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'New proof' of Japanese World War II sex slaves

news.bbc.co.uk — New reports from Japan say documents have been found that suggest the Japanese forced women to work as sex slaves during World War II. These women who were forced into prostitution are known known in Japan as "comfort women".

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  • Alex76, on 10/11/2007, -11/+34The Dutch woman's testimony says she had her clothes ripped off her by Japanese military police.

    She says she was taken to a brothel and forced to work as a prostitute, despite her efforts to resist.

    Yet another example of the overwhelming evidence pointing to the fact that yes indeed, sex slaves did exist. The Japanese govt should acknowledge this fact, pay reparations, issue an apology and move on.
    • Al3x, on 10/11/2007, -22/+6The Japanese always have the best ideas...

      EDIT: Alex76...it says at the bottom of the article they acknowledge it.
    • eezzzz, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6I thought they merely admitted to being the "cafeteria" and claimed they didn't provide the "food stuffs"...?
    • ablez3, on 10/11/2007, -11/+3too much pride to admit.

    • Hazardc, on 10/11/2007, -20/+9Im sure japanese women cared about being sex slaves after we vaporized them and everyone else they ever knew

      /yes i did rtfa
    • thatsmyaibo, on 10/11/2007, -14/+6Women have always been treated very differently in Japanese society. Even to this day. I don't agree with this, but who are we to condemn another culture?
    • ki1022, on 10/11/2007, -16/+8Hi, everyone. I have photographic proof that this did happen. These are scans of original WWII photographs taken by an official US Navy photographer. They have been altered so no one can use them without permission.

      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/1.jpg - Soldier with woman, others waiting
      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/2.jpg - Soldier holding hands with woman, other hanging around
      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/3.jpg - The long line to get in the brothel
      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/4.jpg - Marines arriving at the brothel
      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/5.jpg - Detailed pic of some of the women
      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/6.jpg - Young girl slave :-/
      http://ki0.net/ab9399e43887fc/7.jpg - Another woman (with soldiers in background)

    • Scheissen, on 10/11/2007, -11/+4but but ... America! America had to have something to cause this!

      /sarcasm (pretending to be digg's anti-American persona)
    • spencewah, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8@ki1022

      Just because you altered it doesn't give you copyright to the original photo, and even if it did, this is digg.
    • doctapeppa, on 10/11/2007, -2/+13Sorry, but those pictures don't look anything like prostitution to me.
    • mattmollysdad, on 10/11/2007, -12/+7@ablez3 too much pride to admit.

      your kidding right...how the ***** does "pride" have anything to do with their mindset. They r pigheaded... they refuse to admit what they did in Nanking, in Hong Kong, everywhere. Somehow they found a way to blame the US for Pearl Harbor... again it's the old line, it's not the people but the leaders... well the new Prime Minister was born after the war ended but the entire school system is rigged so that their history books paint them as the victims. To all u children out there read some history... like say of the last 75 years... and u might get a feeling for why the world is like it is.
    • CptofMySoul, on 10/11/2007, -8/+11The Japanese government has done all of those things: admitted it, apologized, and paid reparations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women#History_of_the_controversy look under the Kono Statement. It keeps being brought up because it is an easy way for other Asian countries to use the West to irritate Japan.

      What Japan should do is point out the responisiblity they have taken and the apologies they've made, and tell everyone to get bent.

    • ewok85, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8They admitted they had brothels, but the point is whether women were forced to work, or volunteered to work. THATS the only point the Japanese and these women are not seeing eye to eye about.

      http://www.leonjp.com/
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -5/+11@Digg

      First, one of my close relatives was a victim, she is very old. There is no question what Imperialist Japan has done was wrong. But even she has forgiven Japan and has said that all the current people having a tiff about this are out for self or political gain and nothing else. Simply put, anyone responsible is mostly dead anyway and those on top paid with their lives. Furthermore even the Japanese Emperor has specifically admitted the use of sex slaves and has apologized in multiple occasions for his father's actions.

      So I'm very disappointed to see most of you digging CptOfMySoul and others down when they speak the truth. Is Digg Anti-Japanese or taking a liking to revisionist history where Japan has somehow never apologized even though solid links and proof have been given?

      Japan's government has not only paid the largest sum of reparations for WW2 (surpassing even Germany) to China alone...
      (this happened in large part due to American involvement, when they occupied Japan, they forced it upon the new government after WW2)
      ...they've also admitted to having Women Sex Slaves (YES SPECIFICALLY COMFORT WOMEN IN THOSE TERMS)...
      ...and apologized for it over 30 times...
      ...and wrote over two declarations of apology from Japan to all the other countries about the comfort women...
      ...Japanese organizations (non governmental) have also paid reparations to the tune of well over 100 million USD directly to victims when they found out that victim nations would not pay the victims directly.

