Japan's sex slave legacy remains open wound

Germany got beyond its horrid past in WW2, far, far worse than Japan. Yet in 2013 Japan cannot move beyond its own war crimes. Its amazing really how the Japanese far right and seemingly a majority of Japanese cannot be honest about history and then be able to move on to face today's issues rather than issues from the 1940s. Its an anchor on the future of this country as Japan's future is in Asia now, not the US, where these crimes occurred.

zurcronium:

" Germany got beyond its horrid past in WW2, far, far worse than Japan "

In fairness, the German situation is much simpler. The Nazis brought their own symbols, their own ideology, even their own language with them, all of this distinctly different from German heritage und history. So it is very easy to separate oneself from all that. Japan on the other hand, is still stuck with her emperor system, only the emperor changed from divine to symbolistic. But all the Imperial Japanese atrocities were committed not in the name of an alien, crazy ideology and a megalomaniac failed painter from Austria, but in the name of the country and its time-honored tradition. So there is a much finer line to walk here.

Hashimoto and Abe should step down. these two are making japan face on this planet became worst to worst and being hated by his asian neighbour forever.

More than 70 years ago, at age 14, Kim Bok-dong was ordered to work by Korea’s Japanese occupiers. She was told she was going to a military uniform factory, but ended up at a Japanese military-linked brothel in southern China. She had to take an average of 15 soldiers per day during the week, and dozens over the weekend. At the end of the day she would be bleeding and could not even stand because of the pain.

At 14 she was a minor. Wouldn't that make every man that had sex with her a war criminal? This whole scenario stinks and it is an issue that must be settled. If Japan is hoping to ride out the storm until all these women are all dead they will be in for a huge shock. They have to settle this issue now! One of the biggest issues is the term 'comfort women'. The press and the politicians keep jumping from 'comfort women' to 'sex slaves'. Then you have these right-politicians stating it was necessary and that the women volunteered and were paid. However, the testimonials are very different. All they have to do is, man up, accept the international condemnation, correct the history and openly admit the true nature of the sex slavery. But, instead, they are trying to wrap it in cotton and justify it with some stupid rhetoric that only enflames the victims and the countries effected by Japan's colonial rule. I agree with WilliB that the Japanese colonial rule of Asia was very different to the Nazi campaign of hate against the Jewish. Germany denounced it's Nazi rule and moved on to become a modern culture. However, Japan is still stuck in its imperialistic mindset and refuses to let it go to evolve into a modern nation.

There is no history of Japanese committing atrocities against anyone except for WWII. Therefore it has to be analyzed and judged in that context, not in some "time-honored tradition." Whether the Japanese government officially ordered the atrocities is immaterial, it was officially administered by the military. The "Rules of War" are contradictory and hypocritical. Everyone knows that the objective of any military in modern "total warfare" is is the complete destruction of the enemy. The enemy is perceived, in total war, as every member of the opposing nation or culture. In war there are no war criminals, the act of war is the crime, hence all combatants are criminal.

Kim and another former sex slave, 84-year-old Kil Won-ok, had been seeking a meeting with Hashimoto for some time when he made his comments this month. He then offered to meet with them, but they canceled, saying they didn’t perceive that he was remorseful and didn’t want to be used by him to rehabilitate his image.

They should have been advised and supported in meeting Hashimoto. I guess the SK govt had other ideas.

@David3 The response of the historical revisionist is so predictable and consistent I have reduced it to five simple steps for you: 1) The incident(s) in question did not happen at all. 2) What happened was entirely benevolent. 3) What happened was bad, but not as atrocious as witness accounts and contemporary records tell us it was. 4) What happened was atrocious, but everyone else was committing atrocities as well. 5) What happened was much worse than what everyone else was doing, but we should not judge the past by today's standards.

No more apologies, and no more compensation. These people have had multiple chances to hear apologies from a half dozen PMs and even the Emperor. Can't be helped if they think none of that was good enough. And if they didn't want the AWF money I guess they can do without financial compensation as well. Let them keep complaining since that seems to be what they want most of all.

the japanese have become more apathetic in recent times, whether its for the environment, the sea or people

if the people think its only towards outsiders, they're just too blindsided by their own govt

I somewhat doubt the 200,000 women figure, but maybe it is possible (the Russian raped over 2,000,000 women, which is somewhat worse since there were not paid, given food, or housing by the Russians).

