Timeline of "Comfort Women" Denialism during the first and second
Abe administrations (with a focus on U.S.-related incidents)
Part 1: 2006-2007
2006-09-26
2007-01-16
2007-01-31
2007-03-01
2007-03-02
2007-03-05
2007-03-09
2007-03-16
2007-03-24
2007-03-25
2007-03-26
2007-04
2007-04-03
2007-04-03
2007-04-17
2007-04-20
2007-04-27
2007-05-17
2007-05-25
2007-06-14
2007-06
2007-07-30
2007-09-12
2007-11-08
2007-11-28
2007-12-13

Shinzo Abe becomes the 90th Prime Minister of Japan
U.S. declassifies documents and releases expert essays on upcoming IWG report
H.Res.121 introduced with six co-sponsors, led by Rep. Mike Honda
PM Abe denies forced recruitment of CW by Japanese military
Deputy Sec. of State Negroponte criticizes Abe's statement
PM Abe once again denies Japanese military responsibility
Opponents of H.Res.121 change their position, number of co-sponsors grows
Abe administration formally state that no evidence exists that points to forced
recruitment of CW by Japanese military
Washington Post criticizes Abe in editorial
Abe's Deputy Cabinet Minister states on radio that CW were sold by their parents,
and that Japanese military was not involved
Deputy Spokesman for Department of State urges Japan to continue to address
CW issue
IWG report finalized and made available to public
U.S. Congressional Research Service releases the report "Japanese Military's'Comfort Women' System" by Larry Niksch
PM Abe calls Pres. Bush to ask for "understanding"
PM Abe justifies his statements in interviews with Newsweek and Wall Street
Journal, promise to uphold Kono Statement
Former Minister of Education and Science Nariaki Nakayama criticizes
H.Res.121, arguing that prostitution was legal and profitable at the time
PM Abe visits Pres. Bush, issues a vague apology for CWTokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara denies Japanese military's involvement in therecruitment of CW
MP Jin Matsubara denies the CW issue
Dozens of conservative politicians and prominent opinion leaders in Japan placea full-page ad ("The Facts") on Washington Post
Many members of U.S. House of Representatives join as co-sponsors ofH.Res.121 including House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chair Rep. Tom Lantos
U.S. House of Representatives passes H.Res.121
PM Abe abruptly resigns
Dutch parliament passes resolution urging Japan to confront CW denialism andmake further efforts to address the issue
Canada's House of Commons passes resolution urging Japan to confront CW
denialism and make further efforts to address the issue
European Parliament passes resolution urging Japan to confront CW denialism
and make further efforts to address the issue

Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization • www.fendnow.org

Part 2: 2012-2015
2011-12
2012-05
2012-05-24
2012-12-26
2013-01-10
2013-05-13
2013-05-16
2013-05-22
2013-05-27
2013-06-18
2013-07-09
2013-07-30
2013-09
2013-12-16
2014-01-08
2014-01-16
2014-02-20
2014-05-05
2014-06-06
2014-06-20

Yumiko Yamamoto of Zaitokukai forms CW denialist group Nadeshiko Action
Japanese diplomats offer cherry blossom trees in return for removing Palisades
Park, New Jersey CW memorial; the city rejects
Nikon Corp. cancels photo exhibits about CW under right-wing pressure
Shinzo Abe becomes the 96th Prime Minister of JapanPM Abe appoints Shiro Takahashi to the Council for Gender Equality
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto argues that organized prostitution was necessary
at the time, and suggests that the U.S. military should utilize legal sexual services
to reduce sexual violence committed by the U.S. servicemen in Okinawa
U.S. Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki calls Hashimoto's statement"outrageous and offensive"
San Francisco asks Hashimoto to cancel sister city visit due to the furor causedby his remarks
Hashimoto retracts his comment about the U.S. servicemen while insisting that
the Japanese military was not involved in the trafficking of CW
City and County of San Francisco passes resolution condemning CW system inresponse to Hashimoto's statements
Glendale, California approves the establishment of CW statue in its Central Park
after heated discussions
Glendale unveils the CW statue; Japanese American leaders from Nikkei for
Civil Rights and Redress and the San Fernando Valley chapter of JapaneseAmerican Citizens League attend in support
Yumiko Yamamoto and others form Alliance for Truth about Comfort Women
Koichi Mera, Tomoyuki Sumori (True Japan Network, Voluteer Group for Fight
Against Comfort Women), and three Japanese MPs (Mio Sugita, Yuzuru Nishida,and Hiromu Nakamaru) meet with representatives of NCRR and JACL-SFV; Sugita
dismisses Japanese American representatives as "left-wing"
JACL-SFV chapter formally adopts a statement supporting CW statue in Glendale
Members of (Japanese) National Association of Municipal Legislators Against
Comfort Women Statue visit Glendale to protest the CW memorial; they hold asign that reads "Children Need Heart-Warming Memorials"
Koichi Mera founds Global Alliance for Historical Truth and files a lawsuit
against the City of Glendale
Japanese American Bar Association of California and Korean American Bar
Association along with dozens of other law associations issue a statement
supporting the CW memorial and opposing GAHT's lawsuit
Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization (FeND) formed
Abe administration releases a report on the "process resulting in Kono Statement,"
widely seen as a first step to retracting or trivializing it

Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization • www.fendnow.org

2014-07-06
2014-07-14
2014-08-04
2014-08-05
2014-08-13
2014-09-03
2014-09-04
2014-10-15
2014-10-30
2014-12-13
2014-12-14
2015-01
2015-02-18
2015-032015-03-09
2015-03-10
2015-03-17
2015-03-27
2015-04-28
2015-04-29
2015-05-04
2015-05-07

Mera and Nobukatsu Fujioka of GAHT hold an event in Los Angeles; read a letterfrom Yamamoto
Yamamoto, Mera, Mitsuhiko Fujii, Shunichi Fujiki, Tony Marano, and othermembers of ATCW visit Geneva to lobby the U.N. Commission on HumanRights
GAHT's federal lawsuit against the City of Glendale is dismissed
Asahi Shimbun retracts decades-old articles about forcible CW recruitment by
the Japanese military in Jeju Island, Korea
Fullerton, California passes resolution recognizing CW
GAHT files a state suit against the City of Glendale
GAHT appeals the decision of the federal case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
The Historical Science Society of Japan issues a statement criticizing Abeadministration's denial of historical facts of CW
Japanese MPs form the Special Committee to Restore Japan's Honor and Trust inorder to refute allegations on CW
Yamamoto, Mitsuhiko Fujii, and other revisionists hold an event in Redwood
City, California near SFO; coalition of peace and human rights activists holds aprotest
Yamamoto, Mera, Fujii, and other revisionists hold a panel in Torrance,
California
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs demands American publisher and historianto alter the description of CW in college-level world history textbook
Japanese residents in Los Angeles area join in a lawsuit in Japan against AsahiShimbun
20 U.S. historians publish a letter in support of Japanese historians in response
to MOFA's attempt to censor textbooks
Yamamoto, Fujii, Shunichi Fujiki, Shiro Takahashi, and other revisionists hold anevent in New York City; original venue, Japanese American Association of New
York, cancels their reservation due to a protest by peace and women's groups
GAHT and ATCW members Mera, Takahashi, and others hold a press conferencein NYC to counter the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women sessions
Group of conservative scholars led by Ikuhiko Hata holds press conference todemand "corrections" to an American history textbook over CW
PM Abe refers to CW as victims of human trafficking in an interview withWashington Post without admitting Japanese military's role in it
Mariko Okada-Collins organizes a screening of Yujiro Taniyama's film,"Scottsboro Girls" at Central Washington University; Mera, Jason Morgan, andothers join Taniyama
PM Abe delivers a speech at the joint session of U.S. Congress without
mentioning CW
GAHT's state lawsuit against the City of Glendale is dismissed; City files for
attorney's fees under anti-SLAPP statute"Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan" released with 187 signatures byhistorians, Japan scholars, and others (mostly in the U.S.); the number ofsignatories grows to 464 within a week
Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization • www.fendnow.org

2015-05-25
2015-07-21
2015-07-23
2015-07-27
2015-09-22
2015-10-02
2015-09
2015-11
2015-12-18
2015-12-28
2016-01-18
2016-02-16

2016-03-16
2016-03-17
2016-03-23
2016-03-24

16 associations of historians and history educators in Japan issue a jointstatement criticizing CW revisionism
City and County of San Francisco considers a resolution establishing CW
memorial; Mera, Okada-Collins, Terumi Imamura, and others speak inopposition
Osaka Mayor Hashimoto criticizes SF resolution as "unfair," sends a letter
Nadeshiko Action and ATCW members visit Geneva to lobby the U.N.
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against WomenCity of San Francisco unanimously passes a resolution establishing CW
memorial
MP Yoshiaki Harada, chairman of LDP’s Committee on InternationalCommunications, states “our country denies the existence of Nanking Massacre
and comfort women”
MP Kuniko Inoguchi of LDP mails revisionist books to scholars in the U.S.,
Australia etc., and foreign correspondents based in JapanLDP forms new group to review history, particularly war crimes verdicts andGHQ policies
California Department of Education releases a draft of the Social Sciences
framework that includes the teaching of CW issues at 10th grade level; historicalrevisionists start multiple petitions against it
Foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan reach an agreement on CW issue;
CW survivors denounce the agreement, while the right-wing is split between
those who oppose the agreement and those who support Abe's decision
PM Abe states that CW were "not sex slaves" in the parliamentJapanese official denies "forcible recruitment of CW by the Japanese military" andsexual slavery at the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women in Geneva; about 30 right-wing activists including Yamamoto,Sugita, Fujiki, Fujii, Hosoya, and others also lobby the CEDAW
Mera,Hosoya, and Sugita hold a panel titled "Misunderstood Comfort Women" atthe NGO Parallel Event coinciding with the U.N. Commission on the Status ofWomen in New York City.
Mera, Hosoya, and Sugita hold a version of the above panel in Japanese forJapanese audience in New York City.
Yamamoto, Fujiki, Fujii, and Norimasa Suzuki (Seiron-no-Kai) hold an event
featuring Marano at an Armenian Church.
Yamamoto, Mera, andothers hold another panel at the NGO Parallel Event titled"Women's Rights Under Armed Conflict: Japan's Approach to Respect Women."

FeND
Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization
脱植民地化を目指す日米フェミニストネットワーク

www.fendnow.org

Japan-U.S. Feminist Network for Decolonization • www.fendnow.org