Tag: Japan

The comfort women controversy is one of these issues where facts do not matter, how people feel about the topic is what matters:

Korean students at Harvard University have strongly criticized a professor over his controversial claim that Japan’s wartime sexual slavery was actually voluntary prostitution, demanding its immediate withdrawal and his official apology to victims.

Harvard Korean Society made the demand in a statement on its website after Harvard Law School Japanese legal studies professor J. Mark Ramseyer caused controversy with his recently published paper titled “Contracting for Sex in the Pacific War.”

“It is a wrong conclusion based on grounds very biased and lacking trustworthiness,” the statement said. “Harvard Korean Society demands Prof. Ramseyer’s official apology and immediate withdrawal of the paper.”

“The issue of comfort women is an international inhumane act, and his academic view which justifies and negates the act is an immoral and shameless view,” it added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I have not read Professor Ramseyer’s paper yet because it is behind a pay wall. Maybe it is out of line, but I would not be surprised if it has similar conclusions to what Sejong University Professor Park Yu-ha wrote a few years ago about the comfort women issue:

“Park believes that Japan did not recruit comfort women in Korea, which was part of Japan from Tokyo’s perspective, in quite the same way that it did on the front lines and in occupied areas, such as in the Philippines. In those areas, records show that Japanese soldiers were directly involved in the forcible and violent taking away of comfort women. ‘Many of the Korean comfort women were apparently recruited while being cheated by agents of prostitution, some of whom were Koreans, or being sold by their parents,’ Park said. ‘While some have testified they were forcibly taken away by military personnel, I suppose that such cases, if there were any, were exceptional.’

She was of course arrested for writing such a book. The Korean public likes to think that all the comfort women were girls sleeping in bed and kidnapped by evil Japanese soldiers while the Japanese rightists like to think they were all willing prostitutes.  Both historical narratives are untrue if one really looks at the history.

What Professor Park writes about is the same historical narrative that Sarah Soh wrote about in her book “The Comfort Women“.  In the book Soh provides documented evidence that most of the Korean women put into the comfort women system were sold by Korean brokers.  The actual kidnapping of Korean women by Japanese soldiers would be a very rare occurrence when the broker system made so many of these women readily available.  This does not absolve the Imperial Japanese from responsibility since they ran the comfort woman system that provided the demand for the Korean brokers to meet.  To make even worse is that many of these girls were teenagers when sold into prostitution.  I see no way that a young teenager should be considered a willing prostitute.  Especially when many girls were sold by their families into prostitution for money due to the extreme poverty.  This was actually a practice that was going on well into the US military era in South Korea.

It is pretty clear that the comfort women issue is not black and white, but ultimately the Imperial Japanese government was responsible for the actions of the Korean brokers that supplied the majority of the Korean girls that were underage.  There is no need to create a false narrative of what happened to the comfort women when the truth is bad enough.

The Chinese are already using their new Coast Guard law to pressure the Japanese over the Senkaku Islets:

Chinese government vessels entered Japanese territorial waters near the flash point Senkaku Islands on Saturday — the first time since China passed a new law earlier this month that allows its coast guard to use military force in waters the country claims — including those around the Senkakus.

Two China Coast Guard vessels, including one from its second-largest class of ships, entered the waters around the Japanese-administered Senkakus, which Beijing claims and calls the Diaoyu, around 4:45 a.m. on Saturday, approaching two Japanese fishing boats operating in the area, the Japan Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Japan Coast Guard said it had sent vessels to the area to protect the fishing ships while repeatedly urging the Chinese ships to leave the area. Two other Chinese government ships, including one sporting a cannon-like weapon, were spotted in the so-called contiguous zone just outside the territorial waters, it added.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Some good news on the coronavirus front in Japan:

The daily count of new coronavirus patients in Tokyo fell on Friday, and U.S. military bases in Japan reported 12 new cases as of 6 p.m.

Yokosuka Naval Base, 35 miles south of central Tokyo, reported 10 of those new U.S. cases. The others were at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government recorded another 577 people infected with the coronavirus, according to public broadcaster NHK. That’s eight consecutive days below 1,000 new cases in the city, according to metro government data. (…….)

Back in Japan, the Army and Marine Corps on Okinawa lifted a two-week-old ban on off-base liberty, effective immediately for the Army and at 4 p.m. Saturday for the Marines, according to Facebook posts.

The bans extended to service members, Defense Department civilian employees, contractors and family members.

Some activities are still prohibited, including indoor dining at off-base restaurants, and patronizing bars, clubs, bowling alleys, gyms and other indoor activities that involve large groups “that impede social distancing.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see what Japan decides to do with the Olympic Games, but I wonder if an NBA like “bubble” for the athletes would be doable in Japan:

 Japan’s government has privately concluded the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, The Times reported, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition.

The government’s focus is now on securing the Games for Tokyo in the next available year, 2032, the newspaper said. Japan has been hit less severely by the pandemic than many other advanced economies, but a recent surge in cases has spurred it to close its borders to non-resident foreigners and declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and major cities.

About 80 percent of people in Japan do not want the Games to be held this summer, recent opinion polls show, over fears the influx of athletes will spread the virus further.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It appears coronavirus infection levels are getting better in South Korea while in the Tokyo area it is getting worse:

The third wave of coronavirus infections in Japan’s capital city worsened Friday, as the number of new cases there exceeded 2,000 individuals for a second consecutive day.

