Japan seeks change in "comfort women" descriptions in U.S. textbook | GlobalPost
Japan seeks change in "comfort women" descriptions in U.S. textbook
(Globalpost/GlobalPost)
Japan has asked a U.S. publishing firm to change descriptions in its world history textbook about women who were forced to work in wartime Japanese military brothels, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Tuesday.
Kishida was referring to the textbook entitled "Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past," written by historians Jerry Bentley and Hebert Ziegler, and published by the New York-based McGraw-Hill Companies.
"The Japanese army forcibly recruited, conscripted, and dragooned as many as two hundred thousand women age fourteen to twenty to serve in military brothels, called 'comfort houses,'" the textbook says in its fourth edition.
The Foreign Ministry said the portion of the textbook in question was not in line with the Japanese government's position, but declined to say in detail which expression in the book it found inappropriate.
A 1993 statement issued by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged for the first time the Japanese military's involvement in setting up "comfort stations" and the use of coercion in recruiting women to provide sex to Japanese soldiers before and during World War II.
But the government has not recognized the existence of direct evidence showing the women were forcibly rounded up and taken away to comfort stations.
After the ministry was informed about the textbook, the ministry instructed the Japanese Consulate General in New York on Nov. 7 to ask McGraw-Hill to "correct" the depiction of those women, who are euphemistically called "comfort women" in Japan.
The publisher is now making arrangements for a meeting between the consulate staff and people involved in the textbook. During the meeting, Japan plans to make a formal request for a change, according to the ministry.
The ministry is also taking issue with the textbook's use of the "East Sea" along with the Sea of Japan to describe the body of water between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula. South Korea prefers the East Sea for its name.
With the textbook being used at public high schools in Los Angeles and other areas, the ministry plans to look into how many schools and states are using this textbook in the United States.
Japan seeks change in "comfort women" descriptions in U.S. textbook
(Globalpost/GlobalPost)
Japan has asked a U.S. publishing firm to change descriptions in its world history textbook about women who were forced to work in wartime Japanese military brothels, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Tuesday.
Kishida was referring to the textbook entitled "Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past," written by historians Jerry Bentley and Hebert Ziegler, and published by the New York-based McGraw-Hill Companies.
"The Japanese army forcibly recruited, conscripted, and dragooned as many as two hundred thousand women age fourteen to twenty to serve in military brothels, called 'comfort houses,'" the textbook says in its fourth edition.
The Foreign Ministry said the portion of the textbook in question was not in line with the Japanese government's position, but declined to say in detail which expression in the book it found inappropriate.
A 1993 statement issued by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono acknowledged for the first time the Japanese military's involvement in setting up "comfort stations" and the use of coercion in recruiting women to provide sex to Japanese soldiers before and during World War II.
But the government has not recognized the existence of direct evidence showing the women were forcibly rounded up and taken away to comfort stations.
After the ministry was informed about the textbook, the ministry instructed the Japanese Consulate General in New York on Nov. 7 to ask McGraw-Hill to "correct" the depiction of those women, who are euphemistically called "comfort women" in Japan.
The publisher is now making arrangements for a meeting between the consulate staff and people involved in the textbook. During the meeting, Japan plans to make a formal request for a change, according to the ministry.
The ministry is also taking issue with the textbook's use of the "East Sea" along with the Sea of Japan to describe the body of water between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean Peninsula. South Korea prefers the East Sea for its name.
With the textbook being used at public high schools in Los Angeles and other areas, the ministry plans to look into how many schools and states are using this textbook in the United States.
