Global scholars rebuke Abe over comfort women stance

An international group of scholars has rebuked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his view of history by publishing an open letter on the forced prostitution of "comfort women" during the second world war.

The letter, signed by 187 historians, calls on Japan's government to "show leadership by addressing Japan's history of colonial rule and wartime aggression in both words and action" on the 70th anniversary of the war's end this year.

It comes after a visit to the US last week in which Mr Abe spoke emotionally about America's wartime losses but skimmed over controversial historical issues such as the comfort women.

The letter shows unease among international scholars about the direction of Japan's historical debate. Revisionists have grown increasingly assertive, using last year's retraction of a series of decades-old stories about comfort women by the left-of-centre Asahi newspaper to undermine the credibility of the whole episode in history.

It is a reminder to Mr Abe that despite the broad success of his US trip, he is not safe from western criticism over his record on historical memory, which could damage Japan's crucial US alliance.

"We intentionally withheld issuing the statement until Prime Minister Abe had returned to Japan," said Alexis Dudden, professor of history at the University of Connecticut. She said the group had waited to see if the prime minister "said what needed to be said".

The large number of signatories - including prominent names such as John Dower of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ezra Vogel of Harvard - shows the broad academic consensus that Japan's military did run a system of forced prostitution during the war.

Rightwingers in Japan, including many members of Mr Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic party, dispute that history. They often argue that comfort women were not forced into prostitution, that the military was not involved, or that estimates of their numbers are inflated.

The letter decries the exploitation of former "comfort women" by nationalists in China and South Korea but it is blunt about the historical record.

It says the comfort women system "was distinguished by its large-scale and systematic management under the military, and by its exploitation of young, poor and vulnerable women in areas colonised or occupied by Japan".

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Disputes about wartime history have damaged relations between Japan and its neighbours. The region is watching Mr Abe's statement on the 70th anniversary of the war's end, due in August, for any sign he is watering down past apologies for Japan's "colonial rule and aggression".

Jeff Kingston, a signatory and professor of history at Temple University Japan, said the clear target of the letter was "the apparent evasiveness of Prime Minister Abe regarding the comfort women issue".

In a speech to Congress on his US tour, Mr Abe said he upheld past statements by Japanese governments, which include a 1993 declaration on "comfort women". But Mr Kingston said this approach, combined with the approval of school textbooks playing down the issue, was not sufficient.

"The outsourcing of the apology and acknowledgment to former politicians lacks empathy and sincerity," said Mr Kingston.

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