The private fund is definitely the way to go. The Japanese Imperial government is not around to pay and I didn't sleep with any of these women so I don't see why I would have to pay. Let those who feel guilty about it pay into a private fund and make restitution. If the women don't want to accept for petty political reasons, it is hard to feel sorry for them.

She said that a Japanese police officer and someone from the village office came to her house when she was 14 years old in 1941 and told her that she had to go to a munition factory. And she was taken to a comfort station in Canton, China. But no one except her testifies it. If the government-general of Korea ordered or approved such an action by the authorities, Korean people would have been in tumult. Wasn't she a victim of human trafficking by dealers who deceived her as one of many such similar cases which were often reported and became an object of public concern in Korea of the days? Private dealers ran comfort stations in a military post and many of those dealers were Koreans too. She worked for such comfort stations and her age was perhaps concealed. The Japanese military should have checked the background/identity of comfort woman, particularly if they looked too young. But since the recruitment of women and management of the comfort stations were basically done by dealers, the Japanese government judged it difficult to compensate for those women out of tax money. Besides the Japanese comfort women who accounted for about 60% of comfort women and worked in the same environment were not entitled to any compensation. So the Japanese government set up a relief fund for former Asian comfort women and raised as well as provided funds to be handed to those women with a letter of apology in the name of the prime minister of Japan of the time.

Seiharinokaze,

Given all the horrible things the JIA did over the course of WWII, I haven't the faintest idea why you would doubt stories of forced sexual slavery. The JIA took what it wanted, when it wanted. Why should the comfort women be any different? (Hell. The Japanese government even took people's names from them.) Revisionist offer a litany of excuses, none of which actually excuses anything. In the end, what does it matter if she a victim of human traffickers, sold by her parents, or ordered to report to the brothel by the authorities (Korean, Japanese or otherwise)? Even if she came of her own accord (and putting aside the horrifying detail that she was only 14), this:

She had to take an average of 15 soldiers per day during the week, and dozens over the weekend. At the end of the day she would be bleeding and could not even stand because of the pain. She and other girls were closely watched by guards and could not escape.

Is a a crime any way you look at it.

When you are forced to have sex and have no choice in the matter, that is rape. When you are forced to do it over and over again and can't leave, that is sexual slavery. When you get carted from battlefield to battlefield, housed, guarded, and given regular medical examinations to make sure you aren't spreading VD, that is systematic. And when your experience is replicated with 200,000 other women, then that is an atrocity.

Quibble with the numbers if you want, but it won't get you anywhere.The only way around this conclusion is blanket denial. None of this ever happened, and if it did it was all consensual, and all these women are just lying, money grubbing whores anyway. Just like Nanking.

So the Japanese government set up a relief fund for former Asian comfort women and raised as well as provided funds to be handed to those women with a letter of apology in the name of the prime minister of Japan of the time.

Not. Good. Enough. And it will continue to be not good enough until voices like yours are sufficiently marginalized . It doesn't matter what was paid, or what the S. Korean gov't refused, or what treaty was signed, or which PM gave an apology (even a genuinely heartfelt one). As long as this cloud of denialism, self-serving attempts at justification and mitigation, and self-righteous indignation (e.g. "haven't we apologized/paid enough? WWII was decades ago, get over it! all of this is just S. Korea playing politics!"; clearly Japan is the real victim , here) hangs over this issue like a pall, no amount of statements or compensation will be sufficient.

