14 thoughts on “The Faces of Japanese “Comfort Women” Denialism”

  1. The title to the photograph is a total lie. Please point out which one(s) in that photograph deny the existence of Comfort Women.
    Your scandalous lie is dishonorable and pathetic.

    1. Mr. Marano,

      Nobody is accusing you of denying the existence of “comfort women.”

      Historical denialism is the denial of historical crimes, such as the Holocaust or the genocide of Native Americans or the crime Japanese military perpetrated against Korean and other women known as “comfort women” during the WWII.

      You deny the existence of the system of military enforced prostitution by the Japanese military, which means you, sir, are a “comfort women” denier.

      1. You sir or ma’am are the denier between the two of us. In 1944 the United States Army captured, not rescued some Comfort Women and reported they were well paid prostitutes.

        That report place doubt in the version offered by many. That report may not reflect all the Comfort Women during that period throughout Asia, however it place doubt in the version that all were forced.

        By you and your colleagues refusing to acknowledge that report, it makes you the denier here.

        Also in the photograph where all are accused deniers, do you know that for a fact about each individual? Or is that just another blanket inaccurate accusation?

      2. Dear Fend people,

        What you are doing is just to confuse everyone. Please stop fanning the flames set alight by money-seeking novelists, picked up by the left-wing lawyers and activists for their fame, and fanned by the left-wing media in Japan to damage the reputation of then Japanese conservative government. Yes, comfort women existed, but not the scale of tragedy that they wished others to believe; it may have been less terrible than those of other countries. Singling out Japan to bash Japan is nonsense. You must have some political agenda by doing so.

        Mr Marano has effectively exposed the official US-Army document from 1944 describing those comfort ladies as ‘camp followers’ who were well paid. If you want to engage in campaign, you must be serious with all these historical records, esp. this US-Army document, as it is the primary source, most objective and reliable testimony of the historical fact.

        1. @ johnniewhite

          Please take a look at the full conversation between Mr. Marano and us from facebook in the new post. It should be clear to any observer that Mr. Marano is selectively quoting the document to distort the truth, which is a very “unserious” attitude. Who is actually disregarding “all these historical records” now?

          If you think Mr. Marano “exposed” the document, you are mistaken. The document was part of the archive released by the Japanese government as a supporting evidence for its Kono statement in 1993, and is in fact one of the key documents proving Japanese government’s direct involvement in the system of military enforced prostitution. Only by dishonestly and selectively interpreting the document can one use it to further historical revisionism.

  2. I see that you had a hot exchange of views with Mr Marano. To me, it is not at all clear what you are claiming. I also read the said US-Army report. While you are right that Mr Marano quoted selectively, you also do the same. I said “exposed” because it was deliberately ignored and set aside by the accusers, and it is Mr Marano’s credit that he made us (ordinary citizens) aware of its existence.

    I am also uncomfortable with your stance with regard to the Kono Statement — if you care to examine the government report of 20 June 2014 (http://japan.kantei.go.jp/96_abe/documents/2014/140620.html), you will see how it has been prepared to help then Korean government. To me there was a very important fact that has always been ignored by anti-Japan commentators, viz. the wide-spread attitude of Japanese towards apology to to resolve any dispute. They constantly offer apologies in daily life, and that is their custom of avoiding any problems. This is what I see as the wider picture of the Kono Statement. Of course, it was issued at the request of then Korean government, who clearly appreciated it; but their successors broke promise about the agreements made in secret.

    Still, if you read the Kono Statement very carefully, your assertion that it was ‘Japanese government’s direct involvement in the system of military enforced prostitution’ is too simplistic. The unofficial translation is at http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/women/fund/state9308.html which does not convey fine nuance of the Japanese original http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/taisen/kono.html.

    For example, ‘Kanken’ is translated as ‘administrative/military personnel’, which is often interpreted as Japanese government officials. But they refer to policemen, and almost all of them were Korean. (Remember that Korea was annexed to Japan at that time, and the majority of officials were Koreans.)

    In any way, I wanted to say that the historical position and meaning of the Kono Statement should not be forgotten when it is referred to as ‘evidence’ for or against the ‘comfort women’ dispute.

    1. @ johnniewhite

      Kono statement was certainly a product of diplomatic and domestic political compromises which made it intentionally ambiguous in some places.

      The reason I mentioned Kono statement is that the U.S. military report was in fact one of the key evidences that implicated the Japanese military’s direct involvement in the system of enforced military prostitution at the time Kono statement was released, so if you think it exonerates Japanese military, your interpretation is very… unorthodox and unique (or, more bluntly, totally off). The U.S. report was not “ignored or set aside”; it is and has been a key evidence against Japanese military and has been known as such for decades, regardless of whether or not you were familiar with it.

    2. The fact that the policemen were Korean is irrelevant. As policemen they are servants of the Japanese state and therefore act in that capacity. Note that Koreans were considered Japanese during the colonial era.

  3. “unorthodox and unique” — well, it may sound to you, and to all anti-Japan people, probably because you don’t want to entertain such a thought in the first place.

    But many historians in Japan have been examining all sorts of evidence, and I have learned a lot from their studies. I would trust what they have found, and not those people who have political motivation to bash Japan.

  4. johnniewhite, There are lot more official documents and evidences that those women were recruited by private brokers and Japanese government were warning to those private brokers not to deceive or force women to maintain the honor of Japanese Imperial Army. Because many of those brokers were Koreans.
    Since the the Age of Civil Wars in Japan, if the enemy is not read to fight, they wait until the enemy get ready. And before start fighting, leader of the both military declare their name each other then started fighting. This is the Japanese spirit. This meaning of this is, they give priority on their honor.
    Comfort women issue is nothing but propaganda as well as Nanjing massacre issue.
    If you want to believe what those greedy Korean say, just do it.
    In America, there are a lot of Koreans committing sexual crime even today.
    The number of rape in Korea is No.1 in Asia.
    Korean government reported that there are 50,000 sexual workers exported to Japan, 20,000 to USA and a few thousands to Australia and other nations. This is their official figure but we have more illegal Korean sexual workers in Japan as well as USA.
    Amazing thing is, those prostitutes were public servant in Korea to earn foreign currency.
    That was Korean national industry.
    Now recently, 122 Korean women filed law suit to their own government.
    They are claiming that Korean government forced women to be sex slave to serve for American troops stationed in Korean and who organized that crime was the father of the current Korean president.
    President Park’s father was also president when we signed Japan-Korea basic treaty.
    johnniewhite, if you really believe the Korean side story, you are deceived by those greedy Korean who always steal intellectual proprieties from Japan and USA.
    You must be paid by those greedy Koreans if you are intentionally trying to write those lies.
    We have nothing to hide and we have all the proofs which support our claim while you have none.

  5. @ Shun Ferguson

    There are lot more official documents and evidences that those women were recruited by private brokers and Japanese government were warning to those private brokers not to deceive or force women to maintain the honor of Japanese Imperial Army. Because many of those brokers were Koreans.

    By “lot more official documents and evidences,” do you mean a single directive from 1938 by the office of Deputy Army Secretary that urges the military to carefully vet contractors? If so, I assume that you know that the directive was aimed at stopping kidnapping and deceptive recruiting of women in Japan, not Korea?

    The rest of your comment shows how anti-Korean racism and bigotry lie beneath the seemingly intellectual cover of “revisiting history.” Thank you for your honesty.

    We support Korean women who are seeking redress regarding enforced military prostitution on behalf of the American troops stationed in Korea. If you truly care about these women, please stop using them as pawns in your bigoted campaign against Korea.

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