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In U.S., 'comfort woman' demands apology from Japan

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Woman! Free your heart from the chains of the past. You are nothing but a puppet of the S.Korean government. Live the rest of your life out of politics. Even if your claims were true, you should be satisfied with the peaceful life you have with your family.

-49 ( +20 / -69 )

If U.S. wants to get involved on the Korean comfort women issue, Obama needs to clarify the 1965 treaty between Japan and Korea. Korean goverment already received millions as demanded, and are you going back to the accuser 50 years later and say "it's not enough, give us more money and another apology"? Average Korean citizens didn't even know until declassification in 2005 file (which is 40 years later) that Koreans learned for the first time that Japan had actually paid reparations and that their own Korean government had used up most of the reparations designated for individual compensation.

-1 ( +23 / -24 )

The term 'Comfort women' is a vile euphemism for the forced sexual slavery of women and is further insult to the people who had to suffer the ignominy of their imprisonment and torture at the hands of the JIA in the first place. In fact, it is of itself a further form of abuse imo.

Despite seven decades of distance, the delicate issue of comfort women remains highly sensitive in Asia.

Not just Asia, European and Australian women also watch with interest as the contemporary Japanese government skate on very thin historical ice over the issue. I've said this before, but what Japan fully fails to realise is that the majority of people are prepared to forgive the atrocities of a militarised Imperial Japan of 70 odd years ago - but certainly not forget they happened. Whilst modern Japan has managed to veil itself from it's past, the rest of the world is fully cognizent of it and will not allow people like Shinzo Abe to attempt to revise it.

23 ( +35 / -12 )

Here it is:

From the official website of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA):

Letter from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the former comfort women

The Year of 2001

Dear Madam,

On the occasion that the Asian Women's Fund, in cooperation with the Government and the people of Japan, offers atonement from the Japanese people to the former wartime comfort women, I wish to express my feelings as well.

The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women.

As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women. We must not evade the weight of the past, nor should we evade our responsibilities for the future.

I believe that our country, painfully aware of its moral responsibilities, with feelings of apology and remorse, should face up squarely to its past history and accurately convey it to future generations.

Furthermore, Japan also should take an active part in dealing with violence and other forms of injustice to the honor and dignity of women.

Finally, I pray from the bottom of my heart that each of you will find peace for the rest of your lives.

Respectfully yours,

Junichiro Koizumi Prime Minister of Japan Back to Index

29 ( +33 / -4 )

Tons of children are raped around the world, TODAY, by businessmen of all nationalities, included S.Korean men. But some governments care more about something happened 70 years ago than what is happening to children now. Many children are abused and killed in wars started by Nato. They don't get any apologies from the governments involved in these wars. This shows you how hypocritical politics is.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

I will note that congress does not necessarily agree or disagree with this woman's demands. Just please keep your poo flinging out of the US Capitol, Japan and Korea.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Now isn’t that interesting? Once it became South Korea’s responsibilty to compensate any losses due to Japan’s colonial rule miraculously any losses had already been compensated. And ever since early 2000's Korea has been trying to find ways to pass their financial responsibility back to Japan. If Korea had agreed back in 1965 for Japan to handle individual compensation, as Japan had first suggested, Japan would have immediately publicized, and given claimants a deadline by which to submit claims with substantiating evidence. Japan would have honored the claim. But based on the Treaty it was up to the South Korean government to set up these measures. It didn’t happen. Japan had no control over who was head of Korea’s government nor the form of government at the time of the treaty of 1965. Japan made billions in reparations in good faith to the Korean government instead of to individuals because that’s the way the Korean government wanted it. The Korean government was supposed to pay our individual reparations. It was not Japan’s fault that Park Chung-hee used the money for infrastructure instead. Until recently, many Koreans didn’t even know that Japan paid reparations.

15 ( +21 / -6 )

I will note that congress does not necessarily agree or disagree with this woman's demands.

Apparently US government need S.Korea money, ahaha. :P

-23 ( +7 / -29 )

An age-old resentment that Koreans stubbornly hang on to.

-18 ( +14 / -32 )

Apart from the fact that Japan has already apologized many times, you cannot just have any kind of pressure group demanding the PM will say so-and-so in an upcoming speech. Maybe victims of Fukushima will demand Abe will talk about the crisis, maybe the Philippine government wants Abe to talk more about military cooperation, etc etc. Abe, like the man or not, is the PM of Japan, and his speech in Congress is about Japan and the U.S. Other parties cannot intervene beforehand and trying to change the speech.

-1 ( +14 / -15 )

Please, enough. Just let it go. I don't condone what Japan did, but how many times do they have to apologize and make payments? When will it be over, when all the victims are dead? Even then, will their families keep it going?

-9 ( +15 / -24 )

If what she and other Korean comfort women have been saying is 100% truth (beating, rape, electric shock, etc), it is unbearably awful.

If not, it is also unbearably awful.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

I think this woman should consider "Other Comfort Women" as well. And if she wants a lawsuit and bring justice she should work with "Other Comfort women" for the sake of entire women. Otherwise, it simply looks POLITICS, because they are screening victimized women depending on who abused them.

US goverment never apologized to Korean comfort women after WW2. Or never even recognized the fact these poor korean women were exploited sexually, and some of them were even killed by occupasion army.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/11/us-southkorea-usa-military-idUSKBN0FG0VV20140711

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jlfAqR8uBc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhqhLwptwp0

Build the statues in US to show remorse, and write this in american high school text book as a shame. Never try to whitewash the history!

2 ( +9 / -7 )

sensei258: "Please, enough. Just let it go."

Where were you on the thread about the Tokyo firebombing when the victims were saying they don't want people to forget, and want the governments to acknowledge what happened? Where are you on the threads about the families of North Korean abductees wanting to know about their relatives? Where are you on the Hiroshima/Nagasaki memorial threads when people say "We can never forget"?

It's funny how people are selective in demanding who move on from what. Maybe Abe will be the honorable man that he claims to be and meet this woman face to face and admit he is deeply remorseful.

