The issue of "comfort women" - those (mostly) Korean women forced to service the sexual requirements of the conquering Japanese army - has been a constant source of contention between Japan and Korea despite a Japanese apology. And this is really going to help:
A prominent Japanese politician has described as "necessary" the system by which women were forced to become prostitutes for World War II troops.
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto said on Monday that the "comfort women" gave Japanese soldiers a chance "to rest".
On Tuesday, Japanese ministers tried to distance themselves from his remarks.
Some 200,000 women in territories occupied by Japan during WWII are estimated to have been forced to become sex slaves for troops.
Many of the women came from China and South Korea, but also from the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
Japan's treatment of its wartime role has been a frequent source of tension with its neighbours, and South Korea expressed "deep disappointment" at Mr Hashimoto's words.
"There is a worldwide recognition... that the issue of comfort women amounts to a war-time rape committed by Japan during its past imperial period in a serious breach of human rights," a South Korean foreign ministry spokesman told news agency AFP.
Mr Hashimoto is the co-founder of the nationalist Japanese Restoration Party, which has a small presence in parliament and is not part of the government.
He was the youngest governor in Japanese history before becoming mayor of Osaka, and last year said Japan needed "a dictatorship".
In his latest comments, quoted by Japanese media, he said: "In the circumstances in which bullets are flying like rain and wind, the soldiers are running around at the risk of losing their lives,"
"If you want them to have a rest in such a situation, a comfort women system is necessary. Anyone can understand that."
This is shocking. I remember when I first read about ongoing Hungarian anti-semitism. I couldn't believe that these countries didn't learn anything from the war.
But maybe it's naive to assume that people would want to acknowledge errors when they don't have to.
Posted by: Recruiting Animal | May 19, 2013 at 09:47 PM