Japan has come under growing criticism for its attempts to whitewash its past misdeeds by denying and distorting undeniable historical facts. On Wednesday, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology endorsed the request of five publishers to change the terms for wartime sexual slavery and forced labor during World War II.
The publishers plan to change the expression of “military comfort women” into “comfort women” and “forced conscription” into “mobilization” in referring to those forced into sexual slavery and others to toil against their will. Their plans come after the Japanese government held meetings with them in April and asked them to change such expressions, saying they were “inappropriate” and could elicit misunderstandings.
The deletion of “military” in reference to the comfort women is apparently an attempt to deny the Japanese Imperial Army's involvement in the issue. The removal of the word, “forced,” in referring to the conscription of workers is also a bid to whitewash the country's past wrongdoings. Yet, these attempts run against the numerous testimonies and accounts by many of the victims and some perpetrators about these atrocities.
For starters, Japan's Kono Statement in 1993, released by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, acknowledged the fact that the Japanese Imperial Army had forced women to work in brothels before and during World War II. “They lived in misery at comfort stations amidst a coercive atmosphere,” the statement read.
Many testimonies show that Koreans were also forced to work harshly in very miserable conditions. The Japanese government admitted this fact in the process of registering Hashima Island, also called Gunkanjima, meaning “Battleship Island,” to be approved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2015.
The Japanese government unveiled a plan to set up a facility in memory of the Koreans whom it agreed had been coerced to work in extremely severe conditions. Yet, contrary to its pledge, Japan has attempted to establish a public relations center for the island as a symbol of Japan's rapid industrialization, while concealing its role as a site of forced labor and wartime crimes. UNESCO expressed regret over this move by Japan and called for a repeal of the plan.
Japan's attempts to whitewash its past misdeeds including its colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula and other imperial aggression has been routine especially among conservatives there. Worse still, such moves have been intensifying to the extent of being reflected in actual government policies since the administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
We have to express concern over the increasing tendency toward further outdated conservatism in Japan. The Japanese government should stop attempts to bolster such a trend. It is totally improper for Japan to change these expressions and justify its past wrongdoings in an apparent bid to whitewash its history of war crimes. Japan should make efforts to reflect sincerely on and apologize for its shameful misdeeds of the past. Only when it faces the historical facts squarely, can Japan improve its current frosty relations with Korea.