Passing on the history of ‘comfort women’: the experiences of a women’s museum in Japan

Abstract

This article explores the activities and experiences of a women’s peace museum in Japan which especially tries to pass on the history of Japan’s military sexual slavery, or the ‘comfort women’ issue. The system of Japan’s military sexual slavery had not been written as a part of history until courageous survivors testified and documentary evidence was unearthed in the 1990s. With few material exhibits of sexual violence, testimonies play a significant role in the exhibitions. Panels displaying the testimony of both survivors and former soldiers try to represent the person as a whole, situating sexual enslavement or crimes as part of their overall life, rather than extracting the harsh experience in an isolated way. The concrete and detailed activities of this privately run museum show the challenges faced by museums dealing with the dark history of their own country.

Keywords:

• comfort women
• women's museum
• peace education
• testimony
• violence against women
• colonialism
• Asia-Pacific War

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Zai-nichi (literally ‘in Japan’) is a general term that refers to Korean residents of Japan. Although they retain their Korean citizenship, many zai-nichi families have lived in Japan for generations; in many cases the children do not speak fluent Korean.

2. Matsui (2003).

3. WAM (2005).

4. At the public hearing held in Dili, Timor-Leste, on January 6, 2006.

5. WAM (2006).

6. WAM (2006).

7. Matsui (2003).

8. Nakasone (1978).

9. VAWW-Net Japan, Matsui et al. (2002).

10. Arai and Fujisawa (1999). In 1950, the Japanese prisoners of war in Siberia were handed over to China at Stalin’s suggestion, and of them, 969 POWs were sent to the War Crimes Center in Fushun. Zhou Enlai took command and gave orders that each Japanese POW be treated with respect, given enough food and time to read, and reflect on what he had done. A military tribunal was held in 1956, and under the lenient treatment policy, there was no death penalty; many prisoners were exempted from prosecution, or released before serving their sentence. After returning to Japan, they formed an association to pass down the truth about the war.

11. WAM (2007).

12. WAM (2014).