      Remember, the outcry stems from the fact that none of the victim nation's governments have used the reparations to give to the victims. Instead they were used in infrastructure and public projects. In fact, from 1992-1998, Japan paid for 1/4 of all of China's infrastructure in the entire nation. They still pay reparations today, including the fancy new recently completed airport in Shenzhen.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -5/+8@CptofMySoul: *****. Prime Minister Abe recently recanted past admissions of guilt. Japan has never been very specific nor thorough in their apologies or admissions. You don't see any victims memorial in Japan like they do in Germany do you? Instead they have a shrine where they still honor their war criminal generals. You call that an apology??? If Germany built a shrine to Hitler, what do you think the world would say?

      Yes Japan has offered cash payments before but no real apology. Do you know how ***** insulting that is??? Japan is basically saying that they can buy the lives of other Asians, treat them as slaves, kill them, and never feel guilty about it. Ever wonder why practically none of the victims have accepted the money. They don't want money. They just want a real apology and a show of remorse.

      In China alone 6 million Chinese were wiped out by the Japanese. They nearly killed my grandmother when they decided to randomly drop a bomb in her neighborhood in rural China that was already occupied. My grandmother saw, as a child, Japanese soldiers randomly entering a house and bayonneting the entire family to death. This was already conquered and occupied territory.

      Irritate Japan? Thanks for insulting the victims *****. I guess Israel and the Jews are quite a nuisances to the Germans too.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7@Comatose51

      Did you even read the links provided or the article? It specifically says they apologized and acknowledge it.
      Not only that read how many times Comfort Women are brought up here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan
      Most of the apologies that involve comfort women specifically refers to them as comfort women and apologizes for forcing them. Every time China has a major holiday they go on a media frenzy to bring this up again. Rightfully so but they don't acknowledge any of the 20+ Japanese state apologies involving comfort women, the half trillion paid in reparations even today, nor do they admit that their own government paid out 0 to the victims even though Japan has paid.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -4/+5@ShrimpCracker: I'm answering to CptofMySoul's post and talking about the wider scope of all the Japanese has done and should apologize for. I'm always wary when the Chinese government makes a gesture about Japanese war guilt. There's definitely a certain amount of political play there. They like to fan that nationalist spirit in China. However, there are also non-governmental groups asking for apologies and justice. The Koreans and other Asian countries were also victims. Yes I know the Japanese has apologized before but the apologies have always been very general, which really isn't a problem except for their shrine to their war dead that include war criminals. The current Japanese emperor has also been very remorseful and reconciliatory about WWII. However, to say that they have already done enough isn't true. They have done some but they still need to go further. Offering large sums of money really isn't the answer. People don't want money. Most of their victims are old or are already dead. They just want sincerity in the apologies and to follow through with action on a level that's comparable to Germany's.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -1/+5@Comatose:

      The Japanese HAVE done everything Germany has. Keep in mind, Japan's new government was brought forward with American involvement. Paying sentiment beyond what Germany ever did was part of the equation that General MacArthur himself oversaw.

      Here's the total amount in compensation to the Koreans and other Asian countries.

      From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Peace_with_Japan#Compensation_to_Allied_POWs

      Japanese War Reparations in US Dollars:
      Korea 4,683,700,000
      Taiwan 2,846,100,000
      North East China 9,768,800,000
      North China 3,695,800,000
      Central South China 2,447,900,000
      Others 1,867,600,000
      Total $25,300,000,000

      (Others also include)
      Burma 200,000,000
      Philippines 550,000,000
      Indonesia 223,080,000
      Vietnam 38,000,000
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -4/+6@ShrimpCracker: The figures you listed are assets seized by those countries on their own territory. China has never signed a treaty nor accepted reparations from Japan but that's not even what's important. It is in their apologies that the victims find lacking. Having the 14 class A war criminals at Yasukuni is like having a shrine for Hilter and Himmler. Germany doesn't have any of that. Germany has Holocaust memorials. Holding the current generation of Japaneses responsible is obviously wrong. However, former Prime Minister Koizumi[sp?]'s visit to Yasukuni shrine is unnecessary and simply inflammatory. Imagine if Angela Merkel[sp?] visited Hitler, Himmler, or Goering's graves every year. Japan has offered vast amounts of reparation and most of it has been refused because that's not what the victims wanted. What they want is a sincere apology.

      Kazuhima did point out that the government removing those 14 war criminals would be a violation of church and state, which is a new angle I didn't even consider. However, at the same time it was unnecessary for the Japanese Prime Minister to go visit it either. Abe has refrained so that's a start. Keep it up and there's not even a need for reparation. The problem is that Japan has alternated between apologies and recanting it or visiting the shrine. Just apologize, admit it, and don't turn back and let's just move on.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Comatose 51
      Actually, Japans war reparations were not refused by China what-so-ever. They've gladly taken every dime. This comes up often as Japan also reduces yearly reparations whenever China has a large increase in spending for its military.

