Comfort women

"Comfort women" was a euphemism used by the Japanese military and government from 1932 to 1945 for women used in officially-organized sexual slavery (or forced prostitution not even prostitution, because being a prostitute requires being paid, where as these sex slaves were not paid at all).
During the 1930s and 1940s, Japan's colonial satellites (Korea, Manchukuo, Taiwan, Japanese-occupied parts of mainland China and of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere) forced women to become sexual slaves of the military. Even Japanese women were forced to become sex slaves of the Japanese army.
Controversy over and protests against the term "comfort women" persist, especially from surviving women and in the countries from which they were taken, about how wrong it is to continue referring to the women as "comfort women" when in fact they were "sex slaves".
Japanese military sexual slavery (instituted in 1932), Unit 731 (founded in 1932), and the Nanjing massacre of 1937-1938 are the three most remembered war crimes of Imperial Japan associated in the popular mind with Japan's participation (1941-1945) in the Second World War of 1939-1945.
==Denialism==
Many of modern Japan's politicians have been trying to discredit the claims of 'comfort women'. Denialist arguments come in four main flavors:
Shinzō Abe's government was particularly energetic when it comes to shutting down discussion of comfort women. In recent times, Japan made numerous attempts to stop the construction of comfort women memorials,“The Comfort Women were Prostitutes”: Repercussions of remarks by the Japanese Consul General in Atlanta The Asia-Pacific Journal. harassed foreign media for reporting on comfort women,Testy Team Abe Pressures Media in Japan The Asia-Pacific Journal harassed foreign textbook publishers,Japanese Government Pressures American Publisher to Delete Textbook Treatment of Wartime Sexual Slavery: An Interview with Herbert Ziegler The Asia-Pacific Journal and encouraged domestic newspapers to redefine the definition of the term "comfort women" from "women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II," to "Women who worked in wartime brothels, including those who did so against their will, to provide sex to Japanese soldiers."'Japan Times' Newspaper Redefines 'Comfort Women' And 'Forced Labor' NPR
Japan's major political parties, including the conservative Liberal Democratic Party and even the liberal , are hindering the construction of the Comfort Women monument.https://www.khan.co.kr/world/japan/article/202303172114025 Also, Japanese government has hindered the UNESCO listing of Comfort women-related materials, and so far they have not been listed on UNESCO.https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/unesco-clashes-wwii-sites-china-japan-south-korea/index
This historical revisionism in Japan is very different to Germany's thorough liquidation of Nazism. The Japanese politicians have made diplomatic efforts to remove the Comfort women monument in Germany, but many German people and German politicians disagree with this Japanese nationalist-based perspective.https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/1042632.html Mainstream German media, including , criticized only Japan, citing Japan's historical revisionism in the Japan-South Korea conflict.https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/japan-und-suedkorea-schatten-der-historie-1.4580081 The Japanese government and ongoing denialism of Japanese war crimes add fuel to anti-Japanese sentiment in the most severely victimized countries of China and Korea.
