The Women’s
Rumiko Nishino
This is the second article of a three part series introducing historical museums in
I. The “Comfort Women” Issue and the Origins of the Women’s
What we euphemistically call the “comfort women” system was a violent system initiated by the Japanese state to coerce women into sexual slavery and deprive them inhumanely of bodily control, pride, security, future and hope. In August 2005, sixty years after
There were three reasons that we opened WAM. The first was to preserve records of the Women’s International Tribunal on
Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on
The second was to honor the women of
II. Remembering the Women’s Tribunal
Since 1991, when Kim Haksoon publicly testified to her suffering as a “comfort woman,” victims across
Another reason why these victims were hesitant to speak out was that wartime sexual violence against women has rarely been tried as a war crime. The twentieth century was full of war and, without exception, all of these wars and military conflicts involved sexual violence against women. In these wars, women were exploited as tactical and strategic weapons, treated rather as war trophies than human beings, and forced to become sex slaves of men as “wives” and “comfort women” against their will. Yet it was only recently that the definition of “war crimes” was understood to include sexual violence against women. In my view, the lack of attention to sexual violence has contributed to the repeated occurrence of sexual violence in war. For these reasons, women remained silent about their traumas in the face of the mistaken social view that the victims were “shameful.”
The Women’s Tribunal in 2000 was established to secure justice for those women who stood up after fifty years of silence. It was an international people’s tribunal supported by a wide range of people across the globe. The goal was to try those who were responsible for
Sixty-four surviving victims participated in the tribunal, testifying before a gathering of more than one thousand people from around the world. The survivors told their stories, sometimes through tears, of their struggles during and after the war. For example, Maxima Regala de la Cruz, who was abducted from her town in the
On
Preserving the historical memory of the victims and survivors of
III. Five Principles of the Museum
The museum has five guiding principles that it hopes will help create a future without violence against women. The first is to focus on wartime sexual violence and support justice, without gender bias. In doing so, we try not to fall into the trap of empiricism and pay substantial attention to the testimonies and oral histories of the survivors and victims. The second is not only to gather and exhibit data on individual victims, but also to try to articulate who is responsible for the victimization. For this reason, we do not just exhibit artifacts of “comfort women”; we also detail the military’s system of command, structure, and operations through the testimonies of veterans and other accounts. The third is to create an action base that will promote a non-violent future. To achieve this goal, we hold meetings and promote events that will help the survivors of
IV. Activities and Problems
Since 1997, the year all junior high school textbooks started to discuss the “comfort women” issue, historical revisionists have increased their challenges to public education. They have claimed that “comfort women” were professional prostitutes and that the women were not forced into sexual servitude. Seventeen years have passed since the survivors identified themselves publicly, and we have been fighting against these revisionists who, nonetheless, seem to be gaining in strength and influence in
Right-wing extremists have occasionally harassed us at the museum, yet we continue to receive the support of many dedicated members and donors. We have organized special exhibitions on the Women’s Tribunal, journalist Matsui Yayori who dedicated her life to battle discrimination and violence against women, and the Korean “comfort women” who were left behind after
Growing numbers of high school students, college students, and people in their twenties are coming to the museum. Some schools make field trips to our museum a part of their curriculum. Although we still receive harassing e-mails, I believe the museum is gradually expanding its role in public education.
V. The Role of WAM in East Asian Reconciliation
WAM is an active museum that tries to rescue hidden memories of women forced into sexual slavery in order to alter public consciousness. It is modeled after the “Topography of Terror” exhibition in
Recently, the former Minister of Education Nakayama Nariaki, led about 130 lawmakers of the Liberal Democratic Party in submitting a proposal to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo requesting to revise Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono Yohei’s 1993 statement that acknowledged that the military was “directly or indirectly involved in the establishment and management of comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women” and extended the government’s “sincere apologies and remorse to all those … who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.”[2] Nakayama and his fellow politicians urged Abe to state that neither the military nor the police were directly involved in the coerced abduction of women, although private business people might have been involved in such activities. Responding to the request, Abe stated the government could find no evidence to support the idea that “comfort women” had been abducted through coercion. Abe’s remark invited critical responses from other countries. Such remarks from the Japanese government makes its “apology” look insincere and prevents reconciliation in
In order to further reconciliation in
[1]
[2] Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono Yohei on the result of the study on the issue of “comfort women” on
The Government of Japan has been conducting a study on the issue of wartime “comfort women” since December 1991. I wish to announce the findings of that study.
As a result of the study, which indicates that comfort stations were operated in extensive areas for long periods, it is apparent that there existed a great number of comfort women. Comfort stations were operated in response to the request of the military authorities of the day. The then Japanese military was, directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women. The recruitment of the comfort women was conducted mainly by private recruiters who acted in response to the request of the military. The Government study has revealed that in many cases they were recruited against their will, through coaxing, coercion, etc., and that, at times, administrative/military personnel directly took part in the recruitment. They lived in misery at comfort stations under a coercive atmosphere.
As to the origin of those comfort women who were transferred to the war areas, excluding those from
Undeniably, this was an act, with the involvement of the military authorities of the day, which severely injured the honor and dignity of many women. The Government of Japan would like to take this opportunity once again to extend its sincere apologies and remorse to all those, irrespective of place of origin, who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.
It is incumbent upon us, the Government of Japan, to continue to consider seriously, while listening to the views of learned circles, how best we can express this sentiment.
We shall face squarely the historical facts as described above instead of evading them, and take them to heart as lessons of history. We hereby reiterate our firm determination never to repeat the same mistake by forever engraving such issues in our memories through the study and teaching of history.
As actions have been brought to court in
Nishino Rumiko is Director, Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace, Tokyo.
For other articles on Japanese and East Asian museums and history education illuminating issues of war, peace and war atrocities, see:
Laura Hein and Akiko Takenaka, “Exhibiting World War II in Japan and the United States”
Philip Seaton, “Family, Friends and Furusato: ‘Home’ in the Formation of Japanese War Memories”
Posted at
var footnotes_data = []; jQuery('.article_description sup').each(function(ind,el){ var number = jQuery(el).text().trim(); if(number){ number = number.replace(/[^0-9]/gi,''); } //console.log(number); if(footnotes_data[number]){ jQuery(el).css({cursor:'pointer'}).addClass('ftnt'); jQuery(el).bind('click',{number:number},function(ev){ var html = jQuery('span.footnote_text_'+number).html(); jQuery('.floating_footnote').remove(); var f = jQuery('
jQuery(window).scroll(function(){ jQuery('.floating_footnote').slideUp(1000); });
Share with a colleague: