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Japanese Newspaper Prints Apology for Using the Term ‘Sex Slaves’ Japanese Newspaper Prints Apology for Using the Term ‘Sex Slaves’
(about 5 hours later)
TOKYO — For months, The Yomiuri Shimbun, the conservative Japanese newspaper that is the largest-circulation daily here, has castigated its liberal archrival over mistakes in its reporting on sexual abuses by the Japanese military during World War II. TOKYO — The Yomiuri Shimbun, the conservative newspaper that is the largest-circulation daily in Japan, has apologized for using the term “sex slaves” to refer to the women many historians say were coerced into working in a sprawling network of brothels supervised by the Japanese military during World War II.
The rival, The Asahi Shimbun, wrote stories in the 1980s and 1990s about a man who claimed to have kidnapped Korean women during the war and forced them into Japanese military brothels. The man turned out to be lying, and The Asahi’s retraction of those stories in August prompted The Yomiuri to accuse it of an “extremely grave” error that had damaged Japan’s international reputation. In a challenge to the view held by those historians, as well as by the governments of South Korea and China, the newspaper said it was “inappropriate” to suggest that the women — of many nationalities and known euphemistically as comfort women — had been recruited against their will. Writing “as if coercion by the Japanese government or the army was an objective fact” was incorrect, it said.
Now, The Yomiuri has found a new target in its campaign to correct what it sees as unduly negative portrayals of Japan’s wartime behavior: its own English-language edition. The Yomiuri’s apology Friday for the use of the term “sex slave” in its English-language edition came as the newspaper campaigns to correct what it sees as unduly negative portrayals of Japan’s wartime behavior.
On Friday, it issued an apology for the English-language offshoot’s use of the term “sex slaves” to describe women who were recruited to work in the sprawling network of Japanese military-supervised brothels, which served the country’s soldiers and sailors throughout its Asian empire during the war. The Yomiuri has for months castigated its liberal archrival, the Asahi Shimbun, over mistakes in its reporting on sexual abuses by the Japanese military during World War II. The Asahi Shimbun wrote articles in the 1980s and 1990s about a man who claimed to have kidnapped Korean women during the war and forced them into Japanese military brothels. The man turned out to be lying, and The Asahi’s retraction of those stories in August prompted The Yomiuri to accuse it of an “extremely grave” error that had damaged Japan’s international reputation.
In a challenge to the view held by many historians as well as by the governments of South Korea and China, the newspaper said it was “inappropriate” to suggest that the women — of many nationalities and known euphemistically as “comfort women” — had been recruited against their will. Writing “as if coercion by the Japanese government or the army was an objective fact” was incorrect, it said. The debate over wartime history in Japan has intensified with the ascent of Shinzo Abe, the culturally conservative prime minister who regained power in 2012. Mr. Abe has made restoring pride in Japan’s past a central theme of his political career and has shown a willingness to intervene against media outlets that he believes stand in the way of that cause.
The debate over wartime history in Japan has intensified with the ascent of Shinzo Abe, the culturally conservative prime minister who gained power in 2012. Mr. Abe has made restoring pride in Japan’s past a central theme of his political career and has shown a willingness to intervene against media outlets that he believes stand in the way of that cause. He has spoken out against The Asahi’s reporting on the brothels and installed supervisory board members at Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK, whose political views are far to the right of most citizens.
He has spoken out against The Asahi’s reporting on comfort women and installed supervisory-board members at Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK, whose political views are far to the right of most citizens. The Yomiuri’s chairman, Tsuneo Watanabe, is a close associate of Mr. Abe’s, and the paper firmly backs the prime minister. With the apology, it appeared less to be bending with the conservative wind than stoking its power. Critics sensed a political statement disguised as an admission of guilt.
The Yomiuri’s chairman, Tsuneo Watanabe, is a close associate of Mr. Abe, and the paper firmly backs the prime minister. With the apology, it appeared less to be bending with the conservative wind than stoking its power. Critics sensed a political statement disguised as an admission of guilt.
“It’s no mistake to see the Abe administration’s views reflected in the Yomiuri article,” Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, said in a post on Twitter.“It’s no mistake to see the Abe administration’s views reflected in the Yomiuri article,” Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, said in a post on Twitter.
The apology was printed in The Yomiuri’s main Japanese-language edition and by the English-language service, which was previously known as The Daily Yomiuri and is now called The Japan News. “The Japan News apologizes for having used these misleading expressions and will add a note stating that they were inappropriate to all the articles in question in our database,” the newspaper said.The apology was printed in The Yomiuri’s main Japanese-language edition and by the English-language service, which was previously known as The Daily Yomiuri and is now called The Japan News. “The Japan News apologizes for having used these misleading expressions and will add a note stating that they were inappropriate to all the articles in question in our database,” the newspaper said.
The Yomiuri said that it had not used “sex slave” and other similar terms in Japanese-language stories, which simply refer to “comfort women,” but that it had added them to stories in the English-language edition. It did so, it said, because the “expression ‘comfort women’ was difficult to understand for non-Japanese who did not have knowledge of the subject.”The Yomiuri said that it had not used “sex slave” and other similar terms in Japanese-language stories, which simply refer to “comfort women,” but that it had added them to stories in the English-language edition. It did so, it said, because the “expression ‘comfort women’ was difficult to understand for non-Japanese who did not have knowledge of the subject.”
But it said it had erred in its choice of words, using “sex slave” and “other inappropriate expressions” in 97 articles between February 1992 and January 2013.But it said it had erred in its choice of words, using “sex slave” and “other inappropriate expressions” in 97 articles between February 1992 and January 2013.