And here we get to the heart of the matter. Modern Japan's inability to confront or even acknowledge its past wrongdoings is one of its greatest failings. There is a breed of nationalism which cannot bear to see the national "honor" stained. I think this is exactly wrong. One does not need a fictitious rewriting of history in order to be proud of one's country; nor does the existence of past wrongs (even truly horrifying ones) mean that each successive generation must wallow in guilt and self-hatred. The sins of the father do not pass to the son. But they do create a responsibility to acknowledge and critically consider what wrong was done, and to do ones best to ensure it is not repeated. Germany has had to come to grips with the holocaust; the United States with slavery; the United Kingdom is still grappling with the legacy of the British Empire. Whatever extent these and other societies have failed to live up to their ideals and responsibilities regarding past wrong doing does not grant Japan a pass to do the same. Whatever extent to which S. Korea has been complicit, obstructionist, or opportunistic in regards to this issue, it does not excuse Japanese behavior then or now.

There are your sins - not personal, but you have inherited them , either by birth or by choosing to argue in favor of denialism. You may not have caused them, but your denial perpetuates in some small portion the evil which they embody. That is what makes them yours. Instead, you should acknowledge them and take collective ownership. You need not feel guilt. You need not feel shame. You can be proud of your country; indeed, Japan has many great artistic, cultural and scientific achievements to which it can lay claim. These positive points will not be cancelled out by the acknowledgement of past wrong doings. You can still hold your head up high - higher, in fact, for the current and ongoing attempts at revisionism is a legitimate source of shame. Most critically, pacifist Modern Japan is unlikely to repeat the sins of the past (this is what makes the combination of revisionism and re-militarization so problematic - it would be one thing to revise the constitution in an environment of where past misdeeds were acknowledged and critically examined. It is entirely another do do so in the context of revisionism and belligerent nationalism).

So, I say again: take collective ownership. Acknowledge and understand the sins of the past, with a degree of sympathy and humility. Once this is done, then and only then will we be able to move on .

In the end, what does it matter if she a victim of human traffickers, sold by her parents, or ordered to report to the brothel by the authorities (Korean, Japanese or otherwise)? Even if she came of her own accord (and putting aside the horrifying detail that she was only 14), this: She had to take an average of 15 soldiers per day during the week, and dozens over the weekend. At the end of the day she would be bleeding and could not even stand because of the pain. She and other girls were closely watched by guards and could not escape. Is a a crime any way you look at it.

Triumvere

I think it matters. Human traffickers, her parents who sold her, brothel owners who run the comfort station and the military soldiers who were the clientele should be held accountable. And the Asian Women's Fund was possibly one way to solve it.

It lies of history, the Japanese army using the comfort women of 200,000 people.

Do not have to prove, it is evidence.

The opinion of scholars, and 20,000 people, at most, more than half, Japanese women worked.

zichi

I just wonder why this is all so different than the history with Japan and its war crimes, especially since very few would dare argue, the Nazi war crimes were far worse than those by Japan.

Allied nations waived reparation claims against Japan by signing and ratifying San Francisco Peace Treaty. As far as I know, there is no similar waiver clause between the allied nations and Germany in Potsdam Agreement, London and Paris Conferences in 1954, or Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany.

Germany did apologized for what Hitler (who is an Austrian) did and settled millions of Euros with Israelis. for Japan....2 million yen (1 Euro = 130 yen) but NO Apology and acceptance......

The government investigation also found that many of the Dutch victims were selected from concentration camps and forcibly sent to brothels

It was Japanese military police that saved and liberated the Dutch victims from the illegal brothels in 1944. I think it unfair not to mention this fact.

Triumvere, if you are new here, you might find this US Army document in 1944 very interesting.

<http://www.exordio.com/1939-1945/codex/Documentos/report-49-USA-orig.html >

They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places. This was especially true of their second year in Burma. They lived well because their food and material was not heavily rationed and they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles. They were able to buy cloth, shoes, cigarettes, and cosmetics to supplement the many gifts given to them by soldiers who had received "comfort bags" from home.

I also recommend this reading in 2007. http://ampontan.wordpress.com/2007/03/05/congress-backstabs-us-ally-times-lie-trashes-abe/

Not. Good. Enough. And it will continue to be not good enough until voices like yours are sufficiently marginalized . It doesn't matter what was paid, or what the S. Korean gov't refused, or what treaty was signed, or which PM gave an apology (even a genuinely heartfelt one). As long as this cloud of denialism, self-serving attempts at justification and mitigation, and self-righteous indignation (e.g. "haven't we apologized/paid enough? WWII was decades ago, get over it! all of this is just S. Korea playing politics!"; clearly Japan is the real victim , here) hangs over this issue like a pall, no amount of statements or compensation will be sufficient.