12 ( +27 / -16 )

Woman! Free your heart from the chains of the past. You are nothing but a puppet of the S.Korean government.

Yeah, because it's not like she'd have a strong opinion after having been kept as a sex slave when she was a teenager. Her opinion of course is all political, and definitely nothing to do with such a minor infraction such as being repeatedly raped.

24 ( +28 / -5 )

It seems that any kinds of diplomatic agreements or treaties (with Japan) would be nothing for South Korea. In fact South Korean soldiers have done same thing more or less to Vietnam people during the war, so far no apology and compensation to Vietnam, but Japan did several times in the past.

-4 ( +9 / -13 )

Draw the line here. Just because Abe will be visiting DC, gives then no right. Just because there are hundreds of thousands people (korean descent) in the US gives them no right.

Let Abe do his business. Resolve the US bases and upgrade the US/JPN security framework. He only need apologize for The "comfort women" where it matters. Not in the US.

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

The values, traditions and attitudes that a nation or a government inherits from its ancestors do not die that soon or that easily.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

They were sex slave, not comfort women, Japan has to apology so that American will stop thinking they were massage specialists. It is good chance Abe to apology to these ladies/ Sex slave is proper American English.

5 ( +18 / -13 )

The Korean government was supposed to pay our individual reparations. It was not Japan’s fault that Park Chung-hee used the money for infrastructure instead.

To be fair, overall for the Koreans, that was probably a good call. It is one of those decisions you can make only because you are not a democracy.

Lee Yong-Soo recalled being snatched from her home by Japanese soldiers in 1944 at age 16.

In a court case, Lee Yong-Soo would be required to show some proof such a thing actually happened. I'm not saying it can't have happened, but she's just asserting here.

She survived a harrowing boat journey to Taiwan, only to be held at a Japanese military brothel for two years, where she was raped, beaten and tortured by electric shock.

If she was "snatched" in January 1944, that would still be only 1 year and 8 months before the surrender, not 2 years. Hmm...

“I was almost dead,” she said.

For someone who suffered such, you sure seem to be living quite well. Living to 87, being able to travel to the States ... not bad.

-13 ( +12 / -25 )

It seems to be becoming a Korean trend to demand an apology every time a different prime minister is in office. Ridiculous.

-5 ( +14 / -19 )

@sfjp330

Korean goverment already received millions as demanded, and are you going back to the accuser 50 years later and say "it's not enough, give us more money and another apology"?

I don't see anywhere in the article where this poor woman is asking for money. She does, however, ask for an apology. Koizumi's apology (if the copy paste above is 100% accurate), acknowledging the involvement of the Japanese military, should be enough in my eyes. However, his apology has been undone by Abe denying basically everything Koizumi said. Apologies don't count for anything if the next PM can just come along and say "no, that was all wrong".

People are entitled (stupid as they may be) to their own opinions, but as the leader of a country Abe should know that to backtrack on previous apologies is worse than Japan never having apologized at all. It creates a feeling of insincerity which goes against the spirit of the Japanese people. And once it's been done once, what is to prevent it being done again? Even if the next PM apologizes, people such as this woman in the article will rightfully still be worried that the next Japanese PM will just recant the apology or deny everything in in.

18 ( +28 / -10 )

Some governments care more about something happened 70 years ago than what is happening to many children today. Tons of children are abused and killed in wars started by Nato. They don't get any apologies from the governments involved in these wars. This shows you how hypocritical politics is. I'm sorry for these Korean women but it's evident they are used according to their country political agenda.

-15 ( +6 / -20 )

“I’m not going to die until we resolve this issue,” the diminutive 87 year old told reporters in the U.S. Capitol.

Unfortunately, thats exactly what the Japanese govt is betting against, and the odds are pretty good. When the last one has died, Japan can finally say, "it never happened, there is no proof".

By the way, there is a special rung in hell reserved for those who call an 87 year old who was repeatedly raped by the worst scum possible "an attention seeking drama-queen".

11 ( +20 / -9 )

The issue has built-up too long. For as long as Japan denies these allegations, only articulates that it indeed actually happened.

More statues?

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

I believe that our country... should face up squarely to its past history and accurately convey it to future generations.

@Ishiwara

I am glad you posted the apology issued by former PM Koizumi in 2001. In my opinion, it is very well worded. I just wish the current GOJ would stick to it rather than betray it, both in terms of their words and actions. They have reneged on this important mandate, and brought shame to Japan.

Sadly, Japan as a nation, and particularly PM Abe and his cabinet, have failed miserably with respect to efforts by educators and politicians in "fac[ing] up squarely to [Japan's] past history and accurately convey[ing] it to future generations."

Still, I for one do not want to see an apology from PM Abe because it would be a forced apology, not sincere. Also, the PM denies Japan's past misdeeds, so any acknowledgement by him of those atrocities would not reflect his true beliefs. I do not believe in demanding apologies from others.

I must say, I find it very disappointing that many opinions I hear in Japan reflect this same denialism, and the notion that the IJA was a benevolent liberator/occupier throughout Asia, and that Japan is a misunderstood hapless victim, not aggressor, of the war. This prevailing mindset is very evident from the Japanese public's lack of outrage, and strong support for PM Abe and other nationalist leaders.

5 ( +13 / -8 )

Korean goverment already received millions as demanded, and are you going back to the accuser 50 years later and say "it's not enough, give us more money and another apology"?

The sex slaves were not recognised by the 1965 treaty. They have never received a direct apology (apart from the Kono statement). Mr Abe certainly owes them one

2 ( +14 / -12 )

Tons of children are abused and killed in wars started by Nato

Cursed fermented soy beans!

1 ( +5 / -5 )

What if Abe meets this woman and showed agony over how Japan's past reparations handed to some tin pot military dictator of South Korea, in a treaty sanctioned by international law and conventions, never reached her, and will urge the Diet to make it up to her in the South Korean government's steed.

That's how to hit two birds with one stone, son.

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

The sex slaves were not recognised by the 1965 treaty.

