Demand of Correct History

One hundred and eighty-seven scholars on Japanese history or culture in United States released a statement calling for correct interpretation of history, namely comfort woman issue. It requires Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to take bold action to implement his speech at U.S. Congress about Japan’s universal values settled in post-war era. This is a clear answer to Abe’s deference of this issue to historians.

The statement titled “Open letter in support of historians in Japan” was written with shared concern for the way that the history of Japan was commemorated. On comfort woman, it indicates that the issue was distorted by “nationalist invective” both in Japan and Korea or China. The scholars criticizes exploitation of comfort woman issue for nationalist ends in countries of the victims. But, the main target for them is Japan.

Regretting much of the archive of Japanese imperial military was destroyed, mostly by bureaucrats of the time of war end, the scholars appeal that they have obtained “numerous documents demonstrating the military’s involvement in the transfer of women and oversight of brothels.” They also got important evidence from the testimony of victims. This view firmly denies the standpoint of Abe and his staffs that military did not directly involved in it.

The statement focuses on how the women was recruited, rather than who did that. “The evidence makes clear that large numbers of women were held against their will and subjected to horrific brutality,” it describes. Legalistic arguments are also turned down as missing fundamental issue of their brutalization and ignoring the larger context of the inhumane system that exploited them.

On number of comfort women, the letter dismisses the importance of trivial arguments. “Whether the numbers are judged to have been in the tens of thousands or the hundred of thousands will not alter the fact of the exploitation carried out throughout the Japanese empire and its war zones,” tells the document. Number of victims matters less.

The letter concludes that “the wartime regime compelled absolute sacrifice of the individual to serve the state, causing great suffering to the Japanese people themselves as well as to other nations.” Ironic reference to the words like “human rights,” “importance of human security” or “facing the suffering that Japan caused other countries” indicates strong demand to Japanese Prime Minister for not distort history.

It is fair to say that there has been no such fundamental, concise and concerted criticism on Abe’s view on comfort woman issue. If it happened in China or Korea, the nationalists in Japan would have been complaining a lot. But, it is unsure whether they welcome those voices, even though coming from “the country that most important ally.”