Politics
Ida Torres on May 21 2013
The official newspaper of the (North) Korean Workers' Party said that Japan needs to make a complete apology and thorough compensation to
North Korea and the other Asian nations which were colonized and affected by Japan's militarism of the past. The editorial came out on the Rodon Sinmun's online edition on Monday, a few days after the visit of a senior Japanese advisor to Pyongyang.
Seems that Osaka Mayor
Toru Hashimoto has a goal of trying to offend almost everyone, as his newest statement will surely cause more controversy. A week after saying that comfort women were "necessary" for the Japanese military during World War II, the outspoken right-wing politician this time said that even the
South Korean soldiers were also using women for sex during the Vietnam War in the 60s and 70s.
It's been 41 years since
Okinawa reverted to Japanese rule, and yet the residents don't feel that they are totally free yet because of the strong US military presence in the prefecture. To commemorate the anniversary last Sunday, around 3,500 people gathered in a park in Ginowan to call for an Okinawa
free of US military bases.
Former Japanese Prime Minister
Tomiichi Murayama, the same prime minister during which the 1995 apology of Japan to countries affected by its invasions and imperialistic conquests in World War II – which now is named after him, the “
1995 Murayama Statement” – has expressed his disagreement and criticism of current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent remarks about the ambiguity of the word “invade”. The current prime minister went on record in April saying about the Murayama statement that, “I will not accept it as it is. The definition of invasion isn't set in stone”.
Toru Hashimoto, the outspoken mayor of Osaka, on Thursday offered to talk to former "comfort women" and apologize for their sufferings brought by the Japanese military in World War II, this after causing an international outrage when the Japanese politician said in an interview they served a "necessary" role in wartime. Hashimoto’s comments had prompted angry reactions from China, South Korea and the Philippines for saying that soldiers in WWII needed some way to “let off steam”, which was the specific role of the
comfort women system.
National Politics
John Hofilena on May 15 2013
A
Chinese two-star general has said out in public what would probably be the next level on the ongoing territorial dispute between Japan and China – that Okinawa does not belong to Japan. Luo Yuan, a general in the People's Liberation Army, has said that Japan has no rightful claim on sovereignty over the Ryukyu island chain – of which
Okinawa is a part of – because the ancient leaders of the territory had started paying tribute to China 500 years or so before they had done so to Japan.
Official spokespersons from
China and
South Korea have made their countries’ anger and indignation known over Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s comments regarding “comfort women” in World War II. The Japanese politician was referring to the multitude of women forced to become sex slaves by the invading Japanese army, saying that
the system was justifiable under wartime circumstances. China and South Korea – nations with which Japan already has a tenuous relationship with – have voiced out their indignation over the comments.
Instead of a lavish, big-budget, war film production, Filipino director Adolfo Alix Jr, chose to direct
Death March in black-and-white and film it almost entirely in a studio with hand-painted backdrops and close-up of the actors' painted faces. The film, about the infamous
Bataan Death March where thousands of Filipino and American soldiers during World War II, is competing in the art house and experimental film category at the Cannes International Film Festival.
The Japanese government's top spokesman and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga refused to directly comment on the recent controversy involving Osaka Mayor
Toru Hashimoto who said that "comfort women" were "necessary" for the Japanese soldiers during World War II. Instead Suga said that the government's position towards this issue is that it shares the views held by past governments.
The first documentation of Japanese people crossing the Pacific Ocean has been discovered by researchers amongst the Inquisition records in the General Archives of the Nation in
Mexico. Three names were found in the document, not written in Japanese but with the word "xapon" (Japan) written after their names.