Thank you for this clear example of just how twisted the basic premise of the apology deniers is. You read a few newspaper stories and you see a "cloud". There is no "cloud of denial" hanging like a pall over Japan. Every so often there are a few statements made by a few (almost always elderly) individuals (for domestic consumption alone) that are in no way representative of the sunny blue sky that covers Japan. The old adage is that actions speak louder than words. Please point to any actions taken by the Japanese government that are contrary to the ideals of world peace. And no, killing whales doesn't count.

I believe the most important words that you posted are "it doesn't matter". That's the sort of thinking that needs to be marginalized in modern (free) society.

Modern Japan's inability to confront or even acknowledge its past wrongdoings is one of its greatest failings.

More rubbish. Just last week Hashimoto both "confronted" and "acknowledged" past wrongdoings. All he got for his trouble was a bunch of people selectively quoting him and willfully misrepresenting what he said. The best thing Japan can do from now on is to go about their business and ignore any further mention of WW2 on the part of ROK or PRC. Just flat out ignore it. As you said above, "it doesn't matter".

The sins of the father do not pass to the son. But they do create a responsibility to acknowledge and critically consider what wrong was done, and to do ones best to ensure it is not repeated.

All things Japan has demonstrably done. Please point out how the Japanese Government (officially) has not acknowledged, not considered, and not attempted to avoid a repeat. The onus is on you to validate these ludicrous claims you are making from your pulpit.

There are your sins - not personal, but you have inherited them , either by birth or by choosing to argue in favor of denialism.

Well which is it sir? You said above sins do not pass to the son. Now you say they do. Do you honestly believe sins can be inherited?

There is a breed of nationalism which cannot bear to see the national "honor" stained.

Bravo. I think you have at last hit upon the real reason the Koreans (and the Chinese) are unable to move past WW2. They cannot bear the thought that their "honor" was stained when their country was over run and their military soundly defeated. Given that a burning nationalism of precisely the kind you describe thrives in ROK (to an extent that makes nationalists in Japan look like tea ceremony grannies) I suspect that there is nothing further that can be done to resolve these historical grudges. Like you said "it just doesn't matter" what Japan does from here on out, the offended parties will never let it go.

zichi

Germany made all its required payments decades ago but now feels these additional payments are required. The big difference is that Germany has been able to move on from its Nazi past

The two sentences sound contradictory to me.

If there is no final settlement clause, some one will show up and say "I have not been paid."

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/slave.html

Germany has already made about $60 billion in payments for war crimes, but there has never been compensation for the estimated 12 million enslaved and forced workers.

This kind of additional claims would go on for ever. Stolen gold, stolen art, and so on.

Well which is it sir? You said above sins do not pass to the son. Now you say they do. Do you honestly believe sins can be inherited?

Perhaps I was not articulate here. Let me try again:

Past events are not your fault, but they does impose a duty on you to recognize, acknowledge come to terms with them; denial perpetuates to an extent the evil of the original sin. Thus the sin is inherited, in a sense, though your own actions.

Clear enough?

Thank you for this clear example of just how twisted the basic premise of the apology deniers is. You read a few newspaper stories and you see a "cloud". There is no "cloud of denial" hanging like a pall over Japan. Every so often there are a few statements made by a few (almost always elderly) individuals (for domestic consumption alone) that are in no way representative of the sunny blue sky that covers Japan.

Oh. Clearly I hallucinated that whole textbook revisionism saga, and that atrocious excuse for a "war museum" that they have at Yaskuni, No need to worry about the right wing push to amend the constitution - surely I hallucinated that too. And poor Hashimoto and his politician buddies, so misquoted and misunderstood! As for the rest, well apparently its all "for domestic consumption" so no need to worry about that either right?

