沖縄の宮古の伊良部島に伝わる「太陽神の嫁」と言う話。

沖縄の宮古の伊良部島に伝わる「太陽神の嫁」と言う話。
引用は　http://totoro820.ti-da.net/e3160646.html　からです。

古事記の中にある、海佐知と山佐知の話との類似点に注目願いたい。

意地悪な兄と献身的な弟。わだつみの国にむかった山佐知と沖縄宮古の伊良部島の位置関係。トヨタマヒメが井戸に水を汲みに行き山佐知に出会う下りは、娘と太陽神に符合。鵜萱草萱不合命の出生のごとく茅葺の小屋ができる前に産気づく娘の描写。娘の相手はこの世のものではない太陽神（虚空津日子《ソラツヒコ》＝火袁理命《ホソリノミコト》＝山佐知）である。太陽神と娘の別れ。類似点が多く、太古の時代の西南諸島と天孫降臨直近の九州南部とのつながりを感じさせる。

海神（わだつみ）とは、他の日本の神々を産んだ伊邪那岐と伊邪那美の間から生まれた神であり、その国とは、海洋民族であった古代日本人が高千穂から海流に乗って渡れる島であり、あまり遠くない血族が住む島であったに違いない。

+++++++++++引用文+++++++++
この話は、宮古の伊良部島（いらぶじま）で、ずっと昔から語り継がれてきました。
　比屋地（ぴゃーず）の神はとても綺麗であり、それはそれは美人だったそうです。そのため太陽の神が自分の妻に欲しがったそうです。
　或る日のこと、その美人は朝、便所に坐わっていたところ、太陽の神の手のように光が射し込んできて妊娠したそうです。
　すると家の長男である兄は、結婚もしていないのに妊娠するとは何てふしだらな女かと怒こり出し、妹に向かって言うことには、
　｢お前など、何処かへ行ってしまえ。父の顔も知しらない子を身籠もるなど、一族の恥だ。今直ぐ出て行け。お前のようなやつには何もやらない。｣と言うなり、家を追い出してしまったのでした。
　それを見ていた二番目の兄が追い掛けてきて、妹に優しく言うことには、
　｢身重のお前一人で暮らすなど、出来る筈ずがない。私が一緒に行ってお前を助けるから何も心配することはない。｣と、そう言って、ついて来ました。
　その兄は、茅葺の家を作り始めました。そして、まだ屋根に茅を載せないうちに、子どもが生まれたそうです。
　それでも無事に子どもは生まれ、兄妹二人はとても喜びました。
　そして、生まれて七日目の日、天から綺麗な着物や美味しい御馳走などが落ちて来たそうです。
　それで初めて二人は、この子が天の神さまの子どもだったのだと理解しました。
　生まれて十日目にも、また御馳走が落ちて来ました。
　そういったことがずっと続いて、次の年の誕生日に、大層綺麗な馬が、同様に綺麗な人を乗せて庭に降りて来たそうです。
　すると馬を見た子どもは、自分も馬に乗ると言って聞きかず、いくら危ないからと言い聞かせても乗るの一点張りです。そして、少しだけのつもりで馬に乗せてみたところ、あっという間に何処かに連れ去られてしまいました。
　いくら神の子とはいえ、母がとても心配したのは言うまでもありません。
　次の年の同じ日のこと、子どもが馬に乗って戻ってきました。
　母が言うには、一番上の兄には話を少しも聞いて貰えず、一方的に家を追い出されてしまい、二番目の兄亡なき今、私には兄妹がないも同然です。私もまた一番上の兄をもはや兄とは思っていません。
　ですから自分には、何処かにいるはずの夫と、あなたをおいて、身寄りは他にありませんと言い、それから一緒に馬にのると、天に上がって行きました。
　親子二人で天に昇ってみると、太陽の神が待っていました。
　そして言うことには、
　｢お前は、父のない子ではない。私こそが父である。
　お前達に伊良部島を与える。
　そこへ降りて行って、伊良部の土地の主として暮らすがよい。｣と。
　そして神は二人を島に降ろしたそうです。
　こうして、子ども神と母神として、二人は比屋地（ぴゃーず）の神になったそうな。

※この話の参考とした話
①沖縄県宮古郡伊良部町前里添～『沖縄の昔話』
②沖縄先島・沖縄県平良市池間島～『池間島の民話・梗概』
③同上～同上
④沖縄先島・沖縄県宮古郡伊良部町池間添～『南島方言の記述的研究』
⑤沖縄先島・沖縄県宮古郡伊良部町佐良浜～『日本神話と琉球』

Posted by 横浜のtoshi

琉球王国の家紋は宇佐八幡宮の神紋と同じ

#沖縄 

#StopChinesePropaganda #StopChineseDeception

Family Crest of Ryukyu Kingdom(琉球王家) is the same Symbol of Usa Jingu（宇佐八幡宮 Usa　Hachimangu), a Shinto shrine in the city of Usa in Ōita Prefecture.

