Wa-pedia Home > Japan Forum & Europe Forum
Results 1 to 1 of 1

Thread: Comfort Women & Japanese soldiers in WWII : review through articles

  1. #1
    Twirling dragon Maciamo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 17, 2002
    Location
    ¼‹ž
    Posts
    2,434

    Post Comfort Women & Japanese soldiers in WWII : review through articles

    The issue of comfort women is slowly coming to an end as the last survivors of WWII are ageing and dying. Although it is a serious issue I believe that only women who were abused are the ones who should be entitled to seek official apologies and compensation from the Japanese government (if they can prove that they were coerced by the Japanese army to become sex workers).

    It is borderline hypocritical that Asian countries where prostitution (often involving minors, sex slaves an/or human trafficking) is rampant should criticise Japan for deeds committed in war time, when their behaviour isn't much more moral in peace time.

    Americans can hardly scold Japan either in view of the fact that U.S. troops used 'comfort women' in Japan after WWII. Yet this did not prevent the US House of Representatives to arrogantly and hypocritically urge Japan to apologize over comfort women.

    I think that the best way to approach this sensitive topic is to read testimonies of victims, court cases, and the response of the Japanese government on the matter. Here is a collection of articles that will help you shed light on this dark passage of East Asian history.

    Official position of the Japanese government

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Statement by the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the result of the study on the issue of "comfort women" (August 1993)

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs : Recent policy of the government of Japan on the issue known as "wartime comfort women" (June 2001)

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs : What is the policy of the Japanese Government on the issue known as "Wartime Comfort Women"? (November 2001)

    Press articles, trials & testimonies by ex-comfort women

    Japan Times : U.S. court rejects appeals by war slave laborers (1999)

    Taiwan Backs Away From Barring Japanese Cartoonist (February 2001)

    Common Dreams : Mass Rape Ruled a War Crime (February 2001)

    Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment Committee on Foreign Affairs U.S. House of Representatives : Hearing on Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women - Statement of Lee Yong-soo (February 2007)

    The Age : Japanese denial angers 'comfort woman' (June 2007)


    Academic articles and reviews

    History of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery

    Militarism, Colonialism, and the Trafficking of Women: "Comfort Women" Forced into Sexual Labor for Japanese Soldiers, by Watanabe Kazuko

    Japan Focus : Japan’s ‘Comfort Women’: It's time for the truth (in the ordinary, everyday sense of the word), by Tessa Morris-Suzuki

    Other resources

    The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery

    Digital Museum : the Comfort Women Issue and the Asian Women's Fund
    Last edited by Maciamo; Mar 11, 2010 at 07:58.

    Visit Japan for free with Wa-pedia
    See what's new on the forum ?
    Eupedia : Europe Guide & Genetics
    Maciamo & Eupedia on Twitter

    "What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?", Winston Churchill.

Similar Threads

  1. Japanese men lap up new comfort
    By Maciamo in forum Crime & shocking stories
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: Sep 2, 2005, 11:26

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •