US slams Japan mayor’s ‘comfort women’ remarks
The United States on Thursday denounced as “outrageous” comments by an outspoken Japanese mayor who said “comfort women” forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity.
The United States on Thursday denounced as “outrageous” comments by an outspoken Japanese mayor who said “comfort women” forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity.
The maverick mayor of Osaka on Thursday offered to meet former “comfort women” to apologize for their suffering after causing an international storm when he said they served a “necessary” role in wartime.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday reminded Japanese officials to be careful in commenting about “comfort women” as the issue of wartime sexual abuse continues to rankle in the Philippines.
A lawyer for Filipino comfort women in World War II on Wednesday slammed Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto for his “crass” and “obscene” statement that the sexual service they provided for the Japanese soldiers was “necessary” to keep them in check.
An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military’s forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to “maintain discipline” in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle.
Two US lawmakers on Wednesday warned Prime Minister Shinzo Abe not to revise Japan’s apology over sexual enslavement in World War II, saying the move would set back relations between the allies.
South Korean prosecutors Friday brought charges against a Chinese man accused of hurling petrol bombs at the Japanese embassy in Seoul because his grandmother was forced into wartime sex slavery.
