Japanese Scholars’ Reply to the American Scholars’ Comfort Women Statement:
In search of a constructive dialogue based upon facts
August 6, 2015
On May 5th, 2015, one hundred and eighty-seven American-based researchers of Japanissued a statement on the comfort women issue titled, “Open letter in support of historians
in Japan” (hereafter, “American scholars’ statement”). It is our understanding that,
subsequently, the number of signers increased to some four hundred and sixty people. In
response to the challenge proposed by the American scholars’ statement, we Japanesescholars respond with the following views.

<1> Complete agreement that events should be viewed in their historical context, andweighed carefully in the balance
We were struck by this passage from the American scholars’ statement:“[…] we believe that only careful weighing and contextual evaluation of every
trace of the past can produce a just history. Such work must resist national andgender bias, and be free from government manipulation, censorship, and privateintimidation.”

We are sympathetic to this suggestion, which we believe to be an important, fundamental
principle of historical research. It is cause for celebration that researchers in both Japanand the United States are in agreement on this point.
That we are attempting a response here is due to our having detected, in the American
scholars’ statement, a willingness to deal constructively with historical facts that has
previously been lacking in American debate on the comfort women issue.
<2> Who are the “historians in Japan”?
The above-mentioned agreement on a fundamental principle of historical inquiry
notwithstanding, there remain aspects of the American scholars’ statement that we findpuzzling, or that cause us to harbor grave intellectual reservations.
The American scholars’ statement is titled, “Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan,”and begins:1

“The undersigned scholars of Japanese studies express our unity with the many
courageous historians in Japan seeking an accurate and just history of World War IIin Asia.”

It is unclear, however, whom the American scholars mean here by “historians in Japan.”
Academic freedom is guaranteed in Japan, which means that there exists a broad diversityof scholars and researchers. According to the explanation provided by the Americanscholars who compiled the statement, they were influenced by a statement issued inDecember of 2014 by the Historical Science Society of Japan (Rekishigaku Kenkyūkai,commonly abbreviated as “Rekiken”).
This Rekiken statement includes this assertion: “The forced abduction of comfort
women is a fact. Comfort women were sex slaves.” It would seem that this assertion isalmost completely different from the current American scholars’ statement, which
includes neither the phrase “forced abduction of comfort women,” nor the phrase, “sexslaves.”
Furthermore, Rekiken is a Marxist organization that has opposed theJapanese-American Security Treaty. (See link for their April 1st, 2013 statement.
http://rekiken.jp/appeals/appeal20130401.html) Were the American scholars aware ofthese positions when they signed their May, 2015 open letter?

<3> History must not be used for political purposes
In the American scholars’ statement, Japan’s “comfort women” system is understood to be“one of the most divisive issues” of historical interpretation. The American scholars write:“Postwar Japan’s history of democracy, civilian control of the military, police
restraint, and political tolerance, together with contributions to science andgenerous aid to other countries, are all things to celebrate as well.”“Yet problems of historical interpretation pose an impediment to celebratingthese achievements. One of the most divisive historical issues is the so-called‘comfort-women’ system. This issue has become so distorted by nationalist invectivein Japan as well as in Korea and China that many scholars, along with journalists
and politicians, have lost sight of the fundamental goal of historical inquiry, whichshould be to understand the human condition and aspire to improve it.”2

We wish to ask the American scholars whether they are seeking unanimity of historicalinterpretation between the United States and Japan. We ask this because we believe it
impossible to achieve unanimity of historical interpretation among differing nations andpeoples when that interpretation goes beyond the level of historical fact. This
impossibility is self-evident when one considers, for example, the differing historicalinterpretations of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki between America andJapan.
We affirm the American scholars’ statement when it points out the problem of Korean andChinese nationalistic rhetoric. We, too, oppose nationalistic rhetoric without basis in
historical fact when it is deployed by any country.
From this perspective, we are compelled to point out that in the United States, too, one isable to find a mistaken understanding of the facts of the comfort women issue. In theirstatement, the American scholars allow that, “the precise number of ‘comfort women’[…] will probably never be known for certain.” If this is truly the American scholars’
position, then it should be an imperative, based upon this admission of great uncertainty
as to the actual number of comfort women, to correct the erroneous passages in theMcGraw-Hill textbook without delay.
But the McGraw-Hill textbook is not the only site for the perpetuation of mistaken
information on comfort women numbers. The stelae accompanying the comfort women
statues erected throughout the United States also state unequivocally that “two hundred
thousand ordinary women were abducted and forced to work for the Japanese military.”
In addition to these falsehoods, in the Coomaraswamy Report filed with the UnitedNations, as well as in United States House of Representatives Resolution No. 121, theJapanese military stands accused, not only of abducting comfort women, but also ofdrawing and quartering them, and of slaughtering them en masse in order to cover up theevidence of their crimes. What we are asking for here is simply the correction ofstatements such as these that are so greatly at odds with fact.
We believe it is our mission as scholars to bring facts to light exactly as we find them. We
must not allow ourselves to be drawn away from our scholarly preserves and into therealm of politicization, as doing so would hinder the kind of dialogue and cooperation thatare necessary for solving the many problems that we now face.

