Imperial Japan

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Imperial Japans System of Military Sexual Slavery
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Imperial Japans System of Military Sexual Slavery
Edmonton ALPHA Association for Learning and
Preserving the History of WWII in Asia
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The Comfort Women Issue
DEC 1937 JAN 1938 As the Rape of Nanking hit
foreign newspapers the Japanese military
instituted Comfort stations to hide the
actions of their soldiers.

• The Japanese military kidnapped women from Korea,
  China and other countries and forced them into
  prostitution.

• Only about 30 of the 200,000 women forced into
  this form of sexual slavery survived this
  ordeal.

A poster stating the location of a Comfort
House for Japanese soldiers
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The Comfort Women Issue

• Today in Korea there are fewer than 100 comfort
  woman survivors.

• No one knows how many comfort women survivors
  are still living in China.

A poster stating the location of a Comfort
House for Japanese soldiers
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Japans Extensive System of Military Sexual
Slavery
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Comfort House (1938-45) formerly a familys
home in Shanghai
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A Comfort Womans room
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As a child, Dr. CHEN lived in this house before
Japan turned it into a Rape House.
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Day after day, the heavy tread of soldiers boots
could be heard upon these narrow stairs heard by
the young women confined to Japans system of
sexual slavery
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COMFORT STATION
I climb the narrow stairway, as so many men
before meI touch the cold, hard wall and in an
instant I feel . . . , I hear . . . , I see . .
.
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COMFORT STATION
COMFORT STATION
I feel myself shaking, ripping, my knees
ready to give out.
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COMFORT STATION
There is no comfort here. Thank God
for the
people around me to catch me if I
fall. Greg van Vugt 2008 Study Tour
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Meeting a survivor of military sexual slavery
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Madam Tan receives a knitted shawl from her
Canadian friends.
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Koreas Halmoni the Grandmas
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Koreas House of Sharing Museum of Sexual
Slavery by Japanese Military
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Koreas House of Sharing Museum of Sexual
Slavery by Japanese Military
Unblossomed Flower by Young-suk Yoon
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Koreas House of Sharing Museum of Sexual
Slavery by Japanese Military
Ontario mother Judy Cho translates the curators
remarks for her Canadian colleagues
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Koreas House of Sharing Museum of Sexual
Slavery by Japanese Military
Grandma KIL Won-Ok
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Koreas House of Sharing Museum of Sexual
Slavery by Japanese Military
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Canadian Teachers join the
Wednesday Noon Demonstration in
front of the Japanese Embassy JULY 2008 Seoul,
Korea
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Survivors Demands

• Acknowledge the war crime
• Officially apologize
• Accurately portray the history in textbooks

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Canada Responds
2007
November 28
Members of parliament consider MOTION 291. The
motion asks the Japanese Diet to 1)
acknowledge the history of Comfort Women and
2) make a formal and sincere apology. The motion
is passed unanimously.
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The World Responds 2007-08

• European Parliament
• U.S. Congress
• Korean Parliament
• Taiwanese Parliament
• Philippine House of Representatives
• Dutch Parliament
• all these legislatures unanimously passed
  resolutions calling on Japan to recognize its
  moral obligation to those enslaved in its system
  of Military Sexual Slavery

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And in Japan (2008)

• 28 March Takarazuka City Council in Osaka passed
  a resolution on calling on the Government of
  Japan to address the issue of the comfort women
  system.
• 25 June Kiyose City Council in Tokyo followed
  suit.
• 7 November Sapporo City Council, Hokkaido,
  passed a similar resolution.

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These resolutions are a call for action from the
Japanese government. The Japanese government
should recognize that the world will not forget
the abuses inflicted by the comfort women
system and apologize for its actions now...
Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director, Amnesty
International
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