The Japanese Secret: The Shame Behind Japan’s Longstanding Denial of Its War Crime against Korean Comfort Girls-Women

In this chapter, I argue that shame is behind Japan’s longstanding denial of their war crimes against Korean comfort girls-women. I propose that Japan’s refusal to acknowledge guilt in enslaving Korean girls and forcing them to work as sex slaves is not simply a claim of innocence on their part, but that it also reveals the deep sense of shame associated with such an atrocity. They inadvertently employ guilt language to cover up their own sense of shame, thus creating the Japanese secret. Japan’s inability to embrace its own sense of shame will be analyzed by consulting Heinz Kohut’s self psychology and Gershen Kaufman’s discussion on defenses against shame. In addition, I will argue that Sonyeosang (the Statue of Peace), a major display of activism by the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, stands to adjudicate Japan’s effort to conceal its own shame and guilt for enacting utter violence against Korean comfort girls-women and violating their human dignity. Before I get into the substantive part of my chapter, I want to note that I created the term comfort girls-women to replace the widely used term “comfort women,” often placed inside quotation marks. This term has three significant aspects: (1) the italics signify that the word, comfort, has a different meaning—sexual slavery—than its usual meaning in the term “comfort women” of entertaining and providing pleasure to men; (2) the addition of the word girl underscores the young age of the victims who were put into sexual slavery; and (3) the word woman reflects the long period—about three quarters of a century—that they endured without a satisfactory resolution to their situation. In addition, it is critical to note that I make the distinction between Japanese people and the Japanese government and that the scope of this work does not apply to Japanese people and is limited to the actions of the Japanese government. Moreover, when I refer to the Japanese government, I am aware that not everyone associated with the Japanese government agrees with and/or holds the same position of denying the guilt of the Japanese government for its horrific violation and violence to Korean comfort girls-women and I limit the scope of this discussion as appli-