A group of noted Japanese studies scholars around the world has issued an open letter denouncing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his right-wing conservative government’s attempts to rewrite history.
The letter came after Abe failed to apologize for the system of sexual slavery run by the Japanese military during World War II and other wartime atrocities during his speech before the joint meeting of the U.S. Congress last month. The historians had waited until the end of Abe’s U.S. visit to see if he would address the issue of accepting responsibility for Japan’s wartime history. However, that did not happen and 187 historians, including Harvard University professor Ezra Vogel, University of Chicago professor Bruce Cummings, Pulitzer Prize winner Herbert Bix of Binghamton University and University of Connecticut professor Alexis Dudden, signed a statement titled “Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan.”
Noting that the goal of historical inquiry “should be to understand the human conditions and aspire to improve it,” the scholars also said, “We defend the freedom of historical inquiry, and we call upon all governments to do the same.”
The letter specifically defends the studies that have been done on military sex slavery against the Abe government’s attempts to discredit them, or at least cast doubts on their credibility. The historians recognize that much of the archive of the Japanese military was destroyed and actions of the local people who provided women to the military may never have been recorded. Nevertheless, they argue that historians have discovered numerous documents demonstrating the military’s involvement in the “transfer of women and oversight of brothels.” While the Japanese nationalists assail the reliability of the victims’ testimonies, the historians maintain that “the aggregate record they offer is compelling and supported by official documents as well as by the accounts of soldiers and others.”
The dispute over the number of military sex slaves, estimated to be as many as 200,000, does not alter the fact of the exploitation, the historians argue. As for the disputes about the extent of Japanese military’s involvement and the forceful nature of the military sexual slavery, the scholars note “evidence makes clear that large numbers of women were held against their will and subjected to horrific brutality.” They also condemn attempts to challenge the victims’ testimony as both missing the “fundamental issue of their brutalization” and ignoring the inhumane system that exploited them.
The open letter notes that “only careful weighing and contextual evaluation of every trace of the past can produce a just history,” and warned against national and gender bias as well as government manipulation, censorship and private intimidation.
A similar letter signed by 19 U.S. historians was published in the March issue of Perspectives on History, an official magazine of the American Historical Association. The letter condemned the Japanese government’s attempt to rewrite history, as exemplified in the case involving McGraw Hill. Japanese government officials, in January, met with representatives from the textbook publisher and demanded the erasure of two paragraphs concerning the so-called “comfort women.” Later that month, Abe was reported as saying he was “shocked” to learn that his government had “failed to correct the things (it) should have.”
As scholars have noted, history should not be manipulated. Nor should historians be pressured in their research to “manipulate” history for the convenience of the powers-that-be.
Abe and his government should realize that the world’s eyes are upon them as the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II draws near. Abe has yet another chance to demonstrate that Japan is ready to lead in the global community by acknowledging history and accepting responsibility.
