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Friday, 22 November 2013
Right-wing Japanese group dismisses fears of former Philippine ‘comfort women’
A right-wing historical group in Japan has criticised former comfort women in the Philippines who expressed fear at the sight of Japanese troops providing aid in their town as being the work of “professional accusers.”
Right-wing Japanese group dismisses fears of former Philippine ‘comfort women’
Julian Ryall in Tokyo 22 November 2013
A right-wing historical group in Japan has criticised former comfort women in the Philippines who expressed fear at the sight of Japanese troops providing aid in their town as being the work of “professional accusers.”
Hiromichi Moteki, secretary general of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, also dismissed newly discovered documents that purportedly prove that the Japanese military was behind the systematic organisation of brothels for troops in occupied countries during the early decades of the last century.
The society claims any women who provided sex for the troops were mere prostitutes earning a living and has consistently disputed suggestions that the military rounded up women in occupied areas and forced them into sexual slavery.
“There were some cases, but these were personal crimes against local women,” Moteki told The South China Morning Post. “It was not done so brutally as the women say [by the military],” he added.
Moteki’s denial comes after a professor of modern Japanese history uncovered documents from six trials carried out by the Dutch colonial government in what is now Indonesia and by Nationalist courts in China after World War II for Class B and Class C war criminals.
The indictment for one of the cases, heard in Nanjing, accused a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army of rape and the abduction of women. The indictment said the officer “searched out girl with violence and made them provide physical comfort.”
The officer protested his innocence, claiming that officers from a different unit had carried out the crimes. The court found him guilty.
In another case, 13 officers were accused of forcing women into prostitution, saying they were “threatened by violent measures” until they agreed to sexual servitude.
Found by Professor Hirofumi Hayashi, of Kanto Gakuin University, the documents had been held by the Justice Ministry in Tokyo until being transferred to the National Archives around 1999.
But Moteki points to cases in Indonesia in which brothels were operated as private concerns and that in the very rare cases in which locally based troops were found to be operating brothels, they were immediately shut down by the high command.
“As in any military, anywhere in the world, there are soldiers who commit criminal acts,” he agreed. “The point is whether the Japanese military authorities organised this or not. And the evidence is that the authorities shut the ‘comfort houses’ and punished the soldiers whenever such acts were found.”
Moteki was even more dismissive of reports that Philippine women in areas devastated by the recent typhoon are “in fear” ahead of the arrival of members of the Japanese military to provide aid.
In an interview with Kyodo News, a representative of the Lila Pilipina support group for former “comfort women” said they are worried the abuse they suffered during the war may be repeated on the young women of the island of Leyte again today.
“We are allergic to them,” Richilda Extremadura, executive director of the group, told Kyodo. “We all know the Japanese government still owes our ‘lolas’ [elderly former comfort women].
“As victims of wartime sexual slavery, the lolas find the presence of Japanese troops a threat to their emotions and to the present generation, who might experience the abuses again,” Extremadura said.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Moteki. “These women are always saying the same thing, they accuse Japan without any evidence at all. They are professional accusers and I do not believe them.”
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Right-wing Japanese group dismisses fears of former Philippine ‘comfort women’
Julian Ryall in Tokyo
22 November 2013
A right-wing historical group in Japan has criticised former comfort women in the Philippines who expressed fear at the sight of Japanese troops providing aid in their town as being the work of “professional accusers.”
Hiromichi Moteki, secretary general of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, also dismissed newly discovered documents that purportedly prove that the Japanese military was behind the systematic organisation of brothels for troops in occupied countries during the early decades of the last century.
The society claims any women who provided sex for the troops were mere prostitutes earning a living and has consistently disputed suggestions that the military rounded up women in occupied areas and forced them into sexual slavery.
“There were some cases, but these were personal crimes against local women,” Moteki told The South China Morning Post. “It was not done so brutally as the women say [by the military],” he added.
Moteki’s denial comes after a professor of modern Japanese history uncovered documents from six trials carried out by the Dutch colonial government in what is now Indonesia and by Nationalist courts in China after World War II for Class B and Class C war criminals.
The indictment for one of the cases, heard in Nanjing, accused a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army of rape and the abduction of women. The indictment said the officer “searched out girl with violence and made them provide physical comfort.”
The officer protested his innocence, claiming that officers from a different unit had carried out the crimes. The court found him guilty.
In another case, 13 officers were accused of forcing women into prostitution, saying they were “threatened by violent measures” until they agreed to sexual servitude.
Found by Professor Hirofumi Hayashi, of Kanto Gakuin University, the documents had been held by the Justice Ministry in Tokyo until being transferred to the National Archives around 1999.
But Moteki points to cases in Indonesia in which brothels were operated as private concerns and that in the very rare cases in which locally based troops were found to be operating brothels, they were immediately shut down by the high command.
“As in any military, anywhere in the world, there are soldiers who commit criminal acts,” he agreed. “The point is whether the Japanese military authorities organised this or not. And the evidence is that the authorities shut the ‘comfort houses’ and punished the soldiers whenever such acts were found.”
Moteki was even more dismissive of reports that Philippine women in areas devastated by the recent typhoon are “in fear” ahead of the arrival of members of the Japanese military to provide aid.
In an interview with Kyodo News, a representative of the Lila Pilipina support group for former “comfort women” said they are worried the abuse they suffered during the war may be repeated on the young women of the island of Leyte again today.
“We are allergic to them,” Richilda Extremadura, executive director of the group, told Kyodo. “We all know the Japanese government still owes our ‘lolas’ [elderly former comfort women].
“As victims of wartime sexual slavery, the lolas find the presence of Japanese troops a threat to their emotions and to the present generation, who might experience the abuses again,” Extremadura said.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Moteki. “These women are always saying the same thing, they accuse Japan without any evidence at all. They are professional accusers and I do not believe them.”
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