      Also, read carefully, even the JAPANESE THEMSELVES have problems with the Yakusuni Shrine! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasukuni_Shrine
      However it is hardly "Hitler's Grave" as Yakusuni Shrine honors 2,500,000 soldiers not just 14 A-class war criminals! Blaming the entire Japanese or the government when they themselves are against it is fallacy.

      Not to mention, there are Vietnam veterans buried at Arlington Memorial in the US that have suspicious records. You don't see Vietnam using it for political gain everytime Bush visits the cemetary.
  • adsoftheworld, on 10/11/2007, -4/+29Nothing could stop the Japanese army. Not even a pregnant woman.
    Read the shocking story:
    http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/the_eurasian_story_rape?size=_original
    • MAJDA, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0barbaric..
      @adsofttheworld really schoking...are we humans..?
  • BadassCheese, on 10/11/2007, -4/+23Wierd. I just wrote a research paper about the Rape of Nanking.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_of_nanjing
    • RCcola159, on 10/11/2007, -5/+9Same, wrote it for national history day. Shame most of the general population don't even know the rape of nanjing existed.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8Rccola
      I don't think there is anyone in Japan who doesn't know about the Rape of Nanking (contrary to popular belief amongst non-historians outside Japan)
      In fact, stories involving the Rape of Nanking is brought up often and makes front page headlines; including Japan's most popular paper Asahi Shimbun. If you care to do a search there are more books and researchers in Japan about the Rape of Nanking than even the Chinese, and almost all except for a fringe group say that it was bad. In fact their estimates on the death-count are in the higher end of the spectrum.

      Also, if you did your research properly you'd have found that Japanese Junior High School and High School history textbooks say the Rape of Nanking happened and devote a portion to explaining it in detail. The ONLY exception is 1 Nationalist High School in the entire country that removes it from the textbook.

      This is no different from how the Native American genocides is avoided in American history textbooks until Junior High School.

      I personally think they should start in Gradeschool, but too many parents think its gory.
    • crimsonalucard, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0Shrimp cracker... Are you sure? I heard this ***** was censored in text books, and there's huge controversey in Japan as to whether it even happened at all. Why would chinese people be so mad if what you say is true...? I don't think what you say is entirely accurate.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Crimsonalucard:
      Don't believe me? Don't take my word for it, here's proof.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_textbook_controversy#New_History_Textbook_.282000.29
      "Despite the scale of the controversies, the New History Textbook was adopted by only 0.039% of junior high schools in Japan as of August 15, 2001. According to the Society, there are currently eight private junior high schools, one public school for the disabled in Tokyo, three public junior high schools and four public schools for the disabled in Ehime that use their textbook (Mainichi Shimbun, September 27, 2004)."
      That was 2004. As of now, most of the schools have revoked the New History Textbook, that was printed by radicals.
      REMEMBER: This is out of THOUSANDS of schools in Japan!

      So your Chinese friends were probably mad because they were deceived by Chinese government propaganda, or they were out to deceive others on the actual history and situation.
    • vertinox, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1@Rccola159

      Most people don't know about:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre

      More info at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_war_crimes
      It is under neutrality dispute right now but in general things like that happened.

      Of course the Soviets were pretty bad in general...
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_atrocities_%28WWII%29
  • UObean, on 10/11/2007, -7/+12Everyone knows this happened. The fact that they won't just admit it after 60 years is just ridiculous.
    • neuropsychguy, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7They have admitted it. I read a news article about it a few weeks ago. Here's one of the articles talking about it:

      http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/abe-sorry-for-wwii-sex-slaves/2007/04/22/1177180482802.html
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4They've admitted it and were forced to admit it, especially with American involvement after WW2.

      MacArthur basically made them do it. They had no choice. Since then many groups, even private groups have specifically sought out these "comfort women"/sex slaves to pay them directly (since almost none of the victim nations paid the victims, used the money on infrastructure instead). Japan's government has been paying reparations for over half a century, in amounts far outdoing Germany, even today.

