 "Photo: kantei.go.jp")
During World War II, young Asian women were kidnapped and brought into bonded sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers. The numbers were astronomical; over 200,000 girls from many different countries including the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and mostly Korea were forced into such roles. These women are not nameless faces. They are daughters, sisters and friends who unfortunately became known as "comfort women" for Japanese soldiers.
Japan's current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make his first visit to the United States to meet with President Bush soon. As a result of his impending visit and a disturbing recent statement about comfort women, there will be a "Five College March of Solidarity with Comfort Women" tomorrow, April 27 at 12 p.m. The march will begin at UMass' Haigis Mall and end at Smith College.
In 1993 Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono made a statement indicating that the Japanese government was going to admit their involvement in the "comfort stations" and also admit to the evidence of Japan's coercion. Recently, on March 1, 2007, Japan's current Prime Minister Abe made a formal statement denying coercion. This is believed to be the beginning of backing out on the promise to accept the history of comfort women and further educate the country on this unsavory piece of its history to avoid having something as awful as this to happen again.
Congressional Representative Mike Honda recently introduced House Resolution 121. This resolution expresses that the government of Japan needs to formally acknowledge and accept responsibility of its sexual enslavement of comfort women during their occupation in Asia in the first half of the 20th century. There have been previous attempts at similar efforts which were blocked due to belief that this may cause problems with the United States' relations with Tokyo.
Students, faculty and all those would like to get involved and make their voices known are encouraged to join the Five College march. During the march there will be a petition circling in support of House Resolution 121 that will be sent to members of the House of Representatives.
During Prime Minister Abe's visit to the U.S. there will be multiple marches for the same effort across the country. Stephan Figura - the person in charge of the local march - has helped organize another march today in Berkley, Calif. The purpose of these marches is to show solidarity with the women who were forced into sexual slavery during WWII. There is also a desire by organizers and intended marchers to have President Bush, Congress, and Prime Minister Abe recognize this demonstration as a bold statement that the public will not allow the government to condone state-orchestrated and institutionalized rape.
Every one of these "comfort women" was someone's daughter, friend or sister. Some may have survived while others were lost. This Friday, April 27 is a chance for those in the Pioneer Valley to show support for them regardless.
Kerri DeMello can be reached at kademell@student.umass.edu.
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