“The Facts” is a paid advertisement published in the June 14, 2007 issue of The Washington Post by a group of Japanese conservatives calling themselves the Committee for Historical Facts in an attempt to dissuade the U.S. House of Representatives from adopting H.Res.121, a resolution urging Japan to “formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces’ coercion of young women into sexual slavery.”
Co-signed by dozens of political and public leaders in Japan, the ad is often said to have accelerated the passage of the house resolution by giving credence to the notion that Japan had not fully accepted historical responsibility, rather than preventing it. Nonetheless, the group published a similar ad, Yes, we remember the facts. (2012) five years later.
The ad features five “facts” regarding comfort women, which are the same old denier talking points debunked long ago.
Committee for Historical Facts is made up of:
Below is the list of endorsements for the ad.
From Liberal Democratic Party:
- Kazuo Aichi (愛知和男)
- Masaaki Akaike (赤池誠章)
- Tomomi Inada (稲田朋美)
- Taku Etoh (江藤拓)
- Takashi Otsuka (大塚高司)
- Hideaki Okabe (岡部英明)
- Yuichi Ogawa (小川友一)
- Cyube Kagita (鍵田忠兵衛)
- Yoshitami Kameoka (亀岡偉民)
- Minoru Kihara (木原稔)
- Tsukasa Kobiki (木挽司)
- Manabu Sakai (坂井学)
- Yoshinobu Shimamura (島村宜伸)
- Motoshi Sugita (杉田元司)
- Keisuke Suzuki (鈴木馨祐)
- Kentarou Sonoura (薗浦健太郎)
- Masaaki Taira (平将明)
- Touru Toida (戸井田徹)
- Touru Doi (土井亨)
- Masaki Doi (土井真樹)
- Katsuko Nishimoto (西本勝子)
- Jun Hayashi (林潤)
- Yoshihisa Furukawa (古川禎久)
- Fumiaki Matsumoto (松本文明)
- Youhei Matsumoto (松本洋平)
- Youji Mutoh (武藤容治)
- Tomohiro Yamamoto (山本朋広)
- Atsushi Watanabe (渡部篤)
- Yoshio Nakagawa (中川義雄)
From Democratic Party of Japan:
- Kenko Matsuki (松木謙公)
- Hirofumi Ryu (笠浩史)
- Yoshio Maki (牧義夫)
- Izumi Yoshida (吉田泉)
- Takashi Kawamura (河村たかし)
- Takashi Ishizeki (石関貴史)
- Kenta Izumi (泉健太)
- Hideo Jinpu (神風英男)
- Kenji Tamura (田村謙治)
- Eiichirou Washio (鷲尾英一郎)
- Keirou Kitagami (北神圭朗)
- Jin Matsubara (松原仁)
- Sinpei Matsushita (松下新平)
Independents:
- Shingo Nishimura (西村眞悟)
- Takeo Hiranuma (平沼赳夫)
Professors:
- Hayaru Fukuda (福田逸)
- Kohichi Endoh (遠藤浩一)
- Masahiro Miyazaki (宮崎正弘)
- Shudo Higashinakano (東中野修道)
- Kazuhiro Araki (荒木和博)
- Youichi Shimada (島田洋一)
- Tsutomu Nishioka (西岡力)
- Nobukatsu Fujioka (藤岡信勝)
Political Commentators:
- Hideaki Kase (加瀬英明)
- Kanji Nishio (西尾幹二)
- Kouichirou Tomioka (富岡幸一郎)
- Hisahiko Okazaki (岡崎久彦)
Journalists:
Tony Marano, a.k.a. “Texas Daddy,” is a retired salesperson, American YouTuber, and a comfort women denier. After posting videos criticizing environmental group Sea Shepherd’s campaign against Japanese whaling, Marano was recruited by Japanese businessman Shunichi Fujiki (a.k.a. “Shun Ferguson”) to be the American mouthpiece for Japanese ultra-nationalism, even though he does not speak Japanese. Marano has several books published in Japan (he does not seem to know some of what is being published under his name over there) and tours Japan regularly. Reuters describes Marano as a “right-wing darling in Japan.”
Fujiki operates publicity for Marano as the “Texas Daddy Japan Secretariat.”
Nadeshiko Action (“Japanese Women for Justice and Peace,” なでしこアクション), also spelled Nadesiko Action, is a comfort women denier group founded by Yumiko Yamamoto, the former secretary general and vice president of the extremist anti-Korean group Zaitokukai. Nadeshiko Action mobilizes campaigns against the movement for comfort women redress outside of Japan by coordinating with Japanese residents in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and other countries.
Nadeshiko Action is also the source of the massive wave of form letters and petitions sent to municipalities that have considered a resolution or other action on comfort women issue. As part of the Alliance for Truth about Comfort Women, Nadeshiko Action has actively participated in its lobbying efforts at the United Nations level, holding meetings at the UN Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
See also:
Website: http://nadesiko-action.org (Japanese)
Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform (新しい歴史教科書をつくる会) is a Japanese nationalist group founded by Nobukatsu Fujioka (藤岡信勝) in 1996, mainly in response to the inclusion of the comfort women history in Japanese history textbooks in the early to mid-1990s.