The U.S. military in Japan as of 6 p.m. Friday reported 67 people newly infected with virus, the majority of them at Yokosuka Naval Base, where a cluster emerged in December. U.S. Forces Korea reported a contractor at Yongsan Garrison, Seoul, tested positive Thursday, according to a news release.

U.S. bases in the greater Tokyo metro area imposed curfews and new limits on travel and other activities after Japan declared a state of emergency Thursday in the city and three surrounding prefectures. (……….)

Yokosuka, the home 35 miles south of Tokyo of the 7th Fleet, reported 44 individuals had tested positive for the coronavirus since Tuesday, according to a Facebook post. The naval base has 111 people with the virus under observation.

Of the new cases, 14 fell ill with symptoms of COVID-19, the coronavirus respiratory disease; 16 were discovered during contact tracing; five tested positive during medical screening; and five are new arrivals to Japan, according to the base. A base employee tested positive during contact tracing.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but other U.S. bases in the Tokyo area are also reporting increased coronavirus cases and implemented 8PM to 5AM curfews to help mitigate the infection risk.

Unless you already live in Japan don’t expect to be visiting the country at least in the near term:

The government of Japan will ban nonresident foreigners from entering the country starting Monday through January, to reduce the risk of a new, potentially more transmissible form of the coronavirus from expanding its presence, according to media reports.

Reuters news service reported Saturday that Japanese citizens and foreign residents starting Monday may enter the country, but must show proof of a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of departing for Japan and must quarantine for two weeks after arrival. Reuters cited a government statement issued Saturday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

According to the article President Moon is only doing this to try and promote his North Korea engagement policies during the Summer Olympics like he did during the last Winter Olympics:

President Moon Jae-in’s rush to resolute serious issues with Japan before the Tokyo Olympic Games is not going as well as Cheong Wa Dae had hoped. 

Moon named former four-term ruling party lawmaker Kang Chang-il as the next ambassador to Japan last month. It was the first time he had named a politician to the post, after first appointing Lee Su-hoon, an international relations professor, and then Nam Kwan-pyo, a career diplomat and one of the foremost experts on Japan at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Nam has served as the Korean ambassador to Japan since May 2019. It is considered rare for the envoy to Japan to be replaced less than two years after being appointed. Cheong Wa Dae said that sending a politician to the post has a particular meaning amid the deadlock in bilateral relations. 
“With the launch of the new Cabinet in Japan, it reflects the President’s determination to find a resolution to the problems in bilateral relations,” a senior presidential aide said. “Kang served as head of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians’ Union and has built an extensive network in Japan. Based on this, we determined it would be more suitable to send a politician rather than a career diplomat.”  (……..)

“One major factor in the Moon administration’s renewed push to improve relations with Japan is the possibility that doing so will allow the Tokyo Olympics to serve as a potential showplace for a breakthrough with North Korea,” Mason Richey, associate professor of international politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, told The Korea Times. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I don’t see the Japanese wanting to do the Moon administration any favors considering all the anti-Japanese policies and rhetoric they have pushed the past few years.

Nike is causing controversy again, this time not in the U.S., but in Japan:

A video ad from Nike Japan against bullying and racism that features biracial athletes and other minorities, such as those of Korean descent, has prompted a sharp online response including calls to boycott the company.

Japan has traditionally prided itself on being racially homogeneous, although successful mixed-race athletes such as tennis star Naomi Osaka are challenging that image.

The commercial, “Keep Moving: Yourself, the Future,” released Monday, shows several teen girls bullied in school over their race or other differences, but who ultimately find confidence through soccer prowess.

One scene features a girl whose father is Black surrounded by fellow students, squealing and pulling her hair.

The video, viewed 14.1 million times on Nike Japan’s Twitter feed by noon Wednesday, had racked up 63,000 likes but also a cascade of critical comments from many who vowed never to buy Nike products again.

“Nowadays, you often see one or two people of different nationalities going to school perfectly peacefully. The one that’s prejudiced is Nike,” wrote one user named “hira1216.”

Another asked, “Is it so much fun to blame Japan?”

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

Much like in neighboring South Korea, coronavirus infections in Japan continue to rise new record levels with people in their 20’s and 30’s leading the surge:

Tokyo confirmed a single-day record 584 new cases of the coronavirus Saturday, a significant rise from Friday’s 449 new infections.

Osaka Prefecture, meanwhile, registered 399 new infections, it’s fifth straight day reporting at least 300, while Aichi Prefecture recorded 219.

Other large case loads were reported in the prefectures of Kanagawa, with 192, Hokkaido, 183, Saitama, 168, Hyogo, 151, and Chiba, 74.

The number of severe COVID-19 infections in the capital rose by two from the previous day to 55. The daily figure was based on 7,624 tests, the metropolitan government said in a statement.

Among the new cases, those in their 20s had the highest number at 137, followed by those in their 30s at 110 and people in their 40s at 95. Infections among those 65 or older totaled 88.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link.

This news is an indication of how much the coronavirus has spread throughout the U.S.:

The U.S. Marine Corps announced 72 new cases of the coronavirus Monday on Okinawa, more than the service has reported there in over a month.

All those cases, divided between two bases, were discovered among personnel recently arrived from the United States and still in the 14-day isolation period, Marine Corps Installations Pacific said in a Facebook post.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but with such high numbers I wonder if the Japanese government will eventually ask USFJ to suspend the arrival of new personnel?