South Korea says this but the 1965 treaty for diplomatic normalization says no more further demands to Japan after the full compensation and apology. That's why Japan says the case was closed in 1965.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

"Lee Yong-Soo recalled being snatched from her home by Japanese soldiers in 1944 at age 16."

So the Japanese Imperial Army was guilty of kidnapping a child, and then forcing her to have sex with soldiers.

Now, if only Abe would acknowledge this and express regret...

3 ( +11 / -8 )

Abe should know that to backtrack on previous apologies is worse than Japan never having apologized at all.

@Mlodinow

Well said.

8 ( +13 / -5 )

He only need apologize for The "comfort women" where it matters. Not in the US.

It's obvious that US is involved. Koreans alone cannot do without US help Japan bashing in USA: Bashing Japan in most English language American papers like NYT; Erecting comfort women statues in many states of USA: Changing the name of Sea of Japan to Korean name; Newly adding "Comfort women" in US school textbook by McGlowhill.

But US recently started changing its stance a little bit, thus the first Japan PM's address.

-21 ( +5 / -25 )

Kinda difficult to accept any apology from a dishonest nation whos textbooks and politicians routinely deny that these women were sexually enslaved. Japan should seriously grow up and start telling the truth.

2 ( +11 / -9 )

I have complete sympathy and support for this wronged woman's desire for a just outcome.

I do not have one iota of sympathy or support for Korean-Americans acting as surrogate lobbyists for South Korea; if you're an American citizen and you want to raise a foreign agenda, you have no business doing so unless you are legally registered as an agent of a foreign entity.

-6 ( +5 / -11 )

I don't want see Abe forcibly apologizing and I don't want to see another Japanese apology that will be withdrawn by somebody else.

How about Japan pass an apology in the Diet, as a irreversable law? Just like the US congress did when they passed the bill apologizing to the Japanese Americans for their internment during WWII.

See that could never happen because there's too many in Japan who say they have done nothing wrong, so they would be up in arms if that ever happens.

Why would this woman just die already and just won't go away? Why is it so important that she gets an apology from Japan? Well.. that's because there are more and more people who claim it never happened. She wants to see that those same denialist people cannot deny what happened after she dies.

0 ( +9 / -9 )

Let's embrace the truth here.

We can clear the air.

We can't hide that Military Imperialist usurpers robbed women of their dignity regardless of nationality. We all must acknowledge those monsters are long out of power. Politicians should stop trying to promote this hate 70 years later for their personal gain.

We did great harm ourselves trying to prevent worst terrors. It was war and errors were made.

This woman deserves her dignity back. Abe can apologize to her. That's a good first step.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

How about Japan pass an apology in the Diet, as a irreversable law? Just like the US congress did when they passed the bill apologizing to the Japanese Americans for their internment during WWII.

That apology only offered each victim US$20,000 (circa 1990) and a memorial museum on the site of one of the former camps in the middle of nowhere. Did it revive the once thriving Little Tokyo in California? nope. Did it give back the land and other property the Nisseis had to forcibly sell at discounted prices before they were given marching orders to their cozy camps? nope. Yes by all means Japan should follow this example when dealing with the Koreans who had their lives ruined.

-9 ( +3 / -12 )

What if Abe meets this woman and showed agony over how Japan's past reparations handed to some tin pot military dictator of South Korea, in a treaty sanctioned by international law and conventions, never reached her

She's not interested in blood money. She wants an open, frank admission from Japan of its wrong-doing, and for part of their textbooks to include references to sex slaves

3 ( +12 / -9 )

These women do not want cash. They want acknowledgement. Simple as that.

The Japanese government is also mistaken if they believe this issue will disappear once all the victims pass. If anything, they're pouring more fuel into the fire. As we speak, hundreds of thousands of protesters all across the world are marching against Turkey's denial of the armenian genocide. 130,000 in L.A., over 100,000 in Hollywood, etc.

The armenian genocide happened 100 years ago. Why is it being brought up right now? Because Turkey like Japan denies any and all responsibility. Japan with its perpetually declining national power is setting up a major backlash against the rest of the world. Like I said earlier, they're pour fuel into the fire.

Why is it so difficult to behave like Germany and just get it over with it?

4 ( +11 / -7 )

She's not interested in blood money. She wants an open, frank admission from Japan of its wrong-doing, and for part of their textbooks to include references to sex slaves

Strange that, it's natural for the Japanese to follow Western trends on appearance and it's certainly the trend these days for Western countries to reflect on the ills of their colonial past but Japan isn't buying it. We just want Japanese kids to understand that their country can do some really nasty things (which they should naturally get as 'bad') and contemplate how to prevent such acts from happening again. But what's to expect from a country that buries controversy as opposed to addressing them. I don't mind listening to what deniers have to say if it includes critical analysis, but it's not happening.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

As other posters have said, this is NOT about money... I'm just afraid that even if Abe did apologize, his words would ring "hollow" - just like his nasty little "extreme right" brain...

10 ( +13 / -3 )

I’m not going to die until we resolve this issue,” the diminutive 87 year old told reporters in the U.S. Capitol.

Stand strong, Ms. Lee. Many are with you.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

I wonder what you all are getting worked up about when it's clearly apparent that Abe won't ever apologize.

Even if he did apologize now, there is no way that he'd be actually be sincere about that, would he? The only thing which we can hope for is that the next government does better than him.

Also, something else to throw out there is that there were also Koreans in the Imperial Japanese Army, who used those comfort women on a regular basis. Park's father was also an officer in said army.

After thinking about it for a while, the comfort women must have had the worst luck. First, they knew that some of their abusers were Koreans themselves, then their own government denies them money in favor of rebuilding infrastructure.

Betrayed by their people and neglected by their country. That's some really heavy stuff if you think about it.

-2 ( +5 / -7 )

“I’m not going to die until we resolve this issue,”

I know that this may not be a popular opinion, but c'mon...Japan has already issued countless apologies, and to live out the rest of your years feeling bitter and demanding apology after apology is just sad. So what if Abe issues another formal apology, how is that going to change your life? Are you even going to be satisfied by it? Get over it already. Spend the rest of your days reflecting on the positive life experiences rather than the negative parts. Yeah, it sucked. And Japan was wrong for doing it, but you are not doing yourself nor your children any good by being so bitter and hateful. Most of the people whom you are demanding an apology from (including Abe) weren't even alive back then, and as I said earlier, Japan has already issued a formal apology, so just move forward already.