==Legacy and memorials==
===China===
In 2015, China opened its first memorial hall dedicated to Chinese comfort women in Nanjing.Memorial hall for 'comfort women' opens to public in Nanjing China.org The symbolic significance of that particular location is like being poked in the eye. About a year later, China opened a comfort women museum in Shanghai to help expose the crimes of the Japanese military; items on display include discarded condoms, photographs, and victim testimonies.'Comfort women' museum opens in Shanghai China Daily
===South Korea===
The South Koreans are arguably even angrier. A civic group installed a 1-ton memorial statue of a woman symbolizing all of Japan's Korean sex slaves directly in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan.'Comfort women' statue installed near Japanese consulate in Busan Japan Times The Japanese government took that about as well as you might imagine. The issue turned into a serious diplomatic meltdown when Japan withdrew two top-level diplomats from South Korea and then halted trade talks.Why this statue of a young girl caused a diplomatic incident CNN Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary commented on the dispute by saying "The fact that the girls' statue was set up has an unfavorable influence on relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea, and it is extremely regrettable."Japan recalls diplomats from South Korea over 'comfort woman' statue CNN There's also a memorial statue in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, facing the entrance with an angry expression and clenched fists. The South Korean government itself became proactive on the issue of comfort women under the presidency of Moon Jae-in, sponsoring and unveiling its own memorial statue in Cheonan in 2018.South Korea to unveil monument for "comfort women" next Tues. Kyodo News. Aug 8, 2018 Moon's government also reversed the 2015 deal with Japan which obliged Japan to pay a one-time lump sum of 1 billion yen ($9 million) to support surviving comfort women; Moon said the deal went against wishes of the surviving women and instead budgeted South Korea's own support fund, calling for a renegotiation of the deal.S. Korea gov't approves fund to supplant Japan "comfort women" fund Kyodo News However, after Japan's government warned that renegotiating the deal as a whole would damage relations between the nations beyond repair, Moon eventually backed down.The Japan-South Korea ‘Comfort Women’ Agreement Survives (Barely) The Diplomat 
South Korea, especially the surviving comfort women, still demands an official apology from the Japanese government;South Korea's surviving 'comfort women' spend final years seeking atonement from Japan Reuters the Japanese, for their part, seem to wish that the whole matter would just go away, as consider the entire issue settled with the “final and irreversible” 2015 reparations deal.Japan-South Korea ‘comfort women’ deal under threat Financial TimesThe Announcement of the Results of the Assessment by the Taskforce to Review the Agreement on Comfort Women Issue reached between the Governments of Japan and the ROK (Statement by Foreign Minister Taro Kono) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Japan The Japanese will likely not have that wish fulfilled, especially with the abominable denialist atmosphere swirling around them. Comfort women statues have recently started showing up on Korean bus seats.'Comfort Woman' Memorial Statues, A Thorn In Japan's Side, Now Sit On Korean Buses NPR
===Taiwan===
Taiwan has also stepped into the modern comfort women controversy. A nonprofit group built yet another statue in Taipei in 2018, prompting Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary to call the event “extremely disappointing”.Taiwan Unveils Its First Statue Honoring ‘Comfort Women’ Smithsonian Magazine A coalition of 16 Japanese right-wing groups visited Taiwan to ask the government to remove the comfort women statue, but that likely won't happen because their leader was caught on surveillance camera angrily kicking the memorial.Taipei says Japanese activist kicking ‘comfort woman’ memorial was unacceptable South China Morning Post The moral of the story? Don't be a shithead when you're asking someone to do something, especially when the thing you're asking someone to do is to help cover up war crimes you committed against them.
===United States===
Comfort women memorials have also made their way to the United States. The Museum of Korean American Heritage in New York City built its own comfort women memorial statue, an exact replica of the statue in Seoul with an inscription that reads, “This monument is an historical marker offered in the memory of the hundreds of thousands of women and girls who were forced to be comfort women, and is dedicated to eradicating sexual violence and trafficking. Their powerful history and noble spirit should never be forgotten.”New York City’s first ‘comfort women’ statue remembers sex victims QNS Japanese-Americans backed by a right-wing nationalist nonprofit sued for the removal of the statue, but the United States Supreme Court declined to review the case.Why did this statue of a little Korean girl spark outrage? San Diego Union-Tribune There is also a memorial in Glendale, California, built with funds raised by the Korean American Forum of California.Statue Brings Friction Over WWII Comfort Women To California NPR
==See also==
* Unit 731
* Rape of Nanjing
* Nippon Kaigi — Extreme rightist historical revisionist position on this issue.
==External links==
*Report on the mission to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Japan on the issue of military sexual slavery in wartime—from the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Japan
Category:War crimes
Category:Japanese war crimes denial
Category:Fascism
Category:Asian history
Category:Misnomers
Category:Crimes against humanity
Category:Slavery
Category:International relations
Category:Nationalism in Japan
Category:Anti-Korean
Category:Sexism
Category:Racism
Category:Shōwa Statism