United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) NGO Parallel Events are a series of events held around the United Nations building by non-governmental organizations from around the world working on women’s rights while the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women meets at its headquarters in New York.
Japanese right-wing groups first infiltrated the NGO Parallel Events in 2016 under innocuously named panels to promote Japanese nationalism and comfort women denial, after which they were banned from participation for an year.
When the ban expired in 2018, comfort women denier group Global Alliance for Historical Truth returned to the NGO Parallel Events with a panel titled “The Role of Women in Japan Now” on March 19, 2018. Presenters included Koichi Mera, Keiko Kawasoe, Moe Fukada (深田萌絵), and Shizuko Culpepper (カルペッパー静子).
According to Kiyoshi Hosoya of Global Alliance for Historical Truth, Kawase argued at the panel that Japanese women are not seeking gender equality or careers, but simply desire to become full-time homemakers, and the Japanese government’s policy is focused on fulfilling such wish of the vast majority of Japanese women.
Along with the panel at the NGO Parallel Event, Kawasoe held a separate lecture in Japanese on March 21, 2018 co-sponsored by Global Alliance for Historical Truth and New York Historical Issues Study Group.
Yasuhiro Takasaki (高崎康裕) is a New York-based business consultant and the president of the far-right New York Historical Issues Study Group. He has an MBA from the American University and an extensive background in real estate and construction industries, having worked at Shimizu Corporation for 25 years.
Takasaki has been a speaker on panels organized by Himawari Japan, a comfort women denier group.
Himawari Japan, a group of nationalist Japanese women in New York/New Jersey area led by Yoko Nagato, is holding its second public event on July 6, 2017. The event is to be held in Japanese.
Speakers:
Also see: Comfort Women Denier Activities in the United States
“Yes, we remember the facts.” is a paid advertisement published in the November 6, 2012 edition of The Star-Ledger, a daily newspaper in New Jersey, by a group of Japanese comfort women deniers calling itself the Committee for Historical Facts. It is a revised version of The Facts (2007) ad, published in the June 14, 2007 issue of The Washington Post.
The ad recycles the same old comfort women denier arguments. The publication took place six months after Palisades Park, New Jersey turned down Japanese officials’ offer of one hundred cherry blossom trees in exchange for removing a small plaque memorializing comfort women.
Committee for Historical Facts is made up of:
The ad also included a long list of endorsements.
From Democratic Party of Japan (民主党)
- Nobuyuki Fukushima (福島伸享)
- Hiroki Hanasaki (花崎宏基)
- Yoichi Kaneko (金子洋一)
- Jin Matsubara (松原仁)
- Noboru Miura (三浦昇)
- Koichi Mukoyama (向山好一)
- Takashi Nagao (長尾敬)
- Masanao Shibahashi (柴崎正直)
- Kenji Tamura (田村謙治)
- Shu Watanabe (渡辺周)
- Izumi Yoshida (吉田泉)
From Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党)
- Shinzo Abe (安倍晋三)
- Haruko Arimura (有村有子)
- Seiichi Eto (江藤晟一)
- Keiji Furuya (古屋圭司)
- Tomomi Inada (稲田朋美)
- Yoshihiko Isozaki (磯崎仁彦)
- Yoshitaka Ito (伊東良孝)
- Yasushi Kaneko (金子恭之)
- Kouichi Kishi (岸宏一)
- Nobuo Kishi (岸信夫)
- Seigo Kitamura (北村誠吾)
- Yutaka Kumagai (熊谷大)
- Hirokazu Matsuno (松野博一)
- Shoji Nishida (西田昌司)
- Hiroshige Seko (世耕弘成)
- Hakubun Shimomura (下村博文)
- Yoshitaka Shindo (進藤義孝)
- Sanae Takaichi (高市早苗)
- Naokazu Takemoto (竹本直一)
- Ichiro Tsukada (塚田一郎)
- Michiko Ueno (上野通子)
- Junzo Yamamoto (山本順三)
- Yuji Yamamoto (山本有二)
- Eriko Yamatani (山谷えり子)
- Hiroyuki Yoshiie (義家弘介)
From the Sunrise Party of Japan (たちあがれ日本)
- Takeo Hiranuma (平沼赳夫)
- Kyoko Nakayama (中山恭子)
Professors:
Political commentators:
Journalists:
Movie & TV Producer:
Himawari Japan, a group of nationalist Japanese women in New York/New Jersey area led by Yoko Nagato, held its first-ever public event on August 23, 2016. The event was held in Japanese.
Speakers:
Also see: Comfort Women Denier Activities in the United States
Texas Night in NYC (2016) is a comfort women denier event held on March 23, 2016 at the St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral in New York City. This is the second consecutive year a “Texas Night” event is held in New York, after Texas Night in NYC (2015).
Speakers are:
Sponsors include:
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) NGO Parallel Events are a series of events held around the United Nations building by non-governmental organizations from around the world working on women’s rights while the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women meets at its headquarters in New York.
In 2016, Japanese right-wing groups infiltrated the NGO Parallel Events by submitting innocuous-looking proposals to the organizers of NGO Parallel Events with the goal of promoting comfort women denial and Japanese nationalism. Two such events were held.
March 16, 2016 – “Misunderstood Comfort Women”
On March 16th, denier group Global Alliance for Historical Truth presented a panel titled “Misunderstood Comfort Women” which denied the history of comfort women. The panel was facilitated by Terumi Imamura and speakers were Koichi Mera, Kiyoshi Hosoya, and Mio Sugita.
March 24, 2016 – “Women’s Rights under Armed Conflict: Japan’s Approach to Respect Women”
Denier group Nadeshiko Action (Japanese Women for Justice and Peace) sponsored a panel titled “Women’s Rights under Armed Conflict: Japan’s Approach to Respect Women” on March 24th. The panel was facilitated by Shizuko Culpepper and speakers included Yumiko Yamamoto, Koichi Mera, Sharon Isac, Kaoli Koyasu, Mieko Green, and Charlotte Meyer.
Texas Night in NYC (2015) is a series of two Japanese-language panels held on March 9 and 12, 2015 in New York City. It was officially sponsored by New York Seiron-no Kai, Japan Mahoroba Support Agency, Society to Promote Correct Historical Views (Happy Science), and Rompa Project, but in New York the event was billed as a Happy Science event.
Speakers for March 9th:
Speakers for March 12th:
The first panel was cancelled by the original venue, Japanese American Association of New York, after the association found out Yamamoto’s history in violent racist group Zaitokukai. The event was moved to an Italian restaurant nearby, where protesters gathered outside.
“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:
