WASHINGTON — A group of Japanese lawmakers Thursday denied in a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post that Japan’s military had forced up to 200,000 women into sexual slavery during World War II.
The ad, which seeks to share “the truth with the American people” about the so-called “comfort women” who were driven into brothels, was signed by 44 members of Japan’s parliament.
“No historical document has ever been found by historians or research organizations that positively demonstrates that women were forced against their will into prostitution by the Japanese army,” the ad says under the title, in bold letters, “THE FACTS.”
“The ianfu (comfort women) who were embedded with the Japanese army were not, as is commonly reported, ‘sex slaves,'” it says.
“They were working under a system of licensed prostitution that was commonplace around the world at the time,” the ad says, adding that many of the women made more money than field officers “and even generals.”
The ad acknowledges that there were cases of “breakdowns in discipline.”
“Criticism for events that actually occurred must be humbly embraced,” the ad says.
“But apologies over unfounded slander and defamation will not only give the public an erroneous impression of historical reality but could negatively affect the friendship between the United States and Japan,” it says.
The ad was signed by professors, journalists, political commentators and 29 members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, 13 from the Democratic Party of Japan and two independents.
Historians say up to 200,000 young women, mostly from Korea but also from China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Taiwan, were forced to serve as sex slaves in Japanese army brothels.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked controversy in March by saying there was no evidence the imperial army directly coerced thousands of “comfort women” into brothels across Asia during World War II.
Abe has since stressed he stands by Japan’s landmark 1993 apology to the women and expressed his deep sympathy for the women during a US visit in late April. inquirer.net
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