      Why some victim nations and groups refuse to admit the truth is all for political gain.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -4/+4@ShrimpCracker: Please provide proof that they've actually PAID in amounts that surpasses Germany. They might have offered it but most victims didn't accept it because it was offered without a sincere apology. Any apology is hard to accept as long as they keep worshipping their war criminals at the Yakazune[sp?] shrine. Imagine if Germany apologized on one hand and then built a shrine to Hitler and Goering on the other. Most victims refused the money because to do while they're still unapologetic about what happened is to insult the victims. What if someone hit you in the face and then threw a $5 bill at you? Would you accept it? Apology first then reparation, if the latter is even necessary but first let's stop worshipping war criminals. I'm not saying take down the entire shrine. Just remove the war memorials to the war criminals who were tried and hung for their crimes.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Sorry, double post.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Heres your proof that Japan paid war reparations more than Germany:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_reparations#Post-World_War_II
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Peace_with_Japan#Compensation_to_Allied_POWs

      "Germany was supposed to pay the Allies 20 billion US dollars mainly in machinery, manufacturing plants. Reparations to the Soviet Union stopped in 1953."

      "Japan agreed to pay around 1 trillion dollars and 30 billion yen. For countries that renounced any reparations from Japan, she agreed to pay indemnity and/or grants in accordance with bilateral agreements."

      "Total: Total ¥364,348,800,000 US$1,012,080,000"
    • beget01, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1The PROBLEM is how many times JAPS denied it ever happened? Every now and then some Japs come out and start to refuse to apologize and deny the raping and all the atrocities they committed like that shameless PM of JAP did a few months ago! He only "apologized" under US pressure, NOT under the pressure of the poor victims. He's just a beloved USA's dog! When his master tells him to do something, he does it quickly! Shame on you! (I bet all those war loving jap savages would count this "apology" as one apology. But they never seem to talk about how many times these japs denying or refusing to apologize.)
      Japs say they "apologized" before. Then later on they come out and deny all the killings and raping they did. Who in their right mind would take these kinds of ***** "apology" seriously? I'm not even talking about the history books they whitewashed!
      Would Jews let Germans or any other group of people easily go if they start to deny Holocaust? What if Germans start changing and whitewashing their history books? What if Germans start to deny they killed millions of Jews? What if Germans say since they did "apologize before", they can also start to deny the holocaust or go to a church to worship Hitler and those war criminals? Would Jews or anyone in their right mind take this kind of ***** apology seriously? Would you call that a REAL apology?
      It's like I slap you ,then say sorry, then turn around and slap you again, then sorry, then slap, then sorry, then slap. Getting the point? Would you call this a REAL apology? And these japs are only counting the ***** sorry parts but not the slap parts (refusing and denying).
      Obviously, these japs haven't learn a thing from the history and the atrocities they have committed! (Of course they haven't learn much because their history books are whitewashed!)
      Denying and refusing to apologize every now and then would only nullify the ***** apologies they have said before.
      Keep denying the atrocities, the raping and the killings every now and then... The more you JAPS deny, the more it shows up on DIGG, the more the world would know about it!
      Wake UP people, these JAPS are a million times worse than than the Nazis. They are the Asian Nazis and a bunch of hypocrites! At least Germans apologized and stayed with it. You don't see German officials come out every now and then to deny holocaust or to refuse to apologize. If they did, I bet there would be WWIII in Europe!

  • lieutenantmudd, on 10/11/2007, -4/+14How is this any different than the sex slavery that occurs today throughout the world?

    Slavery is thriving in our world, and the most visible kind to a Western is sex slavery in brothels. Don't ever think this article represents something from the past. It exists in the here and now.

    I was a Peace Corps volunteer, and a non-profit once took me on a tour. I visited a village where 90 percent of the families had sold a kid into slavery because they couldn't feed the kid. The institution isn't analgous to American's conceptions of slavery and that's why it flies under the radar. I usually paid village kids to do chores for me, and my friends would always criticize me for overpaying and suggested I buy a "domestique" for 8 bucks a month to do all my house work. You can literally buy a child at the market.
    • poornbroken, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4see, it is different because in your case, there was SOME sort of remorse, some sort of need. in the case of the rape of nanjing, there really was no need. was there really a need to brutally rape a pregnant woman, then kill her? how about an elderly woman?

      in your experiences, those people made a CHOICE. (even though it was between 2 bad choices.) in a rape, choice is taken away from you.
    • lieutenantmudd, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Well yeah, but what's the "reason" behind having Eastern European chicks as sex slaves in West Europe? I combined two lines of thought, the first being that sex slavery is thriving and second that slavery in general is thriving.

      Sure, Nanjing was a meaningless crime, but imprisoning women to work as whores for Japanese soldier has plenty of "reason." Money. Imprisoning women is easier than hiring prostitutes. Same thing in Britain, and America and throughout the West today.
  • ChuckNorrisMan, on 10/11/2007, -19/+5It's too bad we never dropped a nuclear bomb on this horrid country.
    • gonpost, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4Erm...here sir, you forgot your sarcasm tag /sarcasm
    • Cruelapollo, on 10/11/2007, -6/+3Right, because a nuclear bomb was enough to make up for their war crimes against China and bordering countries. They don't need to apologize at all for the genocide of 10,000,000+ Chinese.
  • xcursedx, on 10/11/2007, -14/+1what do you mean "new" this the use of sex slaves is well known, japans gov't doesn't even deny it. they just don't want to talk about .