Triumvere

Acknowledge and understand the sins of the past

OK. What do you think happened to the comfort women? I think everyone has different idea about comfort women. Even a vocal historian like Yoshimi is not sure about them and uses "possibly" and "probably" everywhere in his text. You cannot preach people without establishing "sins of the past". Please tell us your version of the story of comfort women. Are you sure about the story? Can you swear to the god that your version is the truth? If you are preaching without caring about the truth, no one will listen to you.

I am not interested in denying. I am interested in finding the truth.

CH3CHO,

What a delightful sexist document. My favorite part was:

The girls complained that even with the schedule congestion was so great that they could not care for all guests, thus causing ill feeling among many of the soldiers.

Yes. l'm sure that's what the girls were upset about: Causing ill feeling among the the soldiers, who had been so kind to bring them lipstick!

I'll say it again: It doesn't matter how "nice" they were treated, or how "luxurious" their living conditions were. Sex work is always problematic even under the best of conditions, but when you can't refuse work or leave because you are under armed guard, then that is rape and there isn't much else to be said.

Update: In answer to your most recent inquiry, I believe that a sizable proportion of the women involved were under some degree of duress. I can't tell you exactly how many or in what exact proportion, but I tend to believe stories like Kim Bok-dong's. We can go into a long discussion about why I believe these stories, but the short of it is that Japan treated Koreans rather horribly during the colonization and war periods - treatment that included forced relocation and slave labor. I don't for a moment see claims of sex-slavery as being at all inconsistent with the other atrocities the Japanese army and government committed. Bottom line: the "comfort women" were a systematic institutionalization of sexual slavery for the benefit of the JIA.

Triumvere

The Japanese government even took people's names from them.

forced relocation and slave labor

I am afraid you have been influenced too much by Japan hating propaganda in Korea. It is proven that the name change was optional for those Koreans who want to adopt a Japanese style name. What you call "forced relocation and slave labor" was called labor draft which was applicable equally to both Japanese and Koreans during the last years of WW2. Those drafted by labor draft were exempt from soldier draft. They worked in military factories or mines in lieu of fighting in the battle fields. I do not think there is anything wrong with optional name change or labor draft.

I hope you learn the true history from an objective stand point. By doing so, true friendship between Korea and Japan will develop.

It is proven that the name change was optional for those Koreans who want to adopt a Japanese style name.

It hasn't been "proven" to me. Where is your "proof"? Having talked to Koreans who had this happen to family members, I'm inclined to be skeptical of your claim.

worked in military factories or mines

My god, man. You do understand that working conditions for the miners were absolutely atrocious? Lethal, even? "Living hell" is the term generally thrown about.

It hasn't been "proven" to me. Where is your "proof"? Having talked to Koreans who had this happen to family members, I'm inclined to be skeptical of your claim.

One could cite the actual order in which it states the voluntary nature.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB:Japanese_Name_Change_Bulletin_of_Taikyu_Court_.jpg

Notable Korean under Japanese rule.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B4%AA%E6%80%9D%E7%BF%8A

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B4%94%E6%89%BF%E5%96%9C

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%B4%E6%98%A5%E7%90%B4

Newspaper article at that time.

http://kukkuri.jpn.org/boyakikukkuri2/img/img10089_130308-04sousi2.jpg http://kukkuri.jpn.org/boyakikukkuri2/img/img10090_130308-05sousi3.jpg

U.S. interrogation report listing the names of comfort women. Appendix "A" reference 209

http://www.awf.or.jp/pdf/0051_5.pdf

Nigelboy,

One could cite the official order. But that doesn't actually tell us anything about how the order was applied on the ground, now does it?

Have you considered that application may have been inconsistent, and often at variance with the official order? Have you considered that what was "voluntary " may not have actually been so for people making the choice?

I never claimed that the entirety of Korea was forced to change their names. The figure given, I think, was something around 10%. I suppose you could look at that figure as proof the name change wasn't mandatory if 90% ended up not changing their names. What I see is a colonial government that exerted an enormous amount of pressure in an attempt to rob ethnic Koreans of their cultural identity - especially at the at the primary school level. The push for name changes was part of this, and that it wasn't more successful (or imposed in a more draconian manner) does not make it acceptable.

