Japanese Citizens’ and Civic Organizations’ Strong Support for the Redress Movement

Abstract

As of 2019, it has been 28 years since the redress movement for the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery formally started in South Korea. The redress movement has received global support, not only from Asian victim countries, but also from the United States and Western countries. Most importantly, it has received strong support from UN human rights bodies and many other international human rights organizations. The public testimonies of many “comfort women” survivors in Korea and other Asian countries since August 1991 and the discovery of key Japanese historical documents in January 1992 also forced the Japanese government to announce the so-called Kōno Statement in July 1993. In his statement, Kōno Yōhei, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Japanese government, acknowledged the Japanese military government’s responsibility for the forced mobilization of Asian “comfort women” and made a sincere apology. The Kōno Statement led members of the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (hereafter referred to as the Korean Council) and other Asian redress activists to believe that the “comfort women” issue would be resolved successfully within a few years. However, the surprising reactionary turn of the Japanese government and neo-nationalist citizens with the emergence of historical revisionism since the middle of the 1990s has led them to increasingly reject the “comfort women” system as sexual slavery. The Japanese government has tried to resolve the “comfort women” issue twice, only by paying compensation to the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery. Despite all the documentary and testimonial evidence for military sexual slavery, the Japanese government has intentionally rejected the interpretation of “comfort women” as sexual slaves. A dozen UN human rights bodies and international human rights organizations, the United States, and several other countries have sent the Japanese government tough resolutions, telling it to take responsible actions as soon as possible. Nevertheless, the Japanese government has thus far not taken any significant measures to accommodate their recommendations. Given its near-religious nationalist ego, strongly supported by neo-nationalist organizations, the Japanese government is unlikely to acknowledge its predecessor’s crime of sexual slavery and make a sincere apology and compensation to the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery, the minimum requirements for resolving the “comfort women” issue.