    And the fact that a country found it ok to use it's own citizens as sex slaves is appalling. not to mention that japan finds the dismemberment of children an erotic act worht making movies and cartoons featuring, but you've got to blur out genitals. Oh and racism is rampant and socially acceptable. got to love it.

    but all this adds to my fascination with the country.

    (sarcasm) pics or it's fake (/sarcasm)


    yours truly, - Tubgirl

    lol j/k
  • jerryparid, on 10/11/2007, -8/+9This is just as bad as Holocaust deniers.
  • eezzzz, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2I'm going to protest this with a severed canine cranium!
  • origclubsoda, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6This is common knowledge.
  • HabboX, on 10/11/2007, -2/+14The article says, "...the Japanese government has investigated its wartime activities in Indonesia thoroughly and acknowledges and apologises for the country's wartime use of sex slaves."

    So what value is "New Proof?"
    • gbdc, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1@habbox
      "...the Japanese government has .....acknowledges and apologises "
      "So what value is "New Proof?"

      The problem is that the so-called Japanese PM's "apology" (1) was carefully worded to avoid admission responsibility, (2) was directed to Bush, instead of actual victims, (3) does not carry actual weight of Japanese parliament as it was not some declaration or legal bills, but only verbal statements, (4) do not mention any corresponding action items or such intentions, (5) timing raises (high) suspcision that he only wants to avoid US parliament vote on condemning Japanese government over non-repentance of its military's sex slavery

      I hope you will understand Jap PM Abe's words were mere statements of sympathy, not apology with admission of guilt.

      Also, I hope that you will understand the reall _current_ issue is denial of Japanese government than the actual event 60 years ago. Unless Japan admits it, it'll only become increasingly isolated, just as Germany would have been had it still denied holocaust.
  • dgh1973, on 10/11/2007, -8/+4"""
    The Japanese govt should acknowledge this fact, pay reparations, issue an apology and move on.
    """

    Total D-day allied casualties check in at about 10,000 soldiers.
    Total Vietnam casualties check in at about 60,000 soldiers.

    Total casualties in Hiroshima check in at about 140,000 innocent civilians.

    They've paid their reparations and then some with the blood of their women and children... you arrogant ass clowns.

    How quickly we forget what WE are guilty of.
    • Urusai, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9So...because we nuked Japan, they get a pass on systematic rape? Where can I sign up for your ethics course?
    • Wargalas, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4This isn't about what WE are guilty of. It's about what the Japanese are guilty of. Take your anti-American ***** way of thinking somewhere else.
    • emjaymj, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Why isn't this about what the USA is guilty of? Just because you say so? Plugging your ears and shouting LALALALALA doesn't change the facts. As bad as the rapes were, throughout history this has more often been common practice than not. I'm not trying to excuse it, but the nuclear bombing was overall much worse. It's beyond hypocritical to be vehemently angry at the attrocities commited by a nation while at the same time turning a blind eye to your own country's attrocities which were even worse. If you fundamentally care about the value of a human life, both events should anger you, regardless of whose side you're supposed to be on.
    • Wargalas, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Because the story is about Japanese sex slaves. Why does every story, regardless of subject, have to be anti-American/anti-Bush with you people? moron.
    • edebolt, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0The imperial japanese army killed over 20 million people and plundered the assets of Asia. When you see the figures of the property that was seized it was property that was stolen by the japanese. The Germans accumulated nowhere near as many assets as the Japanese.

      The US dropping of the Atomic bombs likely saved Japan from tremendous loss of life from the impending land invasions from the US and Russia. Yes Russia seeing that Japan was weakened declared war on Japan and was planning to invade and take some or all just like they did in Germany.

      So one way or another Japan was going to be conquered and the Atomic bomb likely saved huge losses to Japanese who had been brainwashed for every man, woman and child to fight to the death for the Japanese Emperor (diety)
  • misfit410, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10they kind of paid for thier WW2 warcrimes and then some.. it was messed up, Japan has come a long way since then.. move on.