-9 ( +5 / -14 )

Here is her statement that had changed from receiving presents and following a man to being taken at gun point.

http://warehouse9.blogspot.jp/

Not worthy of taking her statement at full value.

-7 ( +8 / -15 )

I am not a comfort woman

So you're not a comfort woman but you were a comfort woman?? scratch head

-10 ( +6 / -16 )

The most baffling aspect of this to me is WHY do people like Abe skate around the issue of "apology" I mean, why does he feel so close to people that were so far away in terms of mindset and operation. I understand family ties but, Japan...how long are you willing to be tied to the mistakes of generations before ye?

Ret....it.....GO.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Here is her statement that had changed from receiving presents and following a man to being taken at gun point.

http://warehouse9.blogspot.jp/

Not worthy of taking her statement at full value.

Go figure, her story changes quite a lot over the years.

So much for being

an honorable daughter of Korea

I have lost all sympathy for her when she can't even be truthful.

-9 ( +5 / -14 )

They should stop calling them 'comfort women'. They should call them what they really were, 'kidnapped sex slaves'.

12 ( +18 / -6 )

@SamuraiBlue

Aw, I thought of the exact same link but I wasn't gonna put it up here.

Okay, everyone. Party is over. We'll be back when she gets her story straight.

(This thread is now closed.)

-13 ( +6 / -19 )

We'll be back when she gets her story straight.

Her story is as straight as an arrow. As are those from Filipino, Australian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indonesian, and other Korean sex slaves

12 ( +19 / -6 )

There were comfort women and there were sex slaves. There are always prostitutes hanging around armies for obvious reasons.

However this woman was not a comfort woman or a prostitute. She was a sex slave. And there were many more like her.

But Abe and his ilk cannot apologize for the IJA having the system. They did not control that system. However, they can and must apologize for their constant denials that the IJA had that sex slave system. That is their modern day crime.

6 ( +9 / -4 )

(from tinawatanabe): "It's obvious that US is involved. Koreans alone cannot do without US help Japan bashing in USA: Bashing Japan in most English language American papers like NYT; Erecting comfort women statues in many states of USA: Changing the name of Sea of Japan to Korean name; Newly adding "Comfort women" in US school textbook by McGlowhill."

Japan is always the 'victim' in her books, in some world-wide orchestrated drama started by SK and China and now forced on the US so that everyone can 'bash Japan' instead of loving Japan like they should. Forget the fact that she's wrong and the US didn't change the name from Sea of Japan to 'Korean name', they simply added the Korean name so that both are represented. Forget about the fact that they didn't 'newly add' comfort women to US textbooks, but that Japanese DIPLOMATS demanded the history textbooks of other nations be changed (Japan is the victim here!).

All of these people who were kidnapped, forced into work, military service, raped, or just flat out murdered for fun by the IJA were "all eager volunteers who were employed by benevolent Japan in it's mission to liberate and defend Asia" to these posters.

13 ( +16 / -3 )

Smith it was the work of our ancestors! We the children of war criminals are not responsible for their condition. So you think the children and grandchildren of war criminals are just as guilty? Why should the current innocent Japan have to apologize to them? We are INNOCENT of war crimes. All we can do is head into the future and do things right. The guilty generation has already apologized and that is enough for me.

-13 ( +5 / -19 )

So you think the children and grandchildren of war criminals are just as guilty? Why should the current innocent Japan have to apologize to them?

@YuriOtani

I'm pretty sure @smithjapan said nothing of the sort.

Instead of putting words into his mouth, why don't you find something he specifically said and give clear reasons why you refute his view. That would show much more sincerity.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Should say "she survived a harrowing boat journey to Japan-0ccupied Taiwan.. " 1895 to 1945 taiwan was overseas colony of Japan

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Furan

As if the Japanese never done such acts on their people either... yeah think hard cuz it's some heavy stuff for you to gulp too. It's probably that mentality that somehow Japan is clean of any single wrongdoing is what makes some of these people frustrated. After all, Japanese are humans too and not some super beings that only do things right.

Guess it's okay for Japanese history to keep changing it's story in text books over the years, but for a traumatized woman that probably have been struggling to forget the past, it's unforgivable and should be called out unreliable.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

we can only speculate until next week to see what actually will be the content of the address. since it is the first one, the PM can correct things now and apologize boldly, or risk the continual shame it have to bear, and/or the anger and distrust from its regional or international partners.

as the saying goes, if you humble yourself, you will be exalted.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Sensato, he demands an apology from modern day Japan. We modern Japan are innocent of these crimes. Our ancestors did those vile deeds. Why should we take ownership of our ancestors sins? So when he demands a apology from today's Japan he is accusing us of the sins of our ancestors. The guilty ancestors were hung by the neck until dead and their ashes dumped into Tokyo Bay. The government of that time sent apologies and paid compensation to victims, so case closed.

-10 ( +3 / -13 )

DisillusionedApr. 25, 2015 - 12:09PM JST

They should stop calling them 'comfort women'. They should call them what they really were, 'kidnapped sex slaves'.

What should we call the volunteer prostitutes?

-5 ( +2 / -8 )

The story of wartime sexual slavery must be remembered not for bashing Japan but for preventing the phenomenon. By denying the facts, Abe sets back Japan's prestige and undercuts its credibility for contemporary moral leadership when Japan has a high reputation.

Abe is really the person bashing Japan.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

For good return good, for evil return justice.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

"We modern Japan are innocent of these crimes. Our ancestors did those vile deeds."

But you're generation is also the same generation that is defending your ancestor's vile deeds, and denying that your ancestors did anything wrong. So when that happens, as far as I'm concerned, you are the same. Your ancestors did those, but your Japanese generation of today is increasingly thinking like Mr. Abe. By refusing to admit the truth and dealing with it, your generation is no better than those who did the vile deeds, because you approve of the deeds.

