Protest march against comfort women exhibit for junior high schoolers

comfort-women-protest

The conservative Tokyo citizens’ group Shuken Kaifuku wo Mezasu Kai (The Society to Seek Restoration of Sovereignty) seems to be appealing to an international audience by including some English descriptions a video of a protest they recently held:

Their small protest march is aimed at school officials who are responsible for an exhibit meant to teach junior high school students about the comfort women issue (presumably in a manner that conservatives do not find honest or agreeable):

Anti-Japanese groups have been spreading outrageous lies that Japanese Army kidnapped 200,000 Korean women. Mitaka city (TOKYO) doesn’t understand the meaning of “education of children” at all. Mitaka city is going to help anti-Japanese groups which try desperately to give school children false information. So-called “wartime comfort women issue” can be restated as “prostitution issue”. It is outrageous that Mitaka city provides a place to teach school children the meaning of prostitution.

The Mitaka city employees do not seem intimidated by the protest, and a few of them head to the gate of their building and try to answer the shouts the Shuken Kaifuku wo Mezasu Kai members. In parts two and three of the video, which don’t seem to have English translations yet, they sit down and meet with city representatives who try to answer their complaints.

If there are indeed factual problems with the content being taught to school kids in Mitaka, this group isn’t doing a good job of adding information in English about them. The YouTube video has no link to outside information, and their homepage doesn’t have an English section. Without supporting English language explanations to back up their claims, their appeal to an international audience is pointless.

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Related link: A quick googling of the Society to Seek Restoration of Sovereignty reveals that they have also been active in opposing laws against domestic violence:

“Instances of ‘violence’ that aren’t serious in nature, but basic and isolated, are natural among married couples,” the authors wrote. “The idea of ‘eliminating spousal violence’ is a display of radical feminism.”

Good luck on getting international support on that issue…

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http://npc.talkingincircles.net/ NPC

This could get really confusing to an international audience when they see only that video and then all the recent south korean anti-Japanese propaganda.

Basically, this is just a bunch of conservative types in denial of the factual past.
The Overthinker

It’s actually a debate over semantics as much as anything. The question is, did the *Japanese Army* actually *kidnap* these women? If some other private groups kidnapped them or strong-armed them or duped them, and then IJA then brutally exploited them, why, the IJA did not do what Mitaka accuses them of doing. Which is why when dealing with the far right, careful statement of the debate is paramount. Look how much traction is gained when the Chinese govt claims 350,000 for Nanking – the radical right can gleefully attack, knowing that the bulk of academic work on the subject will support their claim that the “Chinese are lying about Nanking,” but carefully avoiding noting that it is only a matter of numbers, not whether the thing happened at all. It is very risky to reduce history to quick soundbites.
http://www.squidoo.com/eamonn-fingleton Eric

Of all the revisionist claptrap the far right tries to peddle, the narrative that the “comfort women” were just a bunch of mercenary prostitutes is the most disgusting–it just goes way beyoind adding insult to injury.
One line that right wingers like to use about the comfort women is that, “A lot of them made more money than Japanese army generals. After the war they were able to build big houses for their families.”
Ben

I don’t know about actual numbers involved in comfort women and Nanking killing field but Japanese imperial military force did use some of most cruel ways to get what they wanted and millions of innocent lives were suffered from it.

The actual number is not that important, but it’s fact that Japan did have comfort women and killed thousands in Nanking. Denying it is stupid because they are well documented events even by foreigners.
http://www.mutantfrog.com/ Adamu

These guys are real winners. Their efforts to fight domestic violence measures are completely unreasonable and part of the reason why action against domestic violence is so behind the times here.
Vivi

Well, as seen in the previous entry, Korean people can be just as bad. Honestly, forgetting about your past, and outright denying it, is one of the worst things people can do.
From a historians point of view, those reactions in Korea and Japan are very explainable, but such are the Third Reich, Stalin’s rise and 9/11.
http://dimesfornickels.wordpress.com/ William George

I think it’s good of you to post about Japanese douchebags right after a post on Korean douchebags.

It makes me appreciate that no matter where you go in the world, there will be douchebags. The one constant we can rely on.
Andrew

Mitaka city, not Mikata city.
Dr.Yu

It was 60 years ago so nothing about it can be done now, but a sincere approach to this problem can avoid this to happen again. Good luck to Japanese new generation.

ponta

The best way is for each country concerned to face history and check the records of her own country that exploited women as prostitutes/sex slaves and work together to set up the global standard to help the victimized women.
Good luck to Korean new generation

Dr.Yu

Those protesters are acting so irrational and emotional.

Protest march against comfort women exhibit for junior high schoolers

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