Tag: Japan

Military sexual assault, redux

Posted on by kathiemm
Preventing sexual assault Navy poster
Image in public domain.

The Japanese government has formally apologized for forcing women seized from China, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan to act as “comfort women” (sex slaves) for the military during World War II.

Recently, Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka, Japan, sparked considerable rage by saying that wartime brothels “were necessary…to maintain discipline in the army,” and suggesting that the former comfort women were part of “the tragedy of war.”

Similar views, although somewhat less explicit, can be found in the American military establishment.

In response to a Pentagon report indicating that military sexual crimes against women in uniform are increasing and that only a small percentage of the cases are being prosecuted, U.S. General Martin Dempsey suggested that the problem may be linked to the strains of war.

His remarks also provide evidence of a readiness to excuse sexual assaults committed by members of the military: “If a perpetrator shows up in a court martial with a rack of ribbons and has four deployments and a Purple Heart [Medal], there is certainly the risk that we might be a little too forgiving of that particular crime.”

The good news is that the problem of sexual assaults on American women (and men) in uniform is once again getting some attention in the mainstream corporate media and that several women Senators are pursuing the issue.

The absolute failure of the military to solve the problem with educational programs and trained personnel is all too obvious when officers conducting the training perpetrate sexual violence themselves.

Sexual assaults are one more example of the kinds of aggression tolerated in a culture of violence. Apologies are not enough. Justifications are abominable. Abstract educational programs are useless. Time for a Zero Tolerance program for all kinds of violence.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Comfort women

Posted on by kathiemm

By guest author Dot Walsh

Comfort women peace rally
Peace rally with “comfort women” and friends at Japanese embassy in Korea. Photo by Andrea LeBlanc; used with permission.

Comfort women were women and girls forced into prostitution by the Japanese government during World War II.  The name “comfort women” was taken from a Japanese word meaning prostitute.

In reality these women were sex slaves for the military. The recruitment was not voluntary but often involved being kidnapped from countries taken over by the Japanese army.

A recent article in the New York Times highlighted a speech given by Mr. Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka, who maintained that “comfort women” served a useful purpose: “When soldiers are risking their lives by running through storms of bullets, and you want to give these emotionally charged soldiers a rest somewhere, it’s clear that you need a comfort women system.”

In 2007, Andrea LeBlanc and I joined Japanese peacemakers in Korea on a journey modeled after the Peace Abbey’s Stonewalk. The intention of the Japanese was to apologize for the atrocities committed against the Korean people including the tragedy of the “comfort women.”

During the journey we visited a home for the aging “comfort women,” many of whom had never been able to marry or have a normal life because of the stigma of what had happened to them. We were invited to stay overnight and to meet the women who lived there.  On the property is a museum with graphic pictures of the events that brought them to this place. Many of the survivors bear emotional scars that have never healed.

The following day we pulled the stone to the front door of the Japanese embassy where a vigil is held every week. For Andrea and me, it was an honor to be in the company of these women whose gentle spirits and commitment to speaking truth to power was inspiring.

During the occupation as many as 200,000 or more women (estimated numbers) were confined as sex slaves.

Dot Walsh, longtime peace activist

Reaching for reconciliation, Part 2

Posted on by kathiemm


By guest author Tomoko Maekawa

On August 9, when I was at Nagasaki Peace Park for the memorial ceremony for the 67th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, I had the opportunity to listen to Clifton Truman Daniel and help interview Ali Mayer Beazer.

These men, with their direct links to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, were invited to Japan by Masahiro Sasaki, the president of the Sadako Legacy. Sasaki is the older brother of the late Sadako Sasaki, who died of radiation after the Hiroshima bombing. Mr. Sasaki wanted to reconcile with them and, presumably, allow them to search for reconciliation with the atomic bomb survivors.

When speaking to the international media, Truman’s grandson said he could imagine the moment of 11:02 and could see people dying while hearing the sirens and offering silent prayers.

Currently a freelance editor living in Chicago, he expressed gratitude to the people of Nagasaki, especially the atomic bomb survivors who had shared their experiences with him. He had heard as many as 20 survivors’ talks while visiting Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. He said that his feelings against nuclear weapons had grown stronger during this trip.

After watching a documentary including comments from his grandfather, who served on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing flights, Beazer commented,  “I’ve come to Japan to hear the survivors’ experiences and spread it to the world.  I’d like to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the world.”

It must have been emotionally difficult for Clifton Truman Daniel and Ali Mayer Beazer  to participate in the memorial ceremony at Nagasaki’s Ground Zero. However, their courage allowed them to overcome their emotional turmoil, and they dared to face the outcome of their grandfathers’ duty.

In order to avoid repeating mistakes, we should not forget the past, but at the same time reconciliation is important to go forward. Now is the time for the third generation, who might not have experienced war themselves, to do so. The future of our planet is in their hands.

This visit from two men from a second generation, with their courage, comments, willingness to reconcile, and feelings of responsibility as human beings, have given me a brilliant hope, which is much shinier than Olympic gold medals.

Tomoko Maekawa, with edits by Kathie Malley-Morrison

Reaching for reconciliation, Part 1

Posted on by kathiemm

December 7, 1941, August 6, 1945. August 9, 1945.

Burning ships at Pearl Harbor
Burning ships at Pearl Harbor. Image in public domain

How should these days be remembered? Only for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the American atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? As days that must live in infamy? As just another set of dates and names in a violent world history?

Or can we view them as signposts at the end of an old wrecked highway that has given way to a newer path, one that was carefully constructed to avoid siren calls for punitive justice, one that leads instead towards reconciliation?

Today we begin a two-part series on reconciliation by Tomoko Maekawa of Nagasaki University, who provides a personal story from the 67th  anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.

By guest author Tomoko Maekawa

During the excitement of the Olympics in London in August 2012, other moving scenes were observed quietly in Nagasaki, Japan. Clifton Truman Daniel and Ali Mayer Beazer, grandsons of men who were directly involved in the bombing, participated in the memorial ceremony.

Clifton Truman Daniel, 55, is a grandson of the late U.S. President Harry Truman, who ordered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Ali Mayer Beazer, 24, is a grandson of the radar man, Jacob Beazer, who boarded both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombers and probably decided when to drop the bombs. I personally talked with him when an NBC TV reporter asked me to act as interpreter.

On August 8th, Ali watched an old documentary made by the broadcasting company 27 years ago to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the bombing. The documentary contains interviews with three men — Thomas Ferby, a bomber on the Hiroshima flight; Calmat Behan, a bomber on the Nagasaki flight; and Ali’s grandfather Jacob Beazer, the radar man for both flights.

In interviews at the ceremony, both of these grandsons expressed a commitment to fighting against nuclear weapons.

Tomoko Maekawa, with edits by Kathie Malley-Morrison