"Japan has already issued countless apologies"

Enough of this common nonsense. Mr Murayama apologized. Mr Kono apologized. Mr whoever apologized. All as private Japanese citizens, nowhere in their apologies, does it mention that "all of Japan" officially recognizes the comfort women and that Japan issues an official apology. This is what people like Abe has used to undermine the personal apologies by some Japanese statesmen. His logic goes something like this:

"Those apologies? That's their opinion - they don't represent me or all of Japan. How could Japan have apologized for something when we didn't do anything wrong?".

3 ( +8 / -5 )

That apology only offered each victim US$20,000 (circa 1990) and a memorial museum on the site of one of the former camps in the middle of nowhere.

That's a case where the US still did far far more for to the address the Japanese Americans, than what Japan ever did for the sex slave women that they raped and then mass murdered. These women are the lucky ones who survived. The mast majority of sex slaves were either murdered by their Japanese enslavers or killed in the battle fronts. Yet these Japanese deniers have the gull to risen to all time big proportions. I support this woman in the face of these deniers who are increasingly becoming the face of Japan.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Hotmail, most Japanese will admit to our ancestors crimes. It is just that we do not like being constantly reminded of our ancestors crimes. FYI the Japanese set up "comfort stations" on Okinawa and no the women were not prostitutes. The people of Okinawa have never received any apology or compensation.

As for your demands it is spiting hairs. No apology from Japan will be good enough for you. As for Honest Abe, he disgraces only himself and his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (which is neither liberal or democratic). It is backed by the American government. The only reason they win elections is because Japan has not redistricted as the population has shifted. The people in the cities are not properly represented.

Again and again, Honest Abe and his cronies do NOT represent the majority of people in Japan.

-6 ( +5 / -11 )

Again and again, Honest Abe and his cronies do NOT represent the majority of people in Japan.

I beg to differ. Polls suggest most Japanese support Abe's visits to Yasukuni. Also most of the Japanese media support the theory that they were paid prostitutes. And I'm 100% sure that's what most Japanese believe too. I do not see much Japanese people saying all these are wrong. If they exist, then where are they?

4 ( +8 / -4 )

YuriOtani: "Smith it was the work of our ancestors! We the children of war criminals are not responsible for their condition. So you think the children and grandchildren of war criminals are just as guilty?"

I've NEVER demanded you apologize, ever. In fact, I've time and again said the people of today are NOT guilty of the crimes of the past. What I HAVE said is that the government needs to give a FORMAL apology, that is recognized and recorded, and when possible should be repeated. What I've also said and hundreds have repeated, and rightly so, is that any apology given in the past, by your ancestors or modern politicans, is completely undermined by people, including posters on this thread and ESPECIALLY leaders like Abe, who deny the past and white-wash or water it down to completely DESTROY any meaning meant by said apologies.

"Why should the current innocent Japan have to apologize to them? We are INNOCENT of war crimes."

Again, never said you have. What I think we've got here is a guilty conscious on your part. You feel guilty in defending those who say no apology is needed by a leader hell bent on changing a former apology into a statement of victimhood. You are not an aggressor, Yuri, as your ancestors may have been (I mean specificially -- there can be no doubt the nation was the aggressor in Asia), but you are also not the VICTIM, which many people in Asia, still living, are. So stop acting like a victim and getting so defensive and making claims for things that don't exist.

"The guilty generation has already apologized and that is enough for me."

It's not enough for the actual victims, or the rest of the world. Hence the demands for apologies to be recognized.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Polls suggest most Japanese support Abe's visits to Yasukuni

What poll? Provide a link please.

While you're doing that, here's the result of another poll they just announced on TV this week : only 13% of Japanese people do not agree with the Kono statement.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

only 13% of Japanese people do not agree with the Kono statement.

When applied to the Diet, it'll probably come back with only 13 percent of Diet members support it

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Again and again, Honest Abe and his cronies do NOT represent the majority of people in Japan.

Other than the fact that they are literally the representatives of Japan.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

How about Japan pass an apology in the Diet, as a irreversable law? Just like the US congress did when they passed the bill apologizing to the Japanese Americans for their internment during WWII.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------]

I Doubt any Diet members will create such proposal pf a[p;pgy. If you are a Diet member, you can but yiu have ti be ekected first.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

toshiko: "How about Japan pass an apology in the Diet, as a irreversable law? Just like the US congress did when they passed the bill apologizing to the Japanese Americans for their internment during WWII."

A very good suggestion, toshiko, and a very good point! And that wasn't the massacre of 10 million people, either. But did Americans and Canadians come on here and claim the numbers are skewed or that the detention never happened (it's all fabricated propaganda by willing volunteers who want more money!)? Do they say no apology was necessary and the people should hurry up and move on already? NEVER!

YuriOtani: "It is just that we do not like being constantly reminded of our ancestors crimes."

Tough. It's called not forgetting history. You think Germans aren't constantly reminded of their past? They are, and they don't shy away from it, deny it, and demand people stop talking about it. They talk about it themselves, continue to apologize despite it not having been them who committed the crimes, and insist themselves that it never be forgotten. And you know what? They get along a LOT better with their neighbours as a result.

"FYI the Japanese set up "comfort stations" on Okinawa and no the women were not prostitutes. The people of Okinawa have never received any apology or compensation."

Some were forced, and there is ironclad proof they were forced in other nations, with even former IJA troops admitting they kidnapped women and forced them into brothels after medical exams were forced on them. Dutch women have also attested to being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. Some were not forced at the barrel of a gun or kidnapped, but lied to and promised jobs and THEN forced into sexual slavery, and lied to saying if they could pay their way back home they would be let out. In other words, coerced and lied to. One Japanese woman forced into sexual slavery has published her testimony. Many deny these facts, and that is why Japan faces such shame on the issue.

And lest you forget, Yuri, your government also denies that women and other Okinawans were forced to commit suicide (like jumping off the Itoman cliffs or eating a bullet) at gun point -- something Abe also helped remove from textbooks. You say he has not apologized, but don't you think he should? Or should he be allowed to remove it from textbooks, say it didn't happen, and demand you never talk about it and move on?

