No Organized or Forced Recruitment: Misconception about Comfort Women and the Japanese Military

Summary

SUMMARY:
NO ORGANIZED OR FORCED RECRUITMENT:
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT COMFORT WOMEN
AND THE JAPANESE MILITARY
The wartime “comfort women” myth continues, as noted by Professor Ikuhiko Hata, to
intermittently erupt as an explosive and divisive historical issue. Despite the lack of
historical evidence that links the military to the direct procurement of “comfort women,”
the Japan-bashing crowd persists. Several years ago, the anti-Japan faction rallied against
alleged Japanese economic imperialism. Today, the banner has changed and the march
against Japan is supposedly in the name of “human rights”.
As Professor Hata points out there are at least two contradictions in today’s “comfort
women” debate. First, there is a lack of global perspective on the military’s use of
prostitution to keep positive morale. The recent House Subcommittee on Asia’s hearing
was entitled “Protecting the Human Rights of Comfort Women.” Rather than review the
use of “comfort women” by the U.S., for example, the hearing focused solely on Japan’s
alleged wartime abuses. By contrast, Korean “comfort women” are still found to this day
around U.S. military bases in Korea. The lack of perspective of the House Subcommittee
is instructive. Rather than address the South Vietnamese “comfort women” left behind
following the end of the Vietnam War, the Subcommittee chose instead to condemn
domestic policy of a close ally. During World War II, the Allies as a matter of course ran
brothels for use its military personnel; certainly, no one country has a corner on moral
behavior and in protecting the dignity of women.
The second contradiction Professor Hata points out is the lack of Japanese resolve to give
a clear stand on the issue. On one hand, it is pointed out that Japan has expressed its
contrition over the wartime use of prostitutes, many of whom had no other way of
earning a living, with the infamous Kono Statement. On the other hand, the Statement is
rife with errors, such that the statement should either be reworded or entirely rewritten.
Prime Minister Abe’s stance on the issue is basically tepid support of the Statement,
which the foreign press perceived as “renouncement”. Although the issue could have
been resolved by thorough investigation of the wartime evidence, including American
records, the end result is the House introduced for consideration a non-binding resolution
condemning Japan for misdeeds that have no historical foundation.
This leads to a key point – that had the esteemed House members read English language
rebuttals to the alleged coercion of the “comfort women,” there might not be so much
anxiety as there is now on either side of the Pacific. There are English language
documents written during the Pacific War detailing the Japanese “comfort women”
system. Based on the kinds of noise coming from the House on this issue, it is obvious
that few have read them. Greater understanding by the American people will only come
from being properly informed.