While earlier this week we saw an article on how key historical figures from premodern Japanese history were being revised in new history textbooks, Chinese media outlet Xinhua has also raised the issue of representation of Japan’s 20th century history, and in particular the issue of forced military prostitution.
Understandably, for those former comfort women who survived the war and testified against the soldiers who raped them, an accurate re-telling of their experience is their legacy, and the only way their voices can continue to be heard. But due to what some Japanese scholars and politicians see as the disputed status of forced military prostitution by the Empire of Japan, there has been continual friction between Japan and Korea as to how this ought to be represented in history textbooks.
Here, Xinhua decries the new move to revise current textbooks, claiming that it is intended to erase all traces of Japan’s aggression on the East Asian mainland. Needless to say, the netouyo disagree.
From Yahoo! Japan:
With Revisions of Japanese History Textbooks, Former Comfort Women Won’t Rest in Peace — Chinese Media Discusses
With a goal of erasing topics such as the forced prostitution of comfort women by the Japanese military from Japanese history textbooks, the Japanese government is promoting revisions by an official textbook inspection organization. In a speech to the National Diet on April 10, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Shimomura Hakubun stated, “We need to record an interpretation of history in our textbooks that encourages pride in Japan.” Prime Minister Abe Shinzo also said, “There’s a need to evaluate whether our textbooks are being used from an educational perspective.” Recently, Diet Member Nishikawa Kyoko of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) complained, “The textbooks describe the Japanese military treating comfort women as sex slaves, and that’s a damaging view of history.” The Chinese International Xinhua News reported the story.
If Japan changes descriptions of Japan’s “aggression” to “expansion” and completely deletes the Japanese military’s coercion of comfort women into prostitution, all in the name of “respecting patriotism and love for one’s birthplace, and encouraging pride,” it will ultimately be the same as denying history and undermining the established theory regarding Japan’s militarism. The former comfort women who died without resolving their resentment won’t be able to rest in peace.
Japan insists on the specious argument that the comfort women acted out of “free will” rather than “coercion,” but there’s abundant evidence that the Japanese military used methods like fabricated job offers and kidnapping to force women into prostitution. One elderly woman continued to complain to the Japanese government for over a decade. If she truly sold her body of her own free will, why did she spend her entire live tearfully demanding atonement? Japan’s claims completely resist reason.
Comments from Yahoo! Japan:
韓流追放（khk…）さん:
The comfort women are a hoax.
mas**g***8.（mas…）さん
People who keep telling lies until they die are really sinful!!!
爆友会007（tak…）さん:
It’s a nation in the final stages of delusion!
I understand that China is notorious for it’s severe lifestyle for the elderly, even more so for people who were prostitutes their whole lives…
What’s unreal is that they would falsely accuse others to such a uselessly troublesome extent!
アホちゃん（aho…）さん:
It was originally just the likes of Asahi Shimbun making the false reports, but now Korea’s using it horribly. There was absolutely no coercion. We should make an appeal to the world that the history of “comfort women” and the history of the “comfort women problem” are entirely different, and bring attention to how terrible China and Korea are!!
☆村長（eij…）さん:
The comfort women are fake, and it’s been settled in the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in the first place.
The extortion nation tricked us out of doubly exploitative reparations.
The Korean government embezzled the reparation money without giving any out to the citizens. Of course, the asshole Koreans, who don’t know anything about it and have been brainwashed by anti-Japan education, dance for their government.
hidariueda88（hin…）さん:
Is that the reason they lived such long lives?
Don’t extort us!
tru*ma*kk（tru…）さん:
Mitsuhashi Takaaki:“Japan doesn’t complain about Korea’s history textbooks, but Korea complains about ours. This is a complete interference. Japanese people should be aware of the fact that Korea’s the country doing this stuff.”
I completely agree.
tnm**andm*n42（tnm…）さん:
Traitor Asahi Shimbun, take responsibility! [Some revisionists blame the Asahi Shimbun for mistakenly stating that comfort women were forced into prostitution in a 1992 article]
tnm**andm*n42（tnm…）さん:
That’s why it’s a hoax!!!
特別沈黙撮影人（tin…）さん:
How much did he get paid, the person who fabricated this article? Cutting off diplomatic relations with China and the peninsula would be good.
yui*hi_*5*0（yui…）さん
The comfort women were gathered up as a public offering.
Japan didn’t use coercion, but some of the women who were comfort women are saying “coercion” because of their bitterness over being sold by their parents and relatives. If you have a grudge, don’t blame Japan, blame your parents and fellow Koreans.
mas**g***8.（mas…）さん:
“They can’t rest in peace.”
What you should be regretting is that you sold your own bodies, or that your families sold you off!!
Don’t blame Japan.
雷電 空の勇者（tom…）さん:
My grandpa who fought for Japan is the one who can’t rest in peace.
The anti-Japanese activities will never end.
ほらいずん（hor…）さん:
Hey, Asahi Shimbun!
Here’s a good chance to take responsibility!
mas**g***8.（mas…）さん:
It’ll always be well known that they were professional whores, so they can’t rest in peace. w
climb2ros（cli…）さん:
“With Revisions of Japanese History Textbooks, Former Comfort Women Won’t Rest in Peace – the Chinese Media Discusses”
If we’re all sick of articles trolling like this, let’s just stop them.
All the trolls always leave the same kinds of comment anyways, so it’s boring.
koriagirai（kor…）さん:
So you think it’s ok to make your own poverty Japan’s fault, and then leave those lies behind when you die? You became grandmothers, so you couldn’t admit that you were prostitutes.
You’re going to hell, you know.
通名禁止法を作れ（may…）さん:
The parents received money and just deceived their daughters.
The victims are the daughters and Japan.
Calmly selling off their daughters, that’s Koreans for you.
fen*da*62*（fen…）さん:
They just want to extort us. If they were honest people, they wouldn’t be giving out their headshots, and if the media was honest they would conceal their viewpoint.
Therefore, it’s a fake.
ＫＮＩＧＨＴ ＲＩＤＥＲ（ctu…）さん:
It’s a hoax!