Don't blame the US for making Japan some 'victim suffering under the LDP'. You guys voted them in. If there's not good enough representation, which I actually agree with you on, then make it so -- don't wait and blame others.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

**>Black Sabbath Apr. 25, 2015 - 09:17AM JST Tons of children are abused and killed in wars started by Nato

Cursed fermented soy beans**

That cracked me up. Obviously you don't eat natto. I think it would taste better than Nato/NATO anytime, though.

Okay...now down to serious business. The women who were abducted/lured and coerced into having nonconsensual sex cannot be referred to as 'comfort women'. That term is too mild and consenting. The women who were abducted and forced into having sex were indeed sex slaves.

This matter is plain and simple. Abe should apologize, and it shouldn't be a comfort apology. He is the one who resurrected an issue that would have been forgiven but not forgotten, since at least 2001. From Wikipedia:

In 1993, following multiple testimonies the Kono Statement was issued by Japanese Government confirming that coercion was involved in seizing the comfort women.[82][83] In 2007, the Japanese government made a cabinet decision, "No evidence was found that the Japanese army or the military officials seized the women by force." Shinzō Abe, the prime minister at the time, stated on March 1, 2007, that there was no evidence that the Japanese government had kept sex slaves, even though the Japanese government had already admitted the use of coercion in 1993. On March 27 the Japanese parliament issued an official apology.[110] On February 20, 2014, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the Japanese government may reconsider the study and the apology.[111] However, Prime Minister Abe clarified on March 14, 2014** that he had no intention of renouncing or altering it.

Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and most members of his Cabinet are affiliated to the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi, that negates the existence of Japanese war crimes, including sexual slavery for the military.** Source Wikipedia

Abe nullified all the apologies that were made before him. Only his heartfelt apology can psychologically help these women from feeling like wartime prostitutes.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

There are now American POWs saying they are worried about Abe's upcoming speech to Congress and while they have made peace with their former captors they canNOT make peace with what people like Abe are doing with their white-washing of history. As for former sex-slaves and relatives, these POWs and others concerned with what Abe is doing should demand to be heard as well and ask questions directly to Abe as to why he denies history, and demand a formal apology.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

I read of this often ... apologize ... apologize ... and yet, it keeps coming up. Let's all move on!

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

I don't tjink Japanese Diet will apologize, even it is a good idea. You have to convince your representative to initiate. Unlikely someone lawmakers listen to you.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Polls suggest most Japanese support Abe's visits to Yasukuni

What poll? Provide a link please.

The shrine visit was one of Abe's campaign promise before election. After his shrine visit, I did not hear anybody complain. Many Japanese sent complaint to US Embassy, who said "disapointed"

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

The point is not apologizing for comfort women. It is to stop using this euphemism!

These women were sexual slaves! Just name it like that. Plain and simple!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

The 1965 agreement between Japan and Korea did not include reparations for the sex slaves. That is why South Korean former sex slaves were included in the Asian Women's Fund, a government program funded with private money which was set up in 1994. Then Prime Minister Murayama signed an apology to the recipients.

But both the compensation and the apology were deemed inadequate. The compensation because it was not state redress but private money, and the apology because it was not from the Diet.

So Japan is definitely not off the hook with regard to the sex slaves no matter how you slice it. Even if you claim the agreement said South Korea would demand no further compensation, that was the government of South Korea, not the individual former sex slaves. The government has no authority to quash their individual claims for back wages and pain and suffering. And further to that, since they were never compensated or accounted for in the 1965 agreement, its ludicrous to deny them "further compensation" on top of the zero compensation they have received. "Further compensation" means they had to have been compensated in the first place. They weren't.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Y Japanese People

Please read the 1965 agreement again. It doesn't require to specify who are included since it covers ALL Koreans.

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

€€@smith: You are quoting the portion of my writing that I disputed. Look back to comments to see that.

This lady is not asking money, Just apology that I believe she could not get in Korea or Japan.

Here is old Japanese custom before GHQ asked Japan to stop. Crop poor northern farmers daughters were sold to southern prostitute houses as child. In south Geisha meant Prostitute. As they grew, they were sold to wealthy men as mekake (mistresses). In such custom, girls were sent to front line to sex service during WW II, we older people knew. I call sex slave. Ianfu none Japanese call comfort woman, Research old Asahi or Maininchi to find Japanese Military declaration that They found useless female to work for War cause. JSDF library has but also Japanese library that was not war bomb victim should have.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Korean Military openly had comfort Women at the same time in question also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Women's_Fund http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women#Apologies_and_compensation

In negotiations, the South Korean government initially demanded $364 million in compensation for Koreans forced by into labor and military service during the Japanese occupation; $200 per survivor, $1,650 per death and $2,000 per injured person.[93] In the final agreement Tokyo provided an $800 million aid and low-interest loan package over 10 years.[94] In 1994, the Japanese government set up the Asian Women's Fund (AWF) to distribute additional compensation to South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Indonesia.[95] Sixty one Korean, 13 Taiwanese, 211 Filipino, and 79 Dutch former comfort women were provided with a signed apology from the then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, stating "As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."[96][97] However, many former Korean comfort women rejected the compensations because of pressure from a non-government organization known as the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, or "Chongdaehyop", and because of media pressure. Eventually, 61 former Korean comfort women accepted 5 million yen (approx. $42,000[99]) per person from the AWF along with the signed apology, while 142 others received funds from the government of Korea.[100][101][102] The fund was dissolved on March 31, 2007.[97][103]

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Just waiting for the sex slaves to die and then everything can be swept under the rug.

Still banging on about this, you say? Well, perhaps we can also forget about those kidnapped and taken to North Korea. I mean, it's not as if Kim Jung Un was responsible.

YuriOtani:

Smith it was the work of our ancestors!