However there is / were vast number of Hachiman shrines in Japan and they were known by their many Samurai clans' and their descendants' worshipers through Japanese history, Usa Hachimangu was / is the oldest (build in early 8th Century) and most famous Hachimangu shrine in Japan.

琉球王国は鎮西八郎を流祖とすると琉球正史に書いてありますが、家紋も源家ゆかり宇佐八幡宮の神紋と同じです。宇佐八幡宮は日本全国にある八幡宮の代表です。

《下記に紹介の画像は　Youtube　の動画で本主旨のことを紹介したものから借用したものです。引用元の動画：

沖縄のルーツは日本！大日本人皇五十六代、清和天皇の孫、六孫王より七世の後胤、六条判官為義の八男(琉球王国の始祖) - YouTube

石川義家氏制作　　この動画の中11:25〰の画像を切り出しました》

そして、宇佐神宮は古代に大陸の江南地域にいて、海流に乗って薩摩半島に上陸したと言われる隼人族との関連を持つ神宮とも考えられています。隼人族は「う」＝「鵜」の付く地名を日本全国に残してます。宇佐神宮もその一つです。

また、大隅一ノ宮である鹿児島神宮は、正八幡宮という呼称を持っており、豊前宇佐と同族である隼人族とのつながりを示しています。また、天津日高彦穂穂出見尊のほか、その妻豊玉比売命（＝海神(ワタツミ)の娘）を祭神としており、海神(ワタツミ)と隼人族との関連も興味深いところです。

古代に海流に乗って大陸の江南地域から西南諸島をたどって九州へたどり着いた日本人の祖先が、今度は九州から西南諸島へと移動する様が見えるようです。

A Counter Response and Proposal to the "Open Letter” written by 187 Historians

The following sentences were cited from

http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/A-Counter-Response-to-CWLetter.pdf

June 12, 2015

A Counter Response and Proposal to the "Open Letter” written by 187 Historians

By Fujioka Nobukatsu, Visiting Professor, Takushoku University

To the 187 historians who jointly signed the Open Letter,

On May 5, the “Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan” was released and rapidly circulated around the world. This Letter was signed by 187 historians and researchers mainly in the field of Japan studies from the United States and western countries. The Open Letter accused the Japan’s military comfort women system before and during World War II. The Letter was a thinly veiled demand for an apology from the Prime Minister of Japan. Note: As of the end of May, the number of signatures had grown to around 460, but out of respect for the original signatories I will only address the first 187. I read the letter with an open mind, and, as a Japanese citizen, I would like to express my candid opinion. Please note that I do not represent any Japanese organizations or agencies, and the following is purely the personal viewpoint of a scholar who has been keeping abreast of the comfort woman issue since 1992.

My feelings of disappointment and encouragement

I experienced mixed feelings upon reading the Open Letter. On the one hand, I was disappointed, but on the other hand I was encouraged by the positive opportunity that the open letter presented. I will first explain my disappointment. There are many well-respected scholars among the 187 historians and researchers who signed the Open Letter, including scholars who are very well-known in Japan. Some of their works have been translated into Japanese, and they have had a profound impact and influence on both Japanese scholars and lay readers. Books written by the signatories, such as Ezra Vogel's "Japan as Number One", John Dower's "War without Mercy", Andrew Gordon's "A Modern History of Japan", and Ronald Dore's "Education in Tokugawa Japan" have been translated into Japanese, and this was just a random sampling off the top of my head. In fact some of these translated works have been more widely read in Japan than in the country in which they were written!

The signatures of such scholars, it seems to me, added weight to the Open Letter. But, if you expect, by their presence, it would lead to gaining more support from a greater number of Japanese, I am afraid that you have decidedly failed to understand the perception prevailing in Japan over the comfort women issue. The significant portion of the Japanese people will never share the basic premise of the Letter.

I say this because there are simply too many people in Japan who have already reached their own understanding about the “comfort women” and suspect the whole comfort women story might have been fabricated as a political tool to attack Japan. For example, the fact that criticism of Japan regarding the comfort women issue might be built on a very flimsy factual basis became apparent following the newspaper Asahi Shimbun's retraction last August of its thirty-two years' worth of bogus reporting. This now-retracted reporting is a very large part of what started the whole comfort women story.

Therefore, any Japanese person with minimal awareness of the controversy who reads this Open Letter, including even an ordinary salaryman or housewife with no special academic qualification, would feel that the Letter is based fundamentally on a misconception of historical reality.

