Britain and US also kept sex slaves during World War Two, says Japanese mayor who claimed use of 'comfort women' was justified

• Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto argued Japan's wartime practice of forcing Asian women into prostitution was necessary to maintain army discipline
• He now claims other countries including U.S. and Britain used sex slaves
  

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 04:29 EST, 28 May 2013 | Updated: 05:55 EST, 28 May 2013

A Japanese politician who sparked an international row after claiming the use of sex slaves during WWII was justified has tried to shift the blame by accusing other country's of using the same practice. 

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, co-leader of an emerging nationalist party, argued Japan's wartime practice of forcing Asian women into prostitution was necessary to maintain military discipline and provide relaxation for soldiers.

But following the public outcry over his comments, the mayor has attempted to deflect criticism by accusing America and Britain of using sex slaves for its own soldiers.

Shifting the blame: Japan Restoration Party Deputy President and Osaka City Mayor, Toru Hashimoto, claims America, Britain, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union used sex slaves

Disgraceful: Four 'Comfort Girls' captured in the hills of Luzon, play mahjong during recess period in woman's detention home on outskirts of Manila.The girls were part of a group which rotated among various Japanese Battalions

Investigation: A young Chinese woman who was in one of the Imperial Japanese Army's 'comfort battalions' is interviewed by an Allied officer

He said: 'It is a hard truth that even these nations used local women for sexual reasons. This is a historical fact and there is hard evidence that proves it was true.'

Historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from the Korean Peninsula and China, were forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers in military brothels. While some other World War II armies had military brothels, Japan is the only country accused of such widespread, organized sexual slavery.

Hashimoto, a lawyer and former TV personality, created an uproar with comments to journalists two weeks ago about Japan's modern and wartime sexual services, which he said were misquoted.

He is reported to have said: 'To maintain discipline in the military, it must have been necessary at that time.

Draw: In this undated image U.S. sailors gather in front of a Yasu-ura House 'comfort station' in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo

World War Two: A Japanese militray unit, consisting of Sumo wrestlers, engage in drills and training exercises as a prelude to induction into the home defense forces, Japan, 1942

'For soldiers who risked their lives in circumstances where bullets are flying around like rain and wind, if you want them to get some rest, a comfort women system was necessary. That’s clear to anyone.'

He added that on a recent visit to the southern island of Okinawa, he suggested to the U.S. commander there that his troops 'make better use' of the legal sex industry 'to control the sexual energy of those tough guys.'

Hashimoto has since claimed he had not tried to condone a system of so-called comfort women, but meant to say military authorities at the time, not only in Japan but in many other countries, considered it necessary.

'Comfort woman' is a translation of the Japanese euphemism, jugun ianfu, (military comfort women), referring to women of various ethnic and national backgrounds and social circumstances who became sex slaves for the Japanese troops before and during World War Two.

Forgotten women: Hashimoto failed to mention the Chinese, Filipino, and Indonesian women also exploited as sex slaves during World War II. Above, Filipino former-comfort women march in 2004 to protest their wartime abuse

Outraged: Former 'comfort woman' Lee Yong-Soo (left) stands beside her supporters holding portraits of Chinese, Philippine, South Korean and Taiwanese comfort women who were sex slaves

Hashimoto also claims singling out Japan is wrong, alleging the issue also existed in the armed forces of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union during World War II.

'Based on the premise that Japan must remorsefully face its past offenses and must never justify the offenses, I intended to argue that other nations in the world must not attempt to conclude the matter by blaming only Japan and by associating Japan alone with the simple phrase of "sex slaves" or "sex slavery",' Hashimoto said in a statement to journalists.

But the mayor did apologise to for saying U.S. troops should patronize adult entertainment businesses as a way to reduce sex crimes.

Hashimoto's suggestion to the U.S. troops brought sharp criticism from Washington. The State Department called Hashimoto's comments 'outrageous and offensive.

Painful past: A South Korean woman cries during a protest rally at the Japanese embassy in Seoul, where demonstrators demanded compensation and punishment for soldiers who abused women

Sense of crisis: Hashimoto made the comments because of a 'sense of crisis' over sex crimes committed by U.S. soldiers stationed in Okinawa, where there has been a U.S. military presence ever since World War II

Okinawa was invaded by U.S. forces in World War II and has had an American military presence since.

The 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by two Marines and a sailor spread rage across the island, and more rapes and other crimes linked to U.S. servicemen over the years, along with military land use and aircraft noise, have caused longstanding anti-U.S. military sentiment there.

Hashimoto said his remarks rose from a 'sense of crisis' about the cases of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel on Japanese civilians in Okinawa, where a large number of U.S. troops are based under a bilateral security treaty.

'I understand that my remark could be construed as an insult to the U.S. forces and to the American people' and was inappropriate, he told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. 'I retract this remark and express an apology.'

THE WORLD WAR TWO COMFORT WOMEN

'Comfort woman' is a translation of the Japanese euphemism, jugun ianfu, (military comfort women), referring to women of various ethnic and national backgrounds and social circumstances who became sex slaves for the Japanese troops before and during World War Two.

Military brothels existed across the Asia Pacific region in areas occupied by the Japanese forces.

There is no way to determine precisely how many women were forced to serve as comfort women, but estimates range from 80,000 to 200,000, of whom about 80 per cent of whom are thought to have been Korean.

Some of the girls forced into sexual slavery were as young as 12 years old, according to Chinese legal groups.

An 'inexcusable act': Historians estimate that the Japanese military forced up to 200,000 women to act as prostitutes during World War II

Japanese women and women of other occupied territories (such as Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Burma and the Pacific islands) were also used as comfort women, according to a report by San Francisco State University.

The authorities believed the comfort system would enhance the morale of the military and help prevent soldiers from committing sexual violence toward women of occupied territories, which became a real concern after the infamous Nanjing Massacre in 1937.

They were also concerned with the health of the troops, which prompted close supervision of the hygienic conditions in the comfort stations to help keep STDs under control.

When the war ended, the only military tribunal concerning the sexual abuse of comfort women took place in Batavia (now Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia) in 1948.

Several Japanese military officers were convicted for having forced the 35 Dutch women involved in the case into comfort stations.

The issue began to emerge in Korea only in the late 1980s.

The Japanese government admitted deception, coercion and official involvement in the recruitment of comfort women in August 1993, but critics said they needed to go much further.

After Japan's surrender it is reported that it set up a similar system there for American GIs, with tacit approval from U.S. authorities,

Japanese officials visited a New Jersey town in April 2012 to ask for a memorial to the thousands of Korean women and girls who were enslaved to be removed.

 

Japanese Mayor apologizes over US troops 'brothel comments'

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