Can you please tell me who said it the fault of today's Japanese? You seem to be deflecting attention away from the one of the biggest problem - many of the most vocal Japanese politicians seem to actually believe (or say in public, at least) that Japan did no wrong in the past and that the killings, torture, rapes, vivisection on humans and germ warfare were just a figment of the Chinese imagination. NOBODY asked Japan to invade China, Korea and a whole host of other countries. NOBODY. Perhaps Japan can compare notes with Turkey.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

The people of Japan have nothing to apologize. We need to keep our peaceful country and stay out of all foreign wars. That would make a better atonement for the crimes of our ancestors than any apology that will not be accepted. Again and again Japan needs to learn from its past and never repeat it. The people that hate Japan will always hate Japan. A apology will do nothing to change that except make Japan out to be a puppet on strings. Smith I do not feel the slightest bit guilty. My ancestors did not start the Pacific War and we have lived under American military occupation for 70 years. My ancestors and ourselves are victims not villains. We want to live in peace and not be tools for the American attack on China.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

purkey2: Oriental female live longer. J Govt should apologize now than waiting her to die,
-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Who cares, everyone knows war is hell the Japanese government has atoned for their mistakes so move on China and Korea stop trying to sow seeds of the past.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

"My ancestors did not start the Pacific War"

This is the deluded attitude, that undermines any previous apology. This is also how Mr.Abe wants wants to teach history, in his vision for a beautiful Japan.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Can the Japanese government undo what wrongs have been done to you? If you have to ask for an apology, does it really mean anything?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Present prime minister Abe seems not to have to apologize further more as former prime ministers did it formally enough, especially former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi done pretty well. Abe is a young generation. He was not born before the war time and has never seen the war. His apology to the war and comfort women whatever it is would be as modest as he wants because former prime ministers did it times formally. Hence, every new prime minister every time would not have to apologize big after 70 years.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Please read the 1965 agreement again. It doesn't require to specify who are included since it covers ALL Koreans.

@SamuraiBlue The information is not in the body of the agreement, but in the notes that were kept secret from the public by both governments for decades. The sex slaves were not considered in any way shape or form when they put the agreement together in 1965.

And even if it did, the government still has no authority to deny individuals their right to apologies and compensation. The government can only relinquish their own rights.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@badsey3APR. 26, 2015 - 01:20AM JST Korean Military openly had comfort Women at the same time in question also

. At the same time, Korea was a Japanese territoty. There was no Korean Military.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

The 1965 agreement says no further demands to/from Japan after full compensations included apology which both S Korea and Japan governments agreed. At that time comfort women issue was not specified, but this matter now seems to be a domestic problem in S Korea after diplomatic normalization in 1965. So Japan says the whole case was closed in 1965. However Japan still apologizes.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

@kwatt: Like you wrote that agreement has nothing to do with so called comfort women (= sex slave)

0 ( +3 / -3 )

It seems that any soldiers always cause/caused more or less rapes of women besides war. it is clearly said that South Korean soldiers committed murders and rapes of Vietnamese people during Vietnam war, but so far NO apology and compensation for Vietnam though Vietnamese government asked it for many years. Japan did it times to S Korea at least.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

It seems that any soldiers always cause/caused more or less rapes of women besides war. it is clearly said that South Korean soldiers committed murders and rapes of Vietnamese people during Vietnam war, but so far NO apology and compensation for Vietnam though Vietnamese government asked it for many years. Japan did it times to S Korea at least.

No apology? Wrong. Korea has apologized and has also invested heavily in the country. Thats why Korean-Vietnamese relations are at an all time high right now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2679007.stm

No Korean politician has back tracked on this apology or claimed that the war time atrocities never happened. Its good to see the Koreans and Germans behaving like adults. Too bad the same can't be true for all countries. When will Japan apologize for the famine of 1945 which killed 400,000-2 million Vietnamese civilians?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_Famine_of_1945

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Watchingstuff

South Korean atoned generally for the war to invest more to Vietnam but S Korea did not apologize formally Vietnam and its indiviuals like Japan and AWF did in the past, because South Korean politicians still do not want to admit murders and rapes of Vietnamese civilians during the war.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

YuriOtani: "My ancestors did not start the Pacific War"

Yes, they did. Your ancestors are Japanese. You can't pick and choose when they are or aren't, as you love doing even within a single post.

"The people of Japan have nothing to apologize. We need to keep our peaceful country and stay out of all foreign wars."

Tell that to Shinzo Abe, who wants to change the constitution and is just this week going over the US -- the country that defends you but you love to hate -- to tell them you are willing to go and die overseas again. You know, that same guy who denies IJA troops killed millions and even forced your ancestors off cliffs -- that's right, murdered by your own people! And you defend him for it. Tsk tsk.

" My ancestors and ourselves are victims not villains."

Some Okinawans were the victims of IJA atrocities that have been erased and are now omitted from textbooks, for sure. But you are Japanese -- you are the aggressors. Stop pretending to be a victim, Yuri. The woman demanding an apology -- who was raped repeatedly by your ancestors -- is a victim. Not you because you are attacked for not being able to own up to the past.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Japan says the whole case was closed in 1965.

Japan surely would have loved to solve all war history related problems with South Korea by paying a lump sum to a dictator of the ailing and starving nation without even clearly acknowledging what it did wrong, just international relations, national responsibility and reconciliation doesn't work that way.

If Germany would have tried to get rid of its historic responsibility in a similar way ("we payed you money and now stop complaining") it wouldn't be the respected country at the center of Europe it is now. Germany did carefully listen to the complaints and demands of its former victims one by one until it got to some form of agreement with them and even now it is still in the process of doing so (see the recent demands of Greece which are discussed in Germany in a calm and objective manner).