Triumvere,

The problem with your analysis has been on the foundation that most everything during the annexation period was "forced" in Japan so instead of interpreting history based on primary sources, you look for reasons how it may be "forced". The name change is a classic example. In other words, just like Yoshimi, you are expanding the the definition of "coersion".

Those who wanted to keep their Korean heritage kept their names like the notable people above. There are those who elected to change their names to Japanese style because when they immigrated to Manchuria, they were treated better. Those that wanted to change their names had to PAY 1/2 yen per member of the family. When it's voluntary basis like this, the argument that the government tried to "rob" ethnic Koreans of their cultural identity is simply unfouded.

I can't tell you exactly how many or in what exact proportion, but I tend to believe stories like Kim Bok-dong's.

On this article it states,

"Kim was dragged across Asia, from Hong Kong to Singapore and Indonesia, until the end of the war in 1945. "

On another article she stated

陸軍第15師団の本部について、台湾、広東、香港、マレーシア、スマトラ、インドネシア、ジャワ、シンガポール、バンコクと連れ回されました。 「8年間、慰安婦にさせられました。」

I was attached to 15th infantry unit where I was sent to Taiwan, Kanton, Malaysia, Indonesia, Java, Singapore, and Bangkok. I served as a comfort women for 8 years.

Her age 87. She began as comfort women when she was 14. i.e. 1939 or 1940.

However, 1939+8=1947 or 1940+8=1948

The 15th infantry unit started in China, engaged in the battle of Imphal (India, Burma) and ended in Thailand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Division_(Imperial_Japanese_Army)

From a logistical standpoint, the location of the said unit does not match with her statements. Secondly, it is highly unlikely that any military units at that time would make that kind of transfers to various locations throughout SE Asia.

Or, you know, the 87 year old woman might have gotten the date wrong, and been "attached" multiple units. Are you even sure she is 87? History is often messy. We do not see the past with perfect clarity. However, just because some of the details are off does not mean the the story is therefore false. While I applaud your critical approach, may I suggest you are being overly critical? An official document is not necessarily the last word on a particular subject. Nor does an inconsistency necessarily invalidated the larger narrative.

@Triumvere

Do you know the how the story of the comfort women or were being formed?

Yoshida novelist wrote, the story of a lie that was the theme of comfort women has become evidence of forced entrainment.

Later, he admitted that it is a lie.

Uemura reporter belonging to the Asahi Shimbun this lie wrote an article.

And, Communists support, such as red flag newspaper (organ of the Communist Party) and the Asahi Shimbun was spreading. Communists of Japan is an anarchist.

It denied the Japan-US security, they are in favor of China.

Comfort women issue is, is the sabotage that was their plan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqffmz7zuWE&feature=player_embedded

Triumvere, if Japan wanted to forcibly change the names of Koreans, it could have done so just by creating a law. What Japan did instead was to create a law that if a Korean did not change the name by the deadline, he retained his traditional name. Why would Japan beat around the bush and make the name change legally optional but verbally mandatory without leaving any evidence at all?

My god, man. You do understand that working conditions for the miners were absolutely atrocious? Lethal, even? "Living hell" is the term generally thrown about.

Entire Japan was living hell in the last years of WW2. Everything was scares and rationed. Many Japanese starved to death for lack of food. Koreans drafted for labor worked side by side with Japanese drafted for labor. They worked for the country. That is what could happen in a war in any country.

zichi, what is the difference between draft and forced labor? They were randomly selected from draft name lists by National Mobilization Act. What do you mean by saying "mines are dangerous"? Yes, they are more dangerous than a playground in a kindergarten. But they satisfied the workplace safety standards at the time. In that sense, mines were safe place to work. Where did you get the number that 60,000 were killed?

@ zichi The article, including coal mine accident, victims of mines is about 1000 people.

You to pursue the war responsibility of Japan. Does not mean there was no war responsibility in Japan. This action is not a justification of war.

zichi, i am afraid you are streching the definition of "War Crimes" a littel to far. I do not see anything wrong with the labor draft.