<4> There is no basis for singling Japan out among the twentieth-century history ofwartime sexual violence and military prostitution
In their statement, the American scholars conclude that the Japanese military’s comfort
woman system was “distin[ct].” Thus,

3

“Among the many instances of wartime sexual violence and military prostitution
in the twentieth century, the ‘comfort women’ system was distinguished by its
large scale and systematic management under the military, and by its exploitationof young, poor, and vulnerable women in areas colonized or occupied by Japan.”If the American scholars see the comfort woman system as one of prostitution carried out inthe service of an army, then we are in agreement on this point. In order to prevent rape andother sexual violence in theaters of war, and in order also to prevent the spread of sexuallytransmitted disease, the Japanese military permitted brokers to procure comfort women fromJapan as well as the Korean Peninsula, which at the time was part of the home territory ofJapan. In addition to granting permission for this to take place, the Japanese military also
helped expedite the process of procurement.
We object to the singling out of Japan for special opprobrium on this score, especially when
one compares Japan’s actions with those of the Soviet Union’s Red Army, which permitted
the rape of the women of defeated populations in Manchuria, Germany, and elsewhere; of theUnited States military, which used as prostitutes Japanese women provided by the Japanese
government under the American Occupation; and of South Korea, which forced its own
countrywomen to work as prostitutes for the sake of South Korea’s American allies during
and after the Korean War.
Leaving aside for a moment the horrors of raping defeated populations, we feel that theAmerican and South Korean actions described immediately above show just how common
and universal was the “exploitation of young, poor, and vulnerable women."
As a result of the poverty in Japan and on the Korean Peninsula at that time, parents took outloans with prostitute brokers and made their daughters work for these brokers as repaymentof those loans. Such tragedies are now regarded as violations of the law. However, one canstill find such tragedies occurring with terrible frequency all around the world. Human
trafficking is a booming business and is still the result of poverty and famine, such as the caseof the North Koreans who flee into China in order to escape the crushing conditions in theirhome country. As a United Nations report lays out, women in North Korean political prisonsare subjected to appalling sexual abuse. Women’s rights continue to be trampled upon, evenas we write.
We consider it incumbent upon all of us to strive to eliminate such tragedies without anyexcuse or prevarication. In order to realize this aim, we must examine, from the perspectiveof women’s rights violations, all of the facts from the past through to the present in an
empirical and academic way. We must not allow nationalism or political objectives to distort
our view of the facts. ■4◆Drafters
WATANABE Toshio
NAKANISHI Terumasa
TAKUBO Tadae