    "How quickly we forget what WE are guilty of."
    We took thousands of lives, and saved millions by doing so, we are guilty of nothing but using drastic measures to end a war.
    It's a shame it had to go there, and all we can do is pray it never has to again.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3How have they paid for it? Germany has Holocaust memorials. Japan has a shrine where they worship their war criminals. They paid for it and then some? Give me a ***** break. In China alone they killed 6 million. The death from the Rape of Nanking is greater than the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki COMBINED. That's just one of the cities they conquered.
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3@Comatose51

      have you actually done research on yasukuni? no i dont think so. read my reply at the bottom.

      and there already is a memorial, its in china.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3OK, imagine a shrine in Germany to their soldiers. That's cool. No one has a problem. Now throw in Hitler, Goering, and Himmler. That's a problem. Most people, myself included, don't have a problem with the rest of the soldiers honored. It is the 14 class A war crimes criminal that upsets people. It's basically saying that Japan doesn't condemn these people and are honoring them along with the rest of her soldiers instead.
  • kevinchai, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1Why didn't they just masturbate? It's unromantic enough to have to have "slaves."
  • iStunT, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1Like we needed proof in the first place haha.
  • dgh1973, on 10/11/2007, -5/+4"""
    We took thousands of lives, and saved millions by doing so, we are guilty of nothing but using drastic measures to end a war.
    """

    Please, millions of lives where... in the Philippines? In the practically uninhabited islands in the pacific we were fighting them on? Hawaii?

    People are always so quick to use the "kill thousands to save millions" line. It's that same line of thinking that gives us the patriot act and dictators, taking extreme action now to prevent what may or may not happen in the future. That line of thinking is a last ditch effort to offset blame and guilt, or is simply an excuse to abuse power. Get real.
    • Wargalas, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4He's talking about ground forces with a full scale invasion of Japan. If you read books, they tend to tell you things like thousands of people were dying left and right and the consensus was a full scale invasion could have hundreds of thousands of dead on OUR SIDE ALONE. So take your holier then thou attitude and shove it up your ass.
    • JoshChan, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3are you plain stupid or what. Do you have the faintest of the estimated casualty figures on both sizes if a full scale land assault happened in Japanese homeland? Are you trying to tell me with the atomic bomb in the US arsenal, the military should still hold it to save the hundreds of thousands of US soldiers and perhaps millions of Japanese civilians' lives and perhaps billions of war budget just because it may kill many enemies' civilian but no way as much as how much would have died with the abomb?
  • vonskippy, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Shocked I tell you, just shocked.

    You mean bad things happen in a war? Go Figure.

    Will the next dead horse please step forward for it's beating.
    • concertina, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2It's truly not a dead horse, because prominent conservative Japanese politicians, including the prime minister, have been stirring up the pot, trying to set aside past official government apologies and claiming that all of the comfort women were paid prostitutes. And they have been getting louder. All for the sake of politics.

      It's amazing - and disgusting - to see depths to which people can descend. This behavior is every bit as bad as holocaust denial, and needs to be addressed appropriately.
  • DAVIBE, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1who are exactly the Eurasian community?
  • dgh1973, on 10/11/2007, -3/+5"""
    They don't need to apologize at all for the genocide of 10,000,000+ Chinese.
    """

    Right, just like the Chinese don't need to apologize for killing millions of pacifistic Buddhists.

    Are you starting to get it now? The scale of suffering the world has? This is a drop in a bucket and is not even newsworthy compared to various atrocities various countries are guilty of.

    Sex slaves.... oooh shocker.
  • OGROK, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1Japan should have been utterly annihilated after WW2. This isn't even the worst of it -- look up Unit 731. They were grabbing people off the streets and testing biological weapons on them.
  • xSEED, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3the us also had slaves. they never paid no such thing why should the superior nation of japan do so?
    • emjaymj, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Whats possibly a bit ironic is that the only reparations the US has ever paid to any group is to their Japanese citizens for their systematic imprisonment during WW2.
  • GonzoLiga, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Breaking news, everybody!

    Dugg up!!!!111!1!1

    /sheesh
  • p0tempkin, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3Sex in Japanese culture has always been a topic of debate. Studies have shown that Japanese men are some of the least (if not the least) sexually satisfied men in the world. That's why their culture has bred such oddities as tentacle porn, vending machines that dispense panties, and TV shows that make sport out of sexual conquest.

    When confronted with the freedoms that waging war gave them, I'm not surprised at all that sex slaves were the norm.

    But a lot of horrible things happened in WWII. Japan learned a hard lesson during the war and they are a much stronger country because of it.
  • tls29, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1This is, and has been a well known fact. Japanese Militaristic culture dictates that soldiers and civilians should die while fighting for their land, and honor.
    This is why so many Japanese killed themselves rather than be POWs, and also why they mistreated our POWs. In fact, they often beheaded American Pilots, and practiced cannibalism in the pacific. I recommend the book "Flyboys: A True Story of Courage" by James Bradley, a nonfiction about shot-down Army Air Corps pilots.
    I find the instinct to blame America first rather disgusting, and am saddened by the huge amount of self hatred so many posses. Asia has its share of problems. You think that Mao was nice when he took over China? You think he didn't kill millions of people? And Pol Pot, the Khamer Rouge in Cambodia? North Vietnam massacreing South Vietnamese? The Japanese using Chemical and biological weapons on the Chinese, because the Chinese are an inferior race, with the results of 10's of millions of chinese dying?
    Yeah. It's America's fault. Boo-Hoo. We dropped the atom bomb (s). The Japanese were such a peace loving people.
  • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -3/+6jesus christ, just how many more times does japan have to apologize?