I think you are wrong. The Koreans weren't "drafted" they were forced labor and about 60,000 of them were killed or died, and mostly didn't get paid while the owners of the mines and other dangerous places made a profit from those forced laborers.

Zichi. They were paid. I don't know where you get that information from.

Many of the Korean mine workers were needed in mainland Japan for the simply because the Japanese men were drafted into military service.

Having said that, there were cases where Korean laborers who went back to Korea wanted to retrieve their savings in Japan but this was agreed that such matters will be dealt by the respective governments via 1965 treaty.

Forcing women into prostitution was a war crime.

It is not a "war" crime. If somebody forced them through illegal coercion, then that in of itself is a crime which the police made arrests in the Korean peninsula. There are many newspaper articles indicating such crackdown during that time.

Sadly, the only people who are still denying Japanese WW2 atrocities to this day are the JAPANESE... I'd say this is mostly the fault of the Japanese (right-wing) government.

(the Russian raped over 2,000,000 women, which is somewhat worse since there were not paid, given food, or housing by the Russians).

This is kind of off-topic, but actually they were "paid"... the Soviet soldiers who raped those women left cigarettes and some foods after they raped them... which obviously does not make the act any better. Apparently, to the sex slave deniers the fact that they were "paid" makes it all okay. It does not make it okay. Those "comfort women" were denied of any freedom, freedom to go outside, freedom to leave, freedom to deny, thereby effectively making their "occupation" equal to slavery.

http://www.47news.jp/CN/201306/CN2013060401002072.html

There seems to be no end to you making excuses for the Japanese War Crimes whichever part of it is mentioned?

What excuses? The war crimes set forth by London Charter was established and many IJA members were prosecuted in various parts of Asia despite the fact that Allieds themselves were guilty of the same act. What we're discussing here is the issue of comfort women where the debate lies whether the government at that time committed a criminal act of forcibly coercing each and everyone of these surviving comfort women especially in regards to Ms. Kim.

The National Mobilization Act or 国民徴用令 for Japanese mainland was enacted on July of 1939. For the people of Korean peninsula, it was not until September of 1944 that the said order was issued. Hence, the Korean workers at that time immigrated to Japan on a voluntary basis to offset the labor shortage in mainland Japan.

It is rather sad, that some people are still making excuses. Perhaps the Japanese should wonder, instead of feeling victimized and "bashed" whenever they are criticized over this, why their own view of their country's past is so different from the views of the rest of the world? Perhaps the reason is because THEY got it all wrong, and not the rest of the world?

You are being fooled by your own government. Your government commits mass war crimes, and they get it away because you have been conveniently brainwashed to "defend" your own government whenever they are criticized. Are you still going to make further excuses when the Japanese government commits crimes in the future? Probably. Who is going to lose over this? What do you gain when you defend your own government? Nothing. You lose everything and gain nothing.

Those "comfort women" were denied of any freedom, freedom to go outside, freedom to leave, freedom to deny, thereby effectively making their "occupation" equal to slavery.

"While in Burma they amused themselves by participating in sports events with both officers and men, and attended picnics, entertainments, and social dinners. They had a phonograph and in the towns they were allowed to go shopping."

"In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thus allowed to return to Korea."

U.S. interrogation report in 1944.

.

About 670,000 Koreans, were conscripted into labor from 1944 to 1945 by the National Mobilization Law,

zichi,

Where do you get this figure? During which time the National Mobilization law was enacted for Korenas, only a relative few were mobilized as indicated by Asahi's article in 1959.

