The recent controversies surrounding the issue of comfort women have helped put it in the public eye make many confront an atrocity they otherwise would not have, but supporters and detractors of both Korea and Japan have pressured the issue so much that they risk turning it into something it is not. The most important action we can take to acknowledge crimes committed in the past is to listen to the victim’s stories and educate ourselves about the human consequences of imperial governance, preferably, directly from the victims themselves. However, when even well intentioned people ‘use’ victims of sexual slavery to further their own political or ideological agendas, they often steal the victim’s voices and distort the past.
Right now, the Korean-Japanese discussion around comfort women centers around the feeling of guilt. When prime ministers of Japan have made concessions, reparations, or apologies, they always include in their statements that they are “deeply sorry”, as they understand that the Koreans desire a sincere declaration of guilt(1). This feeling is problematic for the younger Japanese generation, though, who don’t want to be cursed for the crimes of their parents. Undeserved blame, I think, is one of the primary emotions fueling the right wing deniers of Japanese atrocities.
Another reason many Japanese cite to doubt the veracity of former comfort women’s claims is the lack of consistency between them. Although it is true that traumatic experiences often themselves distort and confuse the memories of those that go through them(another rationale for the importance of listening directly to victim testimonial) these inconsistencies may not be entirely internal(2). In their zeal, interviewers push their interviewees towards answers they otherwise may not have given, and history is changed indirectly.
Right now, the Korean-Japanese discussion around comfort women centers around the feeling of guilt. When prime ministers of Japan have made concessions, reparations, or apologies, they always include in their statements that they are “deeply sorry”, as they understand that the Koreans desire a sincere declaration of guilt(1). This feeling is problematic for the younger Japanese generation, though, who don’t want to be cursed for the crimes of their parents. Undeserved blame, I think, is one of the primary emotions fueling the right wing deniers of Japanese atrocities.
Another reason many Japanese cite to doubt the veracity of former comfort women’s claims is the lack of consistency between them. Although it is true that traumatic experiences often themselves distort and confuse the memories of those that go through them(another rationale for the importance of listening directly to victim testimonial) these inconsistencies may not be entirely internal(2). In their zeal, interviewers push their interviewees towards answers they otherwise may not have given, and history is changed indirectly.
1. Yang, Kiwoong. "SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN'S FRICTIONS OVER HISTORY: A LINGUISTIC CONSTRUCTIVIST READING." Asian Perspective 32, no. 3 (2008): 59-86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42704641.
2. Yeong-ae, Yamashita, and Sarah Kovner. "Nationalism in Korean Women's Studies: Addressing the Nationalist Discourses Surrounding the "Comfort Women" Issue." U.S.-Japan Women's Journal. English Supplement, no. 15 (1998): 52-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772133.
2. Yeong-ae, Yamashita, and Sarah Kovner. "Nationalism in Korean Women's Studies: Addressing the Nationalist Discourses Surrounding the "Comfort Women" Issue." U.S.-Japan Women's Journal. English Supplement, no. 15 (1998): 52-77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42772133.