    shinzo abe recently apologized, maybe a couple of weeks ago. what, wouldnt that make it the 33rd time or something?

    is the old japanese government the only one to blame? seems like the U.S. troops also used the "comfort women" after WWII...
    http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/25/comfort.women.ap/index.html

    there is also proof that some of the korean "slaves" were recruited, and were paid well, more than a japanese imperial soldier.
    http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=527
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2I don't know... maybe they can start apologizing by taking down their shrine to their war criminal generals and build something akin to the Holocaust memorial? Let's start there and then we can talk about apologies.
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3uhh, where did you get the idea that the yasukuni jinja was specifically made for the A-rank war criminals?

      there are 14 war criminals enshrined there. BUT

      thats out of the 2,466,532 other people that are enshrined there. that number includes 27,863 taiwanese and 21,181 koreans who fought for the country.. and its not just people that fought in WWII but in wars that happened in japan, BEFORE WWII.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2OK remove those 14. Simple enough. No one has a problem with the rest.
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4the japanese government cant force the shrine to do that due to seperation of church and state.

      there have been talks of several ways to "remove" the souls from the shrines but it goes against one of the ideas of shintoism.
    • Comatose51, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3@kazuhima: The separation of church and state angle is something I have admittedly never considered and if that's the case, then that's legit. That said, however, it is unnecessary and simply hurtful to the vicitms for a Japanese Prime Minister to go visit it. You can't apologize on one hand and then go do something like that on the other and expect the victims to believe your apologies. Abe has apologized and hasn't visited so that's a start. If the government is consistent in that then people will over time believe the apologies to be real and everyone can move on.
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2i'm not too sure how and why the PM is allowed to visit the shrine even though he is part of the government. im not too sure how the whole seperation of church and state works with people in japan..

      i don't know much about the other PM's visiting the shrine in the past. at first, i was against koizumi visiting the shrine. when koizumi visited the shrine in 2006, i heard him say on tv in japan that he prayed at the shrine to pay respects for all the dead that served the country in the past. when the media said that he was emotionally tied to the shrine because his father owned an airstrip in kyuushuu, which was used for the pilots that flew down to okinawa, i felt that his reasoning for visitng the shrine was alright.

      if abe shinzo visits the shrine, i will be totally against it. i believe that his reason for visiting the shrine would be for a nationalistic cause. i also heard that his father fought in manchuria against the chinese...
    • crimsonalucard, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4In Germany students have to witness the evils of the holocaust first hand before they graduate. It's pretty much recognized as a tainted part of their history. They feel shame and it is truly an insult to refer to a German person as a Nazi. This is why they have my respect... they have the balls to fess up to a great crime and for that they are forgiven.

      Now why haven't the Chinese forgiven the Japanese? Come on! some government official apologized like 33 times for the slaughter in china already... 33 TIMES!

      To be honest it's not the apology. It's the attitude. Do they truly regret what they did? Do they honestly care? What's the attitude I see in Japanese people today? The rape is censored from their books, they have some knowledge of it, most people blame it on their ancestors saying it has nothing to do with them. It seems as if the Japanese shrugged it off. Really on a certain level, every Chinese person knows that the Japanese aren't truly sorry.
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3@crimsonalucard

      its not one government official, but MANY.

      its not censored, the rape is written in the textbooks. they just dont go into much details.
      just like how textbooks here in america dont necessarily go into the specific details about how the government practically killed the american indian tribes.

      another factor about why some might blame it on the ancestors is because it didnt happen in the homeland but in china. im sure that a lot of the civilians living in japan during those times didnt know it even happened..

      oh, and dont generalize that all japanese people don't regret what happened in the past.
    • aceg1357, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3 Comatose51
      "OK remove those 14. Simple enough. No one has a problem with the rest."

      Good solution but impossible. The "spirits" of the people are there and priests have no ritual to get the "spirits" out. The Japanese who go there to visit don't go there to pay respect to those 14 class A war criminals. They go there for their own family ancestors or for general appreciation of the soldiers that have given their lives to Japan over the ages. There is nothing sinister about their intent. Let them pay respect to their war dead the way they seem fit.