戦前（昭和十四年）に日本国内に住んでいた朝鮮人は約百万人で、終戦直前（昭和二十年）に二百万人となった。増加した百万人のうち、七十万人は自分から進んで内地に職を求めてきた個別渡航者と、その間の出生によるものである。残りの三十万人は大部分、工鉱業、土木事業の募集に応じてきた者で、戦時中の国民徴用令による徴用労働者はごく少数である。また、国民徴用令は日本内地では昭和十四年七月に実施されたが、朝鮮への適用はさしひかえ昭和十九年九月に実施されており、朝鮮人徴用労務者が導入されたのは、翌年三月の下関－釜山間の運航が止まるまでのわずか七ヶ月間であった。

"Prior to the war, there were apprximately one million Koreans living in Japan. Just after the war, the figure was 2 million. Of the increase in one million, 700K came to Japan on their own and the remaining 300K were mostly hired as mining and construction work. Those who came via National Mobilization are few. Furthermore, the mobilization act for Japan was instituted in July of 1939 but for Koreans, it was at September of 1944. Since the ferry to Pusan and Shimonoseki was terminated at March of 1945, the mobilization period consisted only 7 months"

http://blog-imgs-45-origin.fc2.com/s/e/i/seitousikan/2010112711574737a.jpg

And secondly, how do you explain the various reports of Korean's illegally entering Japan during that time?

http://www.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~mizna/cgi-bin/shinbun/shinbuns.cgi?midashi=%CC%A9%B9%D2&shinbun=&local1=&local2=&bunrui=&_ymd=no&year1=&month1=&beforeyear=&beforemonth=&afteryear=&aftermonth=&karayear=&karamonth=&madeyear=&mademonth=&perpage=700&page=1

Nigelboy At least one war criminal was hanged for slave laborers and the killing of POW's

There were over 5,000 Japanese who were prosecuted for crimes under the London Charter with nearly a 1,000 executed. Nobody here including the lawmakers are denying that criminality did not exist among certain members who defied the orders from the Japanese government at that time. But the accusation that the labor conditions and the order in which the government gave to mostly Japanese people and thereafter Korean people are not of criminal nature. As your linked paper indicates, "Japan’s elites were willing to sacrifice working class lives, regardless of nationality, to the imperial cause,” Smith concludes. In his view, treatment of Korean miners during the war represented more an intensification of harsh pre-war conditions than a wholly new phenomenon."

zichi, I do not understand your point. What is wrong with Korean wrokers? From your link, i see almost nothing wrong.

http://japanfocus.org/-William-Underwood/2219

WARTIME CONSCRIPTION OVERVIEW

Koreans began freely migrating for paid employment in Kyushu coal mines beginning in the 1890s and their numbers increased rapidly during the labor shortages caused by World War I. By the eve of World War II there were hundreds of thousands of Koreans in Japan, living in segregated areas amid heavy racial discrimination but materially better off than many in their less industrialized homeland. A modest middle class composed mainly of small business owners also emerged. Wartime labor researcher Donald Smith has noted that class hierarchies in wartime Kyushu coal mines existed alongside racial ones. Korean miners died on the job 20 percent more often than Japanese miners and their nominal wages (in most cases never ultimately paid out, as explained in the next section) were about one-third less. "While the differences in Japanese and Korean working conditions were significant, they were narrow enough to suggest that exploitation of the two groups was fundamentally similar in character, and that Japan's elites were willing to sacrifice working class lives, regardless of nationality, to the imperial cause," Smith concludes. In his view, treatment of Korean miners during the war represented more an intensification of harsh pre-war conditions than a wholly new phenomenon.[31]

I have examined the references to the materials at the website quoted.

Mr. Shoji Yamada wrote "book" has become the grounds.

The report shall examine the background.

Shoji Yamada said, has a statement to deny the national flag.

There are doubts about the fairness.

In addition, the report is not an academic materials to be a "book".

@nigelboy

"In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt ..."

Is this not proof that the Army was directly managing indentured sexual servants?

NOTE: I am NOT Japan bashing. I have utmost respect for Japan. I am grateful to Hashimoto for pointing out some of the bad behavior shown by Americans during the occupation. I recommend that any Congressional censure of Japanese Army behavior should include an apology to Japan for American misbehavior as well. It would be honest, and it would be acting in the most effective kind of leadership: good example.

Is this not proof that the Army was directly managing indentured sexual servants?

Yes. They also regulated the operation hours of brothel houses, pay scale, health check ups, age verfication, as well as the right of workers to refuse customers and to such minor details as to not bring alcohol inside the brothels but implemented the rule for them to buy them inside the brothels. This is documented in the Asian Women Funds archives.