Nihon Kwi comments

“Asked about the ''comfort women,'' or sex slaves in army brothels, Mr. Ukita acknowledged that he had frequently visited them. Although some Japanese now insist that the women were prostitutes who had volunteered, Mr. Ukita said that from his own experience he knew that the women had been forced to work in the brothels.

''At the time of the war, I was in my 20's and single, and I didn't understand,'' he said, growing more emotional. ''But when I had two daughters myself, I started to realize what I had done.''

At that point, Mr. Ukita's voice choked and blinked, and tears welled in his eyes. He would not say exactly what his role had been, but in a tremulous voice he said that Japan should compensate the women for the injuries done to them.”

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/22/world/a-japanese-generation-haunted-by-its-past.html

Sad men tell no tales. If only the younger generation knew better they would not accuse others of revisionism

https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/22/world/a-japanese-generation-haunted-by-its-past.html

MkoreaMWafrika - the GDP per capita of Japan and Korea are about the same. Penury? That’s a stretch.

This message board is a head scratcher. There must be a lot of Japanese in America who hate Koreans. There are no widespread anti-Japanese demonstrations in America. It’s America... any person can organize a rally for anything.

Also, look at the Koreatimes US or other similar English language Korean websites. There are no trolls hating on Japanese.

Finally, to those complaining about Moon reversing course on the comfort woman deal, look at what’s happened in America once Trump took over. He tore up the Iran agreement and backed out the Trans Pacific and global climate negotiations. That happens in a two party democracy. Japan is single party rule and that creates stability and consistency but not diversity of thought. There are trade offs.

Ganbare, Japan signed the 1965 SF Treaty and re-wrote it’s constitution as an occupied nation. So let’s go back to the Imperial Days of Emperor worship and claim ownership to all the territories Japan had to give up after the war? Scary.

Heckleberry, that’s right. No angry mobs. Nobody seemed to care much about this issue at all. In a week in downtown Seoul, there was not a single protest or demonstration that I saw. Plus, there were tons of Japanese and Chinese tourists who also didn’t seem concerned. The Koreans I met were more worried about whether I was seeing signs of a recession in America and what the global business sentiment is. The media reporting on this Japan Korea trade war and the crazy commenters here have blown this way out of proportion to reality.

I just visited Korea for business and there is nothing approaching the furor reported by the media. I did not see a single protest or “NO Japan” signs. I saw some “YES Korea” signs on lamp posts which seemed to say something about buying Korean goods but I do not speak Korean.

I talked to business partners and they said there is no real anger amongst most people. They said store traffic at Uniqlo is way down but it has been offset by Korean shoppers buying online.

In a metro area of 20 million like Seoul, you can always find a couple hundred extremists for a photo op. Koreans don’t like Abe but they like Japanese people just fine. Don’t believe the hype.

The German government would never pressure Poland or Israel from erecting a WWII memorial or statue.

I spoke to many people from Korea and asked them about the current situation. They reminded me that Moon had less than 50% of the vote in the election due to a third party candidate and not even all of his supporters agree with his handling of relations with Japan. While most Koreans dislike Abe for his whitewashing of history, they like Japanese people and want good relations.

who lost the JPN SK trade war? JPN and SK. who won? China. with trade ties between JPN and SK frayed, neither will risk economic retaliation from China by allowing US missiles on their soil.

Abe is slick. his trade war has received a lot of press coverage around the world and every article has an obligatory back story of Japanese wartime forced labor and sex slavery. great PR ahead of the Olympics. think SK won’t be motivated now to shame Japan before Tokyo 2020? he just kicked a hornet’s nest.

I suppose SK will replace Uniqlo with a Korean brand like Forever21.

I warned about this. The trade war has motivated SK to internalize its supply chain. What it cannot develop or acquire overseas, America or China will develop and sell them. Economic nationalism only creates losers. This is the Trump Abe legacy.

Are people stupid? The article says there were “about 30 protesters.” Look at the picture - there are more police than protesters. Let’s not imagine that the world has stopped in SK and people are hysterically demonstrating en masse. It was 30 people out of 20 million in the Seoul metro area. Why does JPN media publish clickbait like this to inflame sentiment in Japan? It’s irresponsible.

SK and Japan, you guys are two peas in a pod. SK claims a tiny island and refuses arbitration w/ Japan. Japan claims a tiny island and refuses arbitration w/ China.

SK put Dokdo on its Olympics map and Japan protested so SK online posters tell Japanese to stop complaining.

Japan put Takeshima on its Olympic map and SK protested so Japanese online posters now telling Koreans to stop complaining.

It’s hilarious to watch you two go at it without any sense of self reflection.