San Francisco formally adopted a resolution Tuesday calling for the city to build a memorial to commemorate the “comfort women” who were forced to provide sex at Japanese military brothels before and during World War II. To read the article, click on: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/23/national/politics-diplomacy/san-francisco-unanimously-adopts-measure-to-build-comfort-women-memorial/#.V-xssySdw_g

An appellant court ruling on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against the city of Glendale demanding the removal of a memorial statue in Glendale dedicated to as many as 200,000 women from Korea and other countries forced into sex slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II. To read the article, click on:  http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-me-comfort-women-20160804-story.html

Twelve South Korean victims of wartime sexual slavery say they will take their government to court over its agreement with Japan last year intended to end the bitter historical dispute. To read article, click on: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-30/seoul-to-face-lawsuit-over-comfort-women-agreement/7799842

The following excerpts came from the statement released on 12/28/2015 from six South Korean organizations leading the effort on seeking justice for former Korean comfort women.  The six organizations are House of Sharing, The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery, Namhae Women’s Association, Daegu Citizen Forum for Halmuni, Masan-Changwon-Jinhae Citizen Forum for Japanese “Comfort Women,” and Tongyeong-Goeje Citizen Forum for Japanese “Comfort Women.”

“Although the Japanese government announced that it ‘feels [its] responsibilities,’ the statement lacks the acknowledgment of the fact that the colonial government and its military had committed a systematic crime.  The government had not just been simply involved but actively initiated the activities which were criminal and illegal.”

“It appears that Japan will pass the future responsibilities on to the government of the victims’ country after simply paying off the money.  Also, it is notable that the Agreement did not specify anything on preventative initiatives such as truth seeking and history education.”

“The Korean government’s attitude towards this Agreement, which is vague and incomplete, is rather shocking.  The Korean government promised that it will seek a resolution for the matter of the Peace Monument in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in order to maintain the dignity of the Embassy, and will limit its criticism against Japanese government internationally.  This is a diplomatic humiliation.”

“The Korean government accepted the Japanese government’s absurd condition on the Agreement which demanded the removal of the Peace Monument.  Moreover, the attitude of the former which declared that it will not even mention the military sexual slavery issue in the future is shameful and disappointing.”

“The Peace Monument cannot be a condition or means for any Agreement.  It is a public property and a historic symbol representing the peaceful spirit of the Wednesday Demonstrations, which have been continued by the survivors and the citizens for over a thousand Wednesdays.”

“All these years, the survivors, supporting civil society organizations and citizens demanded that Japanese government acknowledge its national, legal responsibilities clearly and commit to due diligence in order to recover dignity and human rights of the survivors and prevent any such tragedy in the future.  However, the Agreement today is only a diplomatic collusion which betrays the demands from all.”

Tamaki Matsuoka, a Japanese elementary school history teacher who during the last 28 years has tried to find out just exactly what happened in Nanking during the Nanking Massacre (December 1937 – January 1938).   During this process, she has become a journalist, researcher, and activist.  She interviewed more than 250 former Japanese soldiers who fought in Nanking during that period, and over 300 Nanking Massacre Chinese survivors.  She has traveled between Japan and China more than 90 times during this period.

She has written numerous articles and several documentary films, including the award-winning documentary film Torn Memories of Nanjing.  She has also published several books, in Japanese, Chinese, and most recently in English.  Her most recent book, published by ALPHA Education in March 2016, the English book Torn Memories of Nanking, summarizes the fruits of her research during these past 28 years.

The awards she has won include:

• Japan Congress of Journalist Prize (2003)
• The Nanking Massacre Contribution Award (2004)
• The documentary film Torn Memories of Nanjing was nominated for Documentary Film Section at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2010

Below are excerpts from the description of this book by ALPHA Education on why this book is important:

“It is the first time that testimonies of Japanese veterans are extensively researched and published in English.  The evidence contained in the testimonies of the Chinese survivors and Japanese veterans included in this book make it impossible for anyone to maintain the argument that the Nanjing Massacre did not take place.

Matsuoka’s personal story, which is included in this English publication, is one of transformation:  from “carefree” little girl to “worry-free” college student, and finally to fearless activist.  What were the forces pushing her to stand up against all odds?  What were the factors helping her evolve into a woman with tremendous compassion and a passion for justice and humanity?  The story of her courage and tenacity is one that can serve as a source of inspiration to many young people.

Torn Memories of Nanking is a book that not only enhances the reader’s knowledge about a significant historical episode that has been largely unknown to the world, it also provokes a deep reflection on humanity which is much needed for racial harmony and reconciliation in the contemporary world.

Matsuoka’s commitment to giving a voice to the silenced victims of the Nanking Massacre and a final chance to the perpetrators to come to terms with their own past – a very dark and unspeakable past – is admirable.  She deserves our unreserved support and appreciation for her courage and determination to fight for truth and justice in the face of threats and harassments by the ultra-nationalists in her own country.

