On March 1, Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, denied that Japan's military had forced foreign women into sexual slavery during World War II, contradicting the Japanese government's longtime official position. This denial has angered many Asian Americans who have known women who experienced this atrocity and whose traumatic experiences have damaged their lives permanently.
Bishop Roy I. Sano, retired bishop in the Western Jurisdiction and executive secretary to the Council of Bishops, wrote directly to the Japanese Prime Minister to protest the denial of Abe. Here is Bishop Sano's full statement:
"I join those around the world who are outraged by your denial of the well documented sex slaves used by the Japanese military during World War II.
Your denial places you in the category of those who deny the Holocaust against six million Jews!
I also join those who demand you renounce your statement and apologize for your indefensible denial of the atrocities inflicted on 200,000 women from various parts of Asia.
Your remarks destabilize the region against Japan and even jeopardize Japanese tourists who go abroad.
As a Nisei in the US during WWII want to remind you that actions by Japan turn us into the most accessible target to vent anger and hatred."
Bishop Robert T. Hoshibata, Resident Bishop, Portland Area, also issued this statement:
"History has taught us that the noble response to mistakes is to acknowledge the error, offer a sincere apology and to take steps to insure that the mistake will not be repeated. In this situation it is incomprehensible that a world leader has taken a stand that contradicts accepted fact. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is attempting to silence the testimony of thousands who were conscripted against their will and forced into sexual slavery and subjected to inhumane treatment, violence, injury and death.
The United Methodist Church has spoken in support of the 'comfort women' who were subjected to this cruelty. We must continue to speak against the evil of such inhumane treatment of another human person. We strongly urge Prime Minister Abe to retract his statements and offer an apology to the women who endured suffering, their families, and all who are incensed by his denial of the truth. We urge this for the sake of the world and all humanity so that this atrocity will never again be repeated."
The Staff and the Chair of the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists (Inday Day and Rev. Mark Nakagawa, respectively), expressed support for the statements of Bishops Sano and Hoshibata.
Historians believe some 200,000 women -- Koreans, Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, as well as Japanese, Dutch and other European women -- served in Japanese military brothels. For decades, Japan denied that its military had been involved, calling the brothels private enterprises and the women prostitutes.
In 1993, the Japanese government finally acknowledged its role and issued the declaration, thanks to the efforts of a Japanese historian, Yoshiaki Yoshimi. Outraged by the government denials, Mr. Yoshimi went to the Self-Defense Agency's library and unearthed, after two days of searching, documents that confirmed the Japanese military's involvement in establishing these brothels.
It is essential that people of faith and people of all cultures express their outrage over Prime Minister Abe's statement.