Japanese leaders are defying global common sense
Politicians in Japan make gaffes so frequently that its Asian neighbors no longer feel it necessary to respond to them one by one. Yet the latest remark on wartime sex slavery made by the leader of Japan’s third largest political group apparently went too far.
“The comfort women system was necessary... and other countries were also using it,” Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka and co-leader of the Japan Restoration Party, told reporters Monday, adding, “Why do foreigners only take issue with Japan?” He then asked U.S. troops in Japan to make better use of the country’s red light districts.
Can you believe these words, which reveal not just the speaker’s lamentable historical knowledge but also his
awareness of human rights, coming from one of Japan’s most popular - and promising - politicians?
So deplorable were Hashimoto’s comments that even the conservative Cabinet members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe put forth a
of criticism against the opposition leader. Yet what all this shows is how Japanese politicians are competing to stir up nationalist sentiments among voters, which in turn reflects the rapid rightward shift among Japan’s postwar generation.
Prime Minister Abe himself is leading the pack: the ultra-right politician has raised questions about the shared global knowledge of Japan as the chief aggressor during World War II; put on a baseball jersey with the number “96” on the back to express his wish to revise Article 96 of the Peace Constitution to return to a “normal country”; and even sat in a pilot’s seat in “Fighter 731,” in unmistakable justification of Japan’s germ warfare experiment done by a unit with the same name.
Hashimoto’s counterattack was his latest attempt to justify the country’s inhumane sex slavery of Asian women.
We do not know how many countries were operating military brothels. But we know Japan was the only country in which its military - the state in other words in a militarist country - was actively involved, directly and indirectly, in recruiting women, through both
and deception, and setting up and operating the facilities. The mayor of Japan’s second largest city also called for Korea to present evidence of the Japanese military’s involvement. It’s no better than a rapist demanding the
offer proof of his assault.
It is well known the Japanese government burned all incriminating wartime documents right after its
. Those it failed to destroy are held by the U.S. government and even some conscientious Japanese scholars.
Abe, Hashimoto and other ultra-right Japanese politicians seem to have one belief in common: Japan’s biggest - or only - mistake was losing the war. These postwar-generation politicians are the products of Japan’s education system bent on whitewashing the country’s wartime atrocities and emphasizing only that they were victims of atomic bombings. One cannot help but shudder to think what kind of Japanese generation would arise if the self-justifying education is allowed to continue for another 30 years.
The Allied Forces, mainly the United States, have made Japan what it is today. It’s their responsibility, too, to rectify it into a “genuinely” normal country.
This is The Korea Times editorial for Wednesday, May 15, 2013.
※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 사설에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제 입니다.
※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part or fill in the blank with a suitable one.
1. The parents grew more
as the struggle continued.
① cooperative
② fearful
③ wretched
④ ferocious
2. Although the controversial speaker tried to ___________
stones thrown at platform, annoying catcalls, and a barrage of rotten fruit brought an end to the meeting.
① proceed
② compare
③ approve
④ regulate
3. The hostess had an
to talk without breath.
① compulsion
② coercion
③ constraint
④ threat
4. The shark is the victim of a
attitude of wildlife protection. (2004 행정고시)
① distorted
② prudent
③ distant
④ negligent
5. His political power has been greatly
since he was defeated in the election.
① restricted
② reversed
③ demanded
④ imposed
[해설 및 정답]
1. [번역] 부모님들을 그 투쟁(또는 투병)이 계속되자 더욱
졌다.
[어휘] abject 비참한, 불쌍한(miserable, wretched, pathetic); 야비한, 비열한(contemptible); 천한(mean)
① 협력적인 ② 두려운 ④ 사나운
[정답] ③
2. [번역] 논쟁거리를 일으킨 그 연사는
려 했으나, 연단으로 돌이 날아오고, 야유가 거센 데다, 썩은 과일을 일제히 던지는 바람에 회의를 끝내고 말았다.
[정답] ①
3. [번역] 그 (손님 접대) 안주인은 숨도 쉬지 않고(단숨에) 말을 해야 한다는
을 가지고 있었다.
4. [번역] 상어는 야생동물의 보호라는 (인간의)
태도의 희생물이다.
5. [번역] 그의 정치력은 그 선거에서 패배한 이래 크게
.