After a series of in-fighting and schisms among conservative intellectuals throughout 1990s and 2000s, more mainstream conservative leaders (especially those affiliate with Japan Conference) left the organization to form the Society to Improve Textbooks (教科書改善の会), leaving Fujioka and his followers behind. Fujioka’s group continues to publish textbooks, but it has been less successful than the splinter group in getting its textbooks adapted by schools. Both groups’ textbooks are similar in their nationalist (and often revisionist) tendencies, but Fujioka and his group have been more vocal in comfort women denial and criticisms of Abe administration’s handling of the issue.
Website: http://www.tsukurukai.com/
Nobukatsu Fujioka (藤岡信勝) is a founder, board member, and former president of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform (新しい歴史教科書をつくる会) and a board member of Global Alliance for Historical Truth (GAHT).
Society for Dissemination of Historical Fact (SDHF, 史実を世界に発信する会) is a Japanese nationalist group that exists to publish English translations of Japanese revisionist materials on the internet and to send those materials to opinion leaders in politics and academia in the United States (without their consent).
Leadership
In addition, many prominent members of Japan’s conservative establishment, mostly those affiliated with Japan Conference, are listed as board members and advisors.
Website: http://hassin.org/ (Japanese)
Website: http://www.sdh-fact.com/ (English)
Alliance for Truth about Comfort Women (「慰安婦の真実」国民運動) is a network of comfort women denier groups and individuals in Japan founded in 2013. The Alliance frequently sends delegations to United Nations functions, including the Human Rights Council (HRC), the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Associated groups and individuals include:
The mailing address for the Alliance is the same as that of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.
See also:
Website: http://ianfu-shinjitu.jp
Global Alliance for Historical Truth (GAHT, 歴史の真実を求める世界連合会) is a Japanese comfort women denier group founded by Koichi Mera. There are branches in Japan and in the U.S.; Mera has stated that another branch in Brazil is being formed.
In 2014, GAHT filed a lawsuit (Gingery et al. v. City of Glendale) seeking the removal of a Comfort Women Memorial in Glendale in the federal court and then in the California state court, alleging that the City infringed on the federal government’s exclusive authority to conduct foreign affairs by enacting the memorial.
GAHT established the Princeton Institute for Asian Studies, a misleadingly named website in 2019 offering its far-right nationalist perspectives on the attack on Pearl Harbor (it was a conspiracy by FDR), comfort women (they were willing and well-paid prostitutes), Nanking massacre (all made up by the Chinese Communist Party), and the Tokyo Tribunal (racist and unfair).
GAHT leader Koichi Mera passed away in late 2019.
Board Members of GAHT-US (as of 2016)
- Koichi Mera (目良浩一), President and Chair
- Genki Fujii (藤井厳喜), Deputy Chair
- Ichiro Mizushima (水島一郎), Treasurer
- Mistsuo Takahashi (高橋光郎), Secretary
- Kiyoshi Hosoya (細谷清), Public Relations / Newsletter Editor
Board Members of GAHT-Japan (as of 2020)
Board Members of GAHT-US (as of 2016)
- Koichi Mera (目良浩一), President and Chair
- Genki Fujii (藤井厳喜), Deputy Chair
- Ichiro Mizushima (水島一郎), Treasurer
- Mistsuo Takahashi (高橋光郎), Secretary
- Kiyoshi Hosoya (細谷清), Public Relations / Newsletter Editor
Website: https://gahtjp.org (Japanese)
Website: http://gaht.jp (English)
Yumiko Yamamoto (山本優美子) is the former vice president and secretary general of far-right racist group Zaitokukai (在特会) and the founder of comfort women denier group Nadeshiko Action (なでしこアクション) which calls itself “Japanese Women for Justice and Peace.”
Yamamoto left Zaitokukai in late 2011 (according to her) or early 2012 (according to Zaitokukai press release) after members of her group have been prosecuted for violent assaults on Korean elementary school and other targets. In her book “Josei ga mamoru nihon no hokori (女性が守る日本の誇り)” published in 2014, Yamomoto explains that the reason for leaving the organization was not because of any disagreement with its activities, but because she felt confident that the organization had grown strong enough that she could focus her effort on comfort women denial.
Yamamoto is a board member of Global Alliance for Historical Truth (GAHT) and a key member of Alliance for Truth About Comfort Women.
See also:
Kiyoshi Hosoya (細谷清) is a comfort women denier and self-styled “researcher” of modern Japanese history, even though his background is in business development and management. Hosoya is the secretary general of the Researchers of History on Modern Japan (HMJR, 日本近現代史研究会) and a board member of Global Alliance for Historical Truth (GAHT), both denier groups. He is also affiliated with the Japan Family Value Society (FAVS, 家族の絆を守る会), part of Japan Conference’s anti-feminist network.
Hosoya co-authored the booklet “Comfort Women Issue: From Misunderstandings to Solution” with Yumiko Yamamoto of Nadeshiko Action.