      Anyways no matter how many times Japan apologizes, and they have apologized countless times, for something over 60 years ago, China and Korea will never accept it due to their own internal nationalistic reasons. They have too much invested in hating Japan and creating nationalistic sentiment.
  • importpsycho, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0shrine for taiwanese and koreans ?
    i'm shocked
    which war are you talking about?
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2sorry, my wording must've caused a misunderstanding.

      good number of koreans and taiwanese fought for the imperial army during WWII. because they fought for the country, they were enshrined at yasukuni jinja.
  • Boing, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2Why new proof? Are there people actually arguing that this didn't happen?
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 10/11/2007, -3/+21 politician in Japan denies it. That's about it.
    • crimsonalucard, on 10/11/2007, -2/+31 politician denies it....

      And the rest of japanese population walks around kind of aware that a rape of nanking probably happend in the past. There's some controversey, but it's probably true... best not think about it or even care.

      Germany on the other hand requires all students to visit gas chambers before graduation. Nothing is censored nothing is controversial. They have the balls to bare their shame.

      See the difference?
    • kazuhima, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1you do realize that the rape of nanking happened out of the country?

      the holocaust occured in germany. a good number civilians knew what was going on. many just either ignored it( some even looted the items that the Jews left when they were moved out) or they just didnt say it out of the fear of getting killed by the Nazis.

      thats the difference.
    • crimsonalucard, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1You realize that even people outside of Germany know what the holocaust is..
  • LoJack, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Sure, just quietly give 'em some money, but tell Japanese children that it never happened:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/13/listening_post/main687759.shtml
    You can't turn on TV without the Holocaust being mentioned every other day. Did you see the atrocities committed by Japan ever being detailed? They've done a superb job of covering it up. Congratulations!
  • aceg1357, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2What Japan did was horrible but half the blame goes to the countries' people that sold their women into prostitution to the Japanese. In most cases they were sold to Japan as slave prostitutes. The same countries that complain about Japan, China and Korea, are the very ones that sold their women to them. More than hypocritical.
  • Teelar, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0The Japanese really do it up right. (Really.)
  • fullback, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Of course war turns men into animals. No one I know in Japan (and I've lived in Japan for over 15 years) denies that atrocities happened. The extent of complicity by the government, or those who took it upon themselves, to events 65 years ago may never be fully known. Unfortunately, bringing this up with screams that it's new information is just sensationalizing for the uninformed, by the uninformed.

    Not many outside Japan are taught that the entire post-war occupation had to be halted. A complete stand down was ordered by MacArthur and all commanders from throughout occupied Japan were ordered to travel to Tokyo. The incidents of murder, rape, robbery and looting by US troops was so widespread that MacArthur and his staff were fearful of open, armed rebellion or guerrilla action against US troops. Word of it leaking back to the US would have been a public relations nightmare. The original documents from GHQ are available to the public to view now.

    US troops used the same brothels under the implicit consent of GHQ after the war. Where is the US apology and compensation? MacArthur, again, stopped it after word started to leak back the US that tens of thousands of GIs were sick with syphilis and gonorrhea.

    Do we all wish it didn't happen? Of course. The true horrors of war are never known but by those who have experienced it. Neither Digg, nor blogs will change the past.
  • Dohko_Xar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1So I guess the theory about Digg and sex related articles is right...
  • viviwanu, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Mild-mannered on the outside, cruel and violent on the inside. For the war crimes they committed during WII to the entire Asia, two atomic bombs were not enough!
  • peterinjapan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I live in Japan and obviously am influenced by this fact. While I abhor the Japanese tendency to say "it was a long time ago, forget about it" to the things that they did in Asia yet vow never to forget Hiroshima, the fact remains that institutionalized education about the "horrors" the Japanese reigned down on China and Korea is part of their respective cultures, like UFOs and zany ideas about guns being a god-given right is part of ours.

    I am sure that there was sex slavery. I am also sure that this isn't the whole story. For example, how many of these prostitutes was sold or given to the army by parents who disliked having a female daughter, or who were in some way collaborating with the Japanese? (Many, many Koreans worked with the Japanese army, and it's forbidden to talk of this today, their version of P.C.)

    One theory I have is that the Japanese, being a "young" nation like Germany, was filled with great respect with the nations of Europe, especially England, which they have always felt a special affinity for, being an island nation of similar size. They wanted an empire, just like every other country in the world had, even the U.S. thanks to Spain being such a pansy in the Spanish-American War. That they got way, way carried away with their own superiority and treated the other Asians in terrible ways is very bad. But did the British, the French, the Russians, the Americans, the Prussians, never do anything like this?

    Another theory I have is that part of the reason there's so much hatred of Japan today (other than the "hey, I can get votes by saying this stuff, wow" factor) is, Japan tried to eradicate the languags of the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan and Manchuria. Note to future generations, if you really want to make an enemy, try eliminating their language. Ask the Irish how they feel about having Gaelic replaced violently with English.

    http://www.peterpayne.net
  •  

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