Torn Memories of Nanking also includes chapters on the historical and geographical contexts, maps, photos, timeline, and other references related to the Nanking Massacre.”

In 1994 Steven Spielberg, after making his academy award-winning movie Schindler’s List one year earlier, established the Shoah Foundation (and its Institute for Visual History and Education) at the University of Southern California (USC):   https://sfi.usc.edu/.  The word “Shoah” in Hebrew means Holocaust.  Its objective is to record video interviews of Holocaust survivors, so that their experiences and testimonies will not be lost as they pass away.  Since then the USC Shoah Foundation has expanded its objective to include other genocides and atrocities around the world.  Currently it already has 53,000 testimonies available in their visual history archive.

About three years ago, the USC Shoah Foundation established a collaboration with the “The Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders” in Nanjing (also known as the Nanjing Massacre Museum) to record video interviews of the survivors of the Nanking Massacre.  Currently it already has 30 testimonies of Nanking Massacre survivors in their visual history archive which are available for anyone in the world to see by accessing their website http://vhaonline.usc.edu/login.aspx and open an account for free.

In February 2016, USC Shoah Foundation sent a team from Los Angeles to NJ to record a video interview of our 93-year-old Nanking Massacre survivor Mr. Chu-Yeh Chang, a resident of Middletown, NJ.  Mr. Chang’s testimony will be included in their visual history archive before the summer of 2016.  For Mr. Chang’s written testimony, see the article in the NJ-ALPHA website:  https://www.nj-alpha.org/Reference_Information_Articles/HTML_Articles/Chang_Chu_Yeh_English.html.

Tamaki Matsuoka, sometimes known as “The Conscience of Japan,” will be visiting NJ in mid-April 2016 for a series of special seminars to talk about her new book Torn Memories of Nanking and show her documentary film Torn Memories of Nanjing.  The USC Shoah Foundation will also be sending a team from Los Angeles to NJ to record a video interview of Tamaki Masuoka, which will be included in their visual history archive for the Nanking Massacre.

An important new website “10000 Cries for Justice” (or “一萬個正義的呼聲” in Chinese) was officially launched to the world in a press conference in Beijing on July 22, 2015. The URL for the bilingual website is www.10000cfj.org. To see the news release, click Chinese or English, respectively for the Chinese or English version.

The objective of the website is to create a digital archive of the written history from the Chinese victims of WWII crying for justice, and make available to the world these thousands of letters that Mr. Tong Zeng (童增) received 20+ years ago. This digital archive documenting the first-hand experience of the victims provides powerful evidence to refute all the false claims made by the Japanese government. It provides a powerful tool to learn from history. By finally resolving the long-overdue injustices, it will help to establish genuine friendship between the Japanese people and the Chinese people, and true peace between Japan and China, as well as other countries.

The following are 2 Chinese news media articles that came out on 7/22/15 reporting on that press conference:

* Media article 1: http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-07/22/c_1116010135.htm?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0

* Media article 2: http://www.chinanews.com/m/sh/2015/07-22/7421520.shtml?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0#fromapp

More information about the website can be found from the website itself: www.10000cfj.org.

The Kyushu University in Fukuoka recently displayed an exhibit of vivisection (operation on live humans without anesthesia) on American POWs in their new medical history museum. These are documents in their possession for decades, but never publicly revealed. The vivisection victims were eight American airmen shot down in 1945 from an American B-29 bomber. They were captured as POWs, and then were vivisected by the Japanese doctors at this medical school. The doctors killed the American POWs by injecting diluted seawater into their veins, removing their lungs or livers and performing other horrific experiments on their bodies to test their limits. To read more, click: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/04/national/new-kyushu-museum-breaks-taboo-with-pow-vivisection-display#.VclAq_lcBuk

The author of the article, Mr. George Koo, wrote “If you read Emperor Hirohito’s1945 surrender speech, you will have a better understanding of why the self-image of post-war Japan can be so vastly different from the view of Japan by others.” Koo wrote the ambiguity of Emperor’s concession “has allowed Japan to begin revising history. It’s as if denying all the brutalities committed in the past can exonerate the present from any collective guilt. Just the opposite is true. The people of Asia will continue to remind Japan until there is only one version of the tragic history of World War II.” You can read Mr. Koo’s full article at: http://atimes.com/2015/08/august-1945-japans-hirohito-conceded-he-did-not-surrender/

Nearly 200 Western historians have called on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government to address Japan’s history of colonial rule and wartime aggression, in a clear rebuke of a leader who has clashed with neighbors over historical issues.

Among the 187 historians were John Dower, emeritus professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Herbert Bix, emeritus professor at Binghamton University; and Ezra Vogel, a Harvard historian. Mr. Dower and Mr. Bix wrote “Embracing Defeat” and “Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan,” respectively. Both books won the Pulitzer Prize and are considered required reading for those studying Japan’s modern history.