Japan won't officially apologize for WWII sex crimes

[GalleyGirl]

Here is a link to the articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/wo...a/06japan.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/08/wo...html?ref=world

I think this is very sad on their part. They will go as far as to admit that sex slavery occured, but they claim that it wasn't sanctioned by the government, and that these poor women were just opportunistic prostitutes. How awful for the surviving women to have gone through this, only to be labled as prostitutes or whores by the ones that did this. It brings up interesting issues on the topic of official state history, and periphery histories that are excluded and devalued by the state.

 

[*Stargazer*]

This is disgusting because there is documented evidence of govt complicity AND they already issued an apology over it. These people want to RESCIND the apology!!

The PM of Japan today announced that they are going to start a fresh investigation into this situation. I think they grossly underestimated the backlash they were going to get and are scrambling to cover their asses now.

 

[Dizzy]

This is disgusting on multiple levels. You can't give an apology, take it back, claim it never happened, try to revise history, then claim that you'll start an investigation when you end up with public outrage. They can't play all sides of the field on this one.

But even so, if they do re-issue an apology, will it really make a difference to the lives of the victims, or is Japan doing it to just save face on the world stage? I'd think if they were really serious about it they'd have done it in less than 62 years.

 

[*Stargazer*]

Quote:

That government had also apologized to the women and set up a fund to pay them compensation, which is set to expire this month.

I loathe bad reporting. This is so disingenuous. The fund was a PRIVATE fund composed of donations from PRIVATE citizens. It had nothing to do with the Japanese govt.

 

[Beauty Mark]

It's really terrible and sad to me. No, there is nothing that can be done to make things truly the way that they should be. An official apology and either compensation to individuals or the community would be a start, though

 

[macslut]

It occured..meaning past tense occured? Guys, it is still happening. We have more slaves today than in any time period in history. And many are sex slaves. They are still in Japan. If they apologized, then they would have to deal with the modern day sex slaves that still are in their country.

Same with Cambodia, India, Netherlands, USA, etc, etc, etc.

 

[tadzio79]

Quote:

Originally Posted by macslut It occured..meaning past tense occured? Guys, it is still happening. We have more slaves today than in any time period in history. And many are sex slaves. They are still in Japan. If they apologized, then they would have to deal with the modern day sex slaves that still are in their country. Same with Cambodia, India, Netherlands, USA, etc, etc, etc.

ditto!!! it's not just an isolated issue concerning Japan. it's worldwide.

 

[GalleyGirl]

This purpose of this thread wasn't to insinuate that the sex slave trade wasn't alive and flourishing today. It is about a specific time in Japanese history that has yet to be officially resolved, and how the government continues to whitewash its history rather brazenly, when many of the victims of these atrocities (which took place in WWII) are still alive. It is a different issue from that the of current day sex trade (which probably deserves its own thread).