Japanese Education Minister Distorts History Once Again

日本文科相、またも稚拙な歴史歪曲
JULY 12, 2005 03:15 - 東亜日報・日本語版

日本軍慰安婦関連妄言で何回となく物議をかもしていた中山成彬・日本文部科学相（６２）が、またしても稚拙なやり方で歴史を歪曲した。

１１日、共同通信によると、中山文科相は、前日、福岡市で開かれた講演で軍慰安婦と関連した自分のかつての発言を支持する内容の電子メールを１０分間あまり朗読した。

中山文科相は、同日の講演で「私が歴史認識に触れると誤解を招く恐れがあるので、手紙を紹介する形をとるから了解してもらいたい」と、カナダの大学院に在学している２０代の日本人女性が送ってきた、自身に対して肯定的な電子メールを読み上げた。

中山文科相は６月、「『従軍慰安婦』という言葉は当時はなかった」と述べ、事実上軍慰安婦の存在そのものを否定する発言をし、韓国と中国から強い反発を受けている。

第２次世界大戦当時、日本軍が軍の駐屯地に「慰安所」を作り、「慰安婦」を置いていたのは間違いない事実であるにもかかわらず、「従軍」という修飾語がなかったからといって「従軍慰安婦」という言葉が当時なかったと主張するのは、日本軍の犯罪を隠蔽しようとする詭弁だという指摘が根強い。


Japanese Education Minister Distorts History Once Again
JULY 12, 2005 03:15
by Hun-Joo Cho (hanscho@donga.com)

The Japanese minister of Education, Science and Technology, Nariyaki Nakayama (62), has made bizarre remarks concerning “comfort women” for Japanese military forces during Japanese colonial rule in the past. Recently, he has once again distorted history.

The Kyoto News reported that Nakayama read an e-mail from a female in her 20s supporting his past remarks on comfort women for over 10 minutes at a lecture in Fukuoka on July 10.

Before reading the e-mail from a Japanese female graduate student in Canada, the minister said, “If I talk about my views on history, my remarks could cause misunderstanding, so I decided to read you a letter instead. I ask for your kind understanding.”

Nakayama said in June, “There was no such term as ‘comfort women for military forces’ back then,” virtually denying the existence of the comfort women. His remark met with strong criticism in Korea and China.

It is an accepted fact that during World War II, the Japanese military built “comfort centers” where their forces stayed and used “comfort women.” Denying the existence of the term, “comfort women for military forces” just because the phrase “for military forces” was not included came to many as nothing more than a technicality intended to cover up the crimes of the Japanese military.


Updated : Jul.12.2005 02:40 KST
[Editorial] Japan's Education Minister Does it Again

Over the weekend Japanese civic groups ran an advertisement in the Yomiuri Shimbun calling on people to reject the new textbooks with distorted history published by Fusosha Publishing House, saying that Japan cannot enjoy amicable relations with Asian nations with that textbook, and that is a demonstration of the latent strength of conscientious elements in Japan. The group "Alliance for Asian Peace and History Education," which played a leading role in the joint Korea-China-Japan history textbook History that Opens the Future, is collecting funds in Korea so that it, too, can publish an advertisement in Japanese newspapers.

It is welcome to have Korean and Japanese civic groups working in solidarity, but it speaks of what a difficult time the campaign against the textbooks is having when a Korean civic group takes the extraordinary step of placing an advertisement in the Japanese media. With national and regional organizations belonging to Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (DLP) actively supporting the use of Fusosha's textbook, the general view is that it will be impossible to keep it from being chosen at the same ratio of schools as 4 years ago, when only 0.039 percent of classrooms decided to use it. Japan's right-wing camp publicly declares that the textbook will be chosen at 10 percent of schools.

One of the big factors working against an improvement in friendly Korea-Japan relations is the continued inflammatory comments from Nariaki Nakayama, Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Technology. This is the same man who caused a stir when, as the minister responsible for the textbook review and approval process, he said it was a good thing that there are less references to "military comfort women" and "forced mobilization." On Monday he publicly read from an email he had received, saying that the comfort women had a job that "one should be able to take pride in if it eased the unsettled minds of men at war and provided them with rest and order." A minister in the government of an advanced nation, and in particular a minister responsible for the education of the younger generation, should not be making such reckless remarks. You are left feeling enraged and even sad as you wonder if Japan cannot do better.

The Hankyoreh, 12 July 2005.


チンピラ中山の妄言