If Japan had a credible and consistent stance towards the wrongdoings committed in its name there would be no base for our discussion here.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

bam_boo

After 1965 agreement, Japan still felt guilty, so Japan and companies have been investing more money and helping to make as many infrastructures as Japan can in S Korea, Taiwan, China and South Aisian countries. still doing.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

@YuriOtaniAPR. 26, 2015 - 02:46AM JST The people of Japan have nothing to apologize. We need to keep our peaceful country and stay out of all foreign wars. That would make a better atonement for the crimes of our ancestors than any apology that will not be accepted. Again and again Japan needs to learn from its past and never repeat it. The people that hate Japan will always hate Japan. A apology will do nothing to change that except make Japan out to be a puppet on strings. Smith I do not feel the slightest bit guilty. My ancestors did not start the Pacific War and we have lived under American military occupation for 70 years. My ancestors and ourselves are victims not villains. We want to live in peace and not be tools for the American attack on China.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Don't write as if you represent all of us Japanese. We are not talking of your ancestors whatever they are. We are discussing this old former comfort woman and Japanese Govt. You are not Japanese govt. The SF treaty does not include sex slave women and not related to above article. ****

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@ kwatt

So if Japan felt guilty then why is Japan as a nation not able to take a clear and concise stance regarding its wartime past?

Why are there so many different messages, apologizing as well as apologetic, coming from this nation?

It's not only South Korea and China that find Japans recent attitude in relation to its history disturbing.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@some14someAPR. 23, 2015 - 12:20PM JST So she was wearing a blue dress?

She was wearing a black dress,

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Such a festering wound for Japan.... the only way Japan will ever live down the crippling shame of their heinous past is to confront it with honesty, admit their culpability and make full reparations.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@bam_booAPR. 26, 2015 - 06:57PM JST

So if Japan felt guilty then why is Japan as a nation not able to take a clear and concise stance regarding its wartime past?

To put it simply, because China and Korea is confounding two concepts (and the US is letting them get away with it) - a sense of guilt v an unconditional surrender to every claim by those two countries (even new claims suddenly put in 50 years after the war). If Nanking did not happen, if sex slaving did not happen, blah blah blah, and Japan only started the Pacific War due to the United States putting an oil embargo on it, there is still plenty of room for some guilt over starting the war and the deaths that happened. There are also people that may accept one charge while not accepting another. Or accepting both charges, but only partially (say 30,000 deaths at Nanking v 300,000 claimed by the Chinese, or accepting there are deaths but claiming at least some of them are Chinese soldiers taking off their uniforms).

In any case, guilt does not mean a wholesale acceptance of every charge laid by China and Korea, while China and Korea seem to consider it as such, and all the guys who deny or mitigate any facet are called "revisionists".

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

In any case, guilt does not mean a wholesale acceptance of every charge laid by China and Korea, while China and Korea seem to consider it as such, and all the guys who deny or mitigate any facet are called "revisionists".

The sex slaves were from Indonesia, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the Philippines, and of course Korea and China. This issue is broader than you think

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Kwatt

South Korean atoned generally for the war to invest more to Vietnam but S Korea did not apologize formally Vietnam and its indiviuals like Japan and AWF did in the past, because South Korean politicians still do not want to admit murders and rapes of Vietnamese civilians during the war.

The president of South Korea (Kim Dae Jung) personally apologized in one of his visits to Vietnam. Since then, no Korean politician or school textbook has attempted to white wash Koreas actions during the Vietnam war.

When will Japan apologize for causing the famine that killed nearly 2 million Vietnamese civilians? Korea behaves like a mature and thoughtful adult. So does Germany. Japan on the other hand behaves like a pathological liar.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

@ Kazuaki Shimazaki APR. 27, 2015 - 12:42PM JST

Reading your post I get a very clear idea why Japan is still so troubled by its past. Your apologetic self-pitying and cloudy argumentation is a perfect example for why people don't feel that Japan has a clear stance towards its own history.

We have no idea what you actually think about the role Japan has played in WW2. What we do get from your post is that you are not happy at all about how Japan is perceived.

Of course you can go on trying to make the world understand that Japan has unregenerate neighbors, is facing false accusations, that inaccurate numbers are making Japan look worse then it was and that Japan was always fighting for a just cause and had good intentions...

But in case that you feel Japan has done something wrong in WW2 just say so and stop there.

That's what you expect from a schoolboy who was caught shoplifting and that's what you can expect from a nation that has brought tremendous suffering about so many nations.

Don't make it complicated, don't try to justify things and don't get into arguments about details and numbers because people will not believe that you regret your actions.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Poltical tool. If I were this woman I'd want an apology from Park Gye Hyun for father making use of the Comfort Women during WWII when he was an officer in the IJA, the Kwantung Army no less. And for not getting any of the USD 800,000,000 Japan paid South Korea in 1965 when her father was President of South Korea to compensate indivuduals who suffered under Impeial Japanese rule. The sheer hypocrisy of the South Korean anti-Japan agenda is disgusting,

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Lee Yong-Soo recalled being snatched from her home by Japanese soldiers in 1944 at age 16.

Is she telling this again?

This is her testimony before US Congress. She should be accused of contempt of Congress.

http://archives.republicans.foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/33317.pdf

page 20,

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MS. YONG SOO LEE, SURVIVING COMFORT WOMAN, KOREAN COUNCIL FOR THE WOMEN DRAFTED FOR MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY

My Early Life

In the autumn of 1944, when I was 16 years old, my friend, Kim Punsun, and I were collecting shellfish at the riverside when we noticed an elderly man and a Japanese man looking down at us form the hillside. The older man pointed at us with his finger, and the Japanese man started to walk towards us. The older man disappeared, and the Japanese beckoned to us to follow him. I was scared and ran away, not caring about what happened to my friend. A few days later, Punsun knocked on my window early in the morning, and whispered to me to follow her quietly. I tip-toed out of the house after her. I lift without telling my mother. I was wearing a dark skirt, a long cotton blouse buttoned up at the front and slippers on my feet. I followed my friend until we met the same man who had tried to approach us on the riverbank. He looked as if he was in his late thirties and he wore a sort of People’s Army uniform with a combat cap. Altogether, there were five girls with him, including myself.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

The biggest problem here again is education. Many college graduates even think that all these women who were raped, actually were well compensated prostitutes who "made a lot of money" doing this by their choice...sad.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Exactly. Lack of education is a problem in Japan (one person recently told me Mr Shinzo Abe is from Tokyo)

0 ( +2 / -2 )

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