Takushoku University
Kyoto University
Kyorin University

渡辺 利夫
中西 輝政
田久保 忠衛＊Chancellor◆Signatories
ANBO Katsuya
安保 克也
Osaka International University
ANDO Yutaka
安藤 豊
Hokkaido University of Education
ARAI Kohichi
新井 弘一
Kyorin UniversityARAKI Kazuhiro 荒木 和博
Takushoku University
ASADA Sadao
麻田 貞雄
Doshisha University
ASANO Kazuo
浅野 和生
Heisei International University
CHE Kilsong
崔 吉城
Hiroshima University
EDWARDS Hiromi
エドワーズ 博美
University of Maryland
ETOH Hiroyuki
江藤 裕之
Tohoku University
FIJII Genki藤井 厳喜
Takushoku University
FUJIOKA Nobukatsu
藤岡 信勝
Takushoku University
FUKUCHI Atsushi
福地 惇
Kochi University
FUKUDA Hayaru
福田 逸
Meiji University
FUKUI Yuhzoh
福井 雄三
Tokyo International University
FURUTA Hiroshi
古田 博司
Tsukuba University
HAKAMADA Shigeki
袴田 茂樹
Niigata Prefectural University
HAMAYA Hidehiro
浜谷 英博
Mie-Chukyo University
HASEGAWA Kohichi
長谷川 公一
Edogawa University
HASEYAMA Takahiko
長谷山 崇彦Chuo University
HATA Ikuhiko
秦 郁彦
Nippon University
HIGASHINAKANO Shudo
東中野 修道Asia University
HIGUCHI Tsuneharu
樋口 恒晴
Tokiwa University
HiIZUMI Katsuo
樋泉 克夫
Aichi University
HIRAMA Yohichi
平間 洋一
National Defense Academy of JapanICHIMURA Shin-ichi
市村 真一
Kyoto University
IJIRI Hidenori
井尻 秀憲
Tokyo University
IMAOKA Hideki
今岡 日出紀Shimane Prefectural University
INAMURA Kohboh
稲村 公望
Chuo University
INOUE Masao
井上 雅夫
Doshisha University
IRIE Takanori
入江 隆則
Meiji University
ISHIGAKI Kichiyo
石垣 貴千代Toyo University
ISHII Nozomu
石井 望Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University
ISOMAE Syuji
磯前 秀二
Meijo University5ITOH Ken-ichi
伊藤 憲一
Aoyama Gakuin University
ITOH Takashi
伊藤 隆
Tokyo University
KANAOKA Hideo
金岡 秀郎
Akita International University
KANEKO Yoshio
兼子 良夫
Kanagawa University
KATOH Juhachi
加藤 十八
Chukyo Women`s Universitu
KATSUOKA Kanji
勝岡 寛次
Meisei University
KEINO Yoshio
慶野 義雄
Heisei International University
KIMURA Hiroshi
木村 汎
Hokkaido University
KITAMURA Minoru
北村 稔
Ritsumeikan University
KITAMURA Yoshikazu 北村 良和
Aichi University of Education
KOBORI Kei-ichiro
小堀 桂一郎Tokyo University
KOIZUMI Toshio
小泉 俊雄
Chiba Institute of TechnologyKOYAMA Kazunori
小山 一乗
Komazawa University
KOYAMA Tsunemi
小山 常実
Ohtsuki University
KUNO Jun
久野 潤
Osaka International University
KUSAKA Kimindo
日下 公人
Tama University
MABUCHI Mutsuo
馬渕 睦夫
National Defense Academy of Japan
MATSU-URA Mitsunobu 松浦 光修
Kohgakkan University
MERA Kohichi
目良 浩一
University of Southern California
MIZUTO Hideaki
水渡 英昭
Tohoku University
MOMOCHI Akira
百地 章
Nippon University
MURATA Noboru
村田 昇
Shiga University
NAGOSHI Takeo
名越 健郎
Takushoku University
NAKAMURA Katsunori
中村 勝範
Keio University
NAKAYA Noriko
中屋 紀子
Miyagi University of Education
NISHI Osamu
西 修
Komazawa University
NISHIDATE Kazume
西館 数芽
Iwate University
NISHIO Kanji
西尾 幹二
University of Electro-Communications
NISHIOKA Tsutomu
西岡 力Tokyo Christian University
NITTA Hitoshi
新田 均
Kohgakkan University
NIWA Fumio
丹羽 文生
Takushoku University
NIWA Haruki
丹羽 春喜
Osaka-gakuin Universitｙ
NODA Yasuhisa
野田 裕久
Ehime University
OH Sonfa
呉 善花
Takushoku University
OH-HARA Yasuo
大原 康男
Kokugakuin University
OHIWA Yujiro
大岩 裕次郎Tokyo International University
OHTA Tatsuyuki
太田 辰幸
Toyo University
OKADA-COLLINS Mariko 岡田-ｺﾘﾝｽﾞ マリ子 Central Washington University
OKAMOTO Kohji
岡本 幸治
Osaka International University

6OSADA Goroh
長田 五郎
Myojo University
OSADA Mitsuo
長田 三男Waseda University
OYAMA Kazunobu
小山 和伸
Kanagawa University
SAKAI Nobuhiko
酒井 信彦
Tokyo University
SASE Masamori
佐瀬 昌盛 National Defense Academy of JapanSHIBA Kimiya
柴 公也
Kumamoto Gakuen University
SHIBATA Norifumi
柴田 徳文
Kokushikan University
SHIBUYA Tsukasa
澁谷 司
Takushoku University
SHIMADA Yohichi
島田 洋一
Fukui Prefectural University
SHIMOJOH Masao
下條 正男
Takushoku University
SUGIHARA Seishiroh
杉原 誠四郎Josai University
TAKADA Jun
高田 純
Sapporo Medical University
TAKAHARA Akiko
高原 朗子
Kumamoto University
TAKAHASHI Shiroh
高橋 史朗
Meisei University
TAKAI Susumu
高井 晉
National Defense Academy of Japan
TAKAYAMA Masayuki 高山 正之Teikyo University
TANAKA Hidemichi
田中 英道
Tohoku University
TEI Taikin
鄭 大均
Tokyo Metropolitan University
TOKUMATSU Nobuo
徳松 信夫
Tokoha University
TOMIOKA Koh-ichiro
冨岡 幸一郎Kanto Gakuin University
TOYODA Aritsune
豊田 有恒
Shimane Prefectural University
TOYOSHIMA Norio
豊島 典雄
Kyorin University
TUCHIDA Ryuhtaro
土田 龍太郎Yokyo University
UMEHARA Katsuhiko 梅原 克彦
Akita International University
UMEZAWA Shohei
梅澤 昇平
Shobi Gakuen University
URABE Kenshi
占部 賢志
Nakamura Gakuen University
USHIO Masato
潮 匡人
Takushoku University
WATANABE Shoh-ichi 渡部 昇一
Sophia University
YAGI Hidetsugu
八木 秀次
Reitaku University
YAMAFUJI Kazuo
山藤 和男
University Electro-Communications
YAMAMOTO Shigeru
山本 茂
Kyushu Women`s College
YAMASHITA Eiji
山下 英次
Osaka City University
YOSHIDA Yoshikatsu
吉田 好克
Miyazaki University
YOSHINAGA Jun
吉永 潤
Kobe University
YOSHIWARA Tsuneo
吉原 恒雄
Takushoku University（ 110 persons in all ）7