The Comfort Women: Historical, Political, Legal and Moral Perspectives

Tokyo: LTCB International Library Trust/International House of Japan, 2016. Hardcover. As New; Fine/Fine. Reddish boards with bw illus. and white lettering. Nearly identical dj. xi, 299 pp. with occasional bw images. This book is an English translation of Ianfu mondai, originally published by Chikuma Shobo (2014); translated by David Noble. "The ‘Comfort Women' remain a contentious issue especially between Japan and South Korea. This book, which looks soberly at the various perspectives of the problem, is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the issue. Kumagai Naoko first sets out the ‘points of contention' and goes on to discuss the facts that can be firmly established. She asks ‘how much free will did the comfort women have' and the extent of coercion exercised by the Japanese military authorities. She looks at the problem in the context of sexual violence in war and occupation. She also considers the historical background and officially licensed prostitution in Japan. In Chapter Three, she considers where responsibility for the suffering of comfort women lies and ‘why Japan's military regulations did not prevent rape and enforced prostitution'. This leads on to a discussion in Chapter Four, of the Asian Women's Fund and Japan's moral responsibilities. In this, she compares Japan's response with the German Foundation 'Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future'. Chapter Five concentrates on the evolving concept of women's human rights. In the Final Chapter she seeks for a way to achieve genuine reconciliation...The majority of the comfort women were Korean or Japanese although people of other races and nationalities were involved in occupied territories. Kumagai rejects the argument made by some Japanese conservatives that comfort women should be equated with licensed prostitutes. She also contests arguments based on Japanese military regulations, which paid scant attention to adherence to international law..." - from the publisher's web site.