Korean women used as sex slaves during WWII in Japan), was put together by Korean photographer Ahn Sehong and set to start on June 26th at the Nikon Salon in Tokyo — until Nikon cancelled it.

Many are now protesting the decision — including the Japan Visual Journalists Association, CNN, The Japan Daily Press and The Japan Times — calling it a “betrayal of women” and claiming that Nikon is allowing certain Japanese extremists to play down their war crimes, something that CNN points out is nothing new. An online protest has started in response to the cancellation complete with a petition and an open letter from Sehong himself. If you’d like more information, or would like to help support Sehong’s exhibit, click here to sign his petition and learn more about the “Comfort Women.”

Forgotten faces: Japan’s comfort women (via 1001 Noisy Cameras)


http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120524p2g00m0dm105000c.html

Nikon axes comfort women photo exhibition
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nikon Corp. cancelled a photo exhibition on "comfort women" forced into wartime sex slavery by the Japanese military after a string of messages protesting it were posted on Internet bulletin boards, the company and the organizers said Thursday.

A South Korean photographer, An Se Hong, 41, planned to display 38 photos of former comfort women from Korea who had been left behind in China after the war, at Nikon's exhibition hall in Tokyo from June 26 to July 9.

But Nikon on Tuesday told An, who lives in Nagoya, it has decided to ax the event, without giving specific reasons, and that its officials hope to visit An to apologize.

Some of the bulletin board messages read, "A boycott of Nikon products should be organized" and "Let's make protesting phone calls to Nikon in chorus to make it give up the treacherous act."

While admitting the company has faced several protests, a Nikon official said, "All we can say about the cancellation is we have reached the conclusion by examining various factors comprehensively."

One of the organizers said, "We cannot accept the one-sided cancellation."

In a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda earlier this month, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak indicated he expects Japan to deal with the issue of compensation for the comfort women. Noda responded, "I would like to think seriously (about the issue) with you."

May 24, 2012(Mainichi Japan)


Photo exhibition of 'comfort women' canceled after protests
Asahi Shinbun newspaper
May 24, 2012

By HWANG CHUL/ Staff Writer
Nikon Corp. officials canceled a photo exhibition of former "comfort women" in Tokyo but denied the decision was the result of angry protests that spread from the Internet to the camera manufacturer.

"While it is a fact that we received several phone calls protesting the holding of the photo exhibition, the cancellation was decided on after comprehensively considering various circumstances,” a Nikon official told The Asahi Shimbun. “We cannot comment on the specific contents of the protests nor on the number we received."

The photos of the Korean women, who were abandoned in China after the end of World War II, were taken by Ahn Se-hong, a South Korean who lives in Nagoya.

An organizing committee that includes Ahn, 41, planned to hold the exhibition at the Shinjuku Nikon Salon in Tokyo between June 26 and July 9. A committee in charge of operating the salon consisting of photographers and other individuals initially approved the project after an application was submitted last December.

But Ahn was told on May 22 by a Nikon official that the exhibition had been scrapped. The photographer is now demanding answers.

"We cannot accept the cancellation because we have not yet received a convincing explanation from Nikon," Ahn said.

Ahn quoted the Nikon official as saying, "I cannot say what the reason is, but we want to go to Nagoya to apologize to you."

The photo exhibition would have featured about 40 photos taken by Ahn since 2001 in various parts of China. The 12 women he met were forced to provide sexual services for Imperial Japanese Army troops during World War II and were abandoned in China after the war ended.

Of the 12, seven have since died.

Ahn held a talk on the photos in Nagoya on May 19, apparently without incident.

But from around May 21, postings about the exhibition became more frequent on Internet bulletin boards. One posting described the exhibition as propaganda by a foreign nation, while another said it was an act of betrayal that would only serve to falsify history.

Other postings called for sending the protests to Nikon.

By HWANG CHUL/ Staff Writer

http://www.kinyobi.co.jp/kinyobinews/?p=2127
写真展中止、ネット上では個人情報も漏洩――右翼の誹謗中傷に屈したニコン

2012 年 6 月 19 日 5:04 PM | カテゴリー: 社会 | by admin |
タグ:ニコン, ベンジャミン・イシュマル, 中止, 写真展, 右翼, 国境なき記者団, 安世鴻, 慰安婦, 新宿ニコンサロン

展示されるはずだった作品を手にする安世鴻さん（撮影／瀬川牧子）

ニコンから届いた「お詫び」文書のコピー（撮影／瀬川牧子）


カメラのニコンは世界中の写真家、写真愛好家の間で愛されているメーカーだ。それゆえ、五月末に各メディアを駆けめぐった名古屋在住の韓国人、写真ドキュメンタリー作家、安世鴻さん（四一歳）の写真展を一方的に中止したニュースは言論・表現の自由に対する裏切り行為そのものと受け止めた人が多かったに違いない。

報道の自由を擁護する国際ジャーナリスト団体「国境なき記者団」のアジア太平洋局長、ベンジャミン・イシュマル氏は五月三一日、「展示会中止に対しての情報統制を非難する」との正式なコメントを出し、「ニコンという民間企業がナショナリスト的扇動の外圧を受け入れ、検閲に加担したということは大変遺憾である」と述べた。

六月に予定されていた新宿ニコンサロンでの写真展「重重―中国に残された朝鮮人元日本軍『慰安婦』の女性たち」。中止の理由としてニコン側は「諸般の事情を総合的に考慮」（五月二四日付文書）とし、今回の写真展だけでなく九月の大阪ニコンサロンでの展示のキャンセルまでも一方的に告げた。安さんはその後、ニコン側と文書でやりとりする。筆者が三〇日にニコン広報に電話で聞くと、最後になってようやく「個々の中身は言えないが、抗議の電話、メールがかなりあった」とし、右翼側からの働きかけによって中止を決定したことを事実上認めた。

実際、五月二五日には東京・有楽町のニコン本社前で、「主権回復を目指す会」が、「祝！　安世鴻写真展中止！　写真展中止は国益に適った判断」との横断幕を掲げ集合。ネットの掲示板でも写真展に関して、「売国行為をやめよう」「ニコンに不買運動すべき」「抗議電話して売国行為やめさせよう」などと非難する声明や誹謗中傷する声が掲載された。

問題はさらに続いた。写真展中止に関するニュースが流れ始めて二日後の五月二六日、安さんの個人情報がネット上に漏洩。安さんとその家族の身の安全にまでも深い影を落とし始めた。

今回の展示作品は、戦後中国に置き去りにされた旧日本軍の韓国人元従軍「慰安婦」らを被写体としたもの。九〇歳以上の一二人の元慰安婦らが写真に収まっている。「忘れ去られた女性らを覚えていてほしい」との思いが撮影の動機で、「これのどこが政治的プロパガンダなのだ！」と安さんは怒りに身体を震わせて言う。

「外圧によって写真展を中止したニコンの対応は将来、写真家に『この写真ならニコンには展示できるかできないか』と考えさせる余地を与え、結果として表現の自由が消えていくことが懸念される」

表現の自由だけでなく、この国には品位も見識もないのか。

（瀬川牧子・ジャーナリスト、６月８日号）