Channel Sakura

Channel Sakura or Japanese Culture Channel Sakura (日本文化チャンネル桜) is a conservative television production company and internet station founded in 2004 to “restore traditional Japanese culture and Japanese national soul.” President and Director Satoru Mizushima founded Channel Sakura along with Shiro Takahashi, Yoshiko Matsuura, and others.

Current and former personalities for Channel Sakura include, in addition to Mizushima, Miki Otaka, Mio Sugita, Kohyu Nishimura, Shigeharu Aoyama, Koichi Sugiyama, Genki Fujii, Yoshiko Matsuura, and others.

Comfort Women Denier Activities at the United Nations

This page links to the activities of right-wing Japanese comfort women deniers at the United Nations.

2014

2015

2016

2017

Comfort Women Denier Activities in the United States

This page links to the activities of Japanese comfort women deniers in the United States.

2014

2015

2016

2017

Comfort Women Issue: From Misunderstandings to Solution

“Comfort Women Issue: From Misunderstandings to Solution (慰安婦問題 誤解から解決に向けて)” is the title of a 2016 booklet published in both English and Japanese by Nadeshiko Action authored by Yumiko Yamamoto and Kiyoshi Hosoya and translated (badly) by Kiyoshi Hosoya and Sharon Isac.

The booklet starts with a revisionist overview of Japanese history which claims that “Japan is classless society. We have no history of slavery. We have very little sense of discrimination. We treat people at disadvantage with compassion and warmth, as did the Japanese military during WWII.” It reproduces the same old denier arguments that have been thoroughly debunked decades ago.

Hosoya and Yamamoto have been distributing copies of this booklet at the UN Commission on the Status of Women NGO Parallel Events (2016) and elsewhere.

CW Solution Booklet

Comfort Women Memorial in Glendale

In July 2014, City of Glendale, California enacted a “peace memorial” dedicated to the victims and survivors of Japanese military comfort women system in the City’s Central Park. Since then, Japanese right-wing nationalists have protested the memorial, even filing lawsuits against the city (see Gingery et al. v. City of Glendale) to seek its removal.

The memorial was endorsed by a coalition of Asian American groups, including Korean American Forum of California, Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, and the local (San Fernando Valley) chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League. A group made up of local Japanese residents and first-generation Japanese immigrants (often referred to as “shin issei” or “new first generation”) led by Koichi Mera opposed it.

Since the establishment of the memorial, Japanese right-wing media such as Channel Sakura claimed that the statue led to the rampant bullying and hate crimes against Japanese children in Glendale and surrounding areas. The claim has been thoroughly debunked by local authorities, schools, national media, and Japanese American groups.

Glendale Comfort Women Statue

Committee for Historical Facts

Committee for Historical Facts (歴史事実委員会) is the group behind paid advertisements The Facts (2007) and Yes, we remember the facts. (2012) that deny the history of comfort women. It appears to be closely connected to the Society for Dissemination of Historical Fact, but it is unclear whether or not it is the same entity.

Committee members at the time of the 2007 ad were:

Committee members at the time of the 2012 ad were:

CPAC Japan

CPAC Japan is the Japanese affiliate of Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), one of the largest conferences of American conservatives held annually by American Conservative Union (ACU). Jikido Aeba, formerly the head of Happiness Realization Party, launched Japanese Conservative Union (JCU) and put on the first J-CPAC in partnership with the ACU in 2017, which was renamed CPAC Japan since 2020.

In 2019, Andy Chan Ho-tin of the Hong Kong National Party, the group being outlawed by the Chinese government for its advocacy of independence of Hong Kong, was arrested at the airport as he was about to travel to Japan to speak at J-CPAC 2019.

Speakers for the inaugural 2017 J-CPAC include:

  • Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist and Breitbart executive
  • Matt Schlapp, President, American Conservative Union
  • Robert Eldridge, retired Marin Corps civilian staff
  • Genki Fujii (藤井厳喜)
  • Kohyu Nishimura (西村幸祐)
  • Masahisa Sato (佐藤正久), LDP member of the House of Councilors
  • Eitaro Ogawa (小川榮太郎), author and commentator
  • Toshio Tamogami (田母神俊雄), Chief of Staff, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (ret.)
  • Naoki Hyakuta (百田尚樹), author
  • Takashi Arimoto (有元隆志), Sankei Shimbun

Speakers for the 2018 J-CPAC include:

  • Mick Mulvaney, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
  • Tomomi Inada (稲田朋美), LDP member of the House of Representatives
  • Akira Amari (甘利明), LDP member of the House of Representatives
  • Shigeharu Aoyama (青山繁晴)
  • Takashi Arimoto (有元隆志)
  • Eitaro Ogawa (小川榮太郎)
  • Genki Fujii (藤井厳喜)
  • Tsutomu Nishioka (西岡力)
  • Matt Schlapp

Speakers for the 2019 J-CPAC include:

  • Takashi Arimoto (有元隆志), Sankei Shimbun
  • Eitaro Ogawa (小川榮太郎)
  • Genki Fujii (藤井厳喜)
  • Sara A. Carter, FOX News contributor
  • Matt Schlapp

Speakers for CPAC Japan 2020 include:

  • U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
  • U.S. Senator Mike Lee
  • Dan Brouillette, U.S. Secretary of Energy
  • K.T. McFarland, U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor
  • Andrew Wheeler, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • Gen Nakatani (中谷元), LDP member of the House of Representatives and former Minister of Defense
  • Takashi Nagao (長尾敬), LDP member of the House of Representatives
  • Matt Schlapp
  • Eitaro Ogawa (小川榮太郎)
  • Hiroaki Aeba (あえば浩明)
  • Shigeharu Aoyama (青山繁晴)