However, I must also write about my other reaction to the Open Letter, in that I feel that its release represents a great opportunity. As I noted previously, it is my opinion that Japanese citizens on the whole are better informed about the reality of the “comfort women” problem than are American-based “Japan Specialists,” and this means that our two nations have become divided, not only by the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, but also by an equally vast "information gap" on certain subjects.

And yet, I do not believe that all of the Open Letter's signatories supported it out of ill will or bias towards Japan. The contents of the statement never descend into prejudice and consistently adopt an attitude of fairness. It is plain to see that its authors exercised discretion and attempted to base their statement on universal values. For instance, one portion of the Open Letter read as follows,

"Postwar Japan’s history of democracy, civilian control of the military, police restraint, and political tolerance, together with contributions to science and generous aid to other countries, are all things to celebrate."

As a Japanese citizen, I am pleased and highly grateful to the signatories of the Letter for their recognition of the value of Japan's contributions to world peace since the end of World War II.

As a whole, this Open Letter appealed to universal values of democracy, liberty, and human rights. I concur wholeheartedly with these principles, which, indeed, should be cherished above anything else. It is precisely because of the importance of these universal values that one should fight against prejudice and bias based on historical misconceptions and attempt instead to maintain one’s fairness and objectivity. However, the "Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan" has exposed the information gap that exists between Japan and the United States, thus presenting us with an excellent opportunity to close it. I am writing this letter in the hope of making a small contribution towards filling that information gap.

Errors in the McGraw-Hill textbook

One example of this information gap appeared in November and December of last year, when the Japanese government asked for corrections to be made in a world history textbook in use at American high schools, McGraw-Hill's "Traditions and Encounters." The request was made on the grounds that the book’s description of the Japanese Army comfort women was highly inappropriate. Nineteen American historians then struck back with a message published in a US academic bulletin criticizing the actions of the Japanese government.

On March 17, in response to the nineteen American historians, nineteen Japanese historians pointed out what they felt were grievous factual errors in the textbook's description of the comfort women, and they, too, politely asked McGraw-Hill to have the errors corrected.

The Japanese historians who authored the statement, represented by Professor Hata Ikuhiko, a leading expert on the comfort women issue, summarized the textbook’s mistakes in eight areas. I will outline four of them here:

(1.) The textbook stated, "The Japanese army forcibly recruited, conscripted, and dragooned as many as two hundred thousand women," but the only Japanese scholar who the nineteen American historians cited as endorsing their viewpoint was Yoshimi Yoshiaki, who stated on a Japanese TV talk show that, "There is no evidence for forced recruitment of comfort women on the Korean peninsula." The nineteen American historians seemed not to be aware of this.

(2.) Concerning the number of comfort women, the textbook gives the figure of "as many as two hundred thousand." However, Professor Hata estimates the true number at around 20,000, based on documentary evidence including statistics compiled by Japanese government agencies.

(3.) The textbook states that "the 'comfort women' catered to between twenty and thirty men each day," despite having already declared that the total number of comfort women was 200,000. If this is the case, then Japanese soldiers received between four million and six million sexual services per day. The total overseas troop strength of the Japanese Army requiring such services was one million, at warfare peak in 1943, meaning that each soldier went to a comfort station four to six times per day, according to the textbook. At this rate, Japanese Army soldiers would have had no time to prepare for battle or even live normal lives.

(4.) The textbook claimed that, "At the end of the war, soldiers massacred large numbers of comfort women to cover up the operation." It is doubtful that this statement is based on historical documentary evidence. If it was, then a case should have been taken up by the postwar Tokyo Trials or by one of the B/C-class war crimes trials, and yet there is no record of that having occurred. It should go without saying that one cannot write in a textbook where, when, and how many people were killed without any supporting evidence. The textbook has thus portrayed a possibly baseless accusation as being an undisputed historical fact. Teaching American students in this manner is not truth-seeking but is instead an imposition of propaganda, a practice which is contrary to both freedom of scholarship and freedom of thought.

The written request by the nineteen Japanese historians (which I also signed) to correct the textbook's errors was immediately sent to McGraw-Hill. Though we have yet to receive a reply, the newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported on May 16 that McGraw-Hill had responded to a question from one of its correspondents, indicating that it had no intention of making any corrections. Thus, McGraw-Hill has made no effort to confront the facts presented by reputable Japanese historians, so the Japanese government has every reason to object to the teaching to American high school students of what the Japanese consider to be lies.

Even though our written request did not make McGraw-Hill change its ways, it seems that it did have some impact on the academic community after all. I say this because the message of the nineteen American historians made reference to "state-sponsored sexual slavery", but that expression does not appear anywhere in the "Open Letter." Nor does that Open Letter mention the textbook's figure of 200,000 comfort women. These were significant changes from the insistence of the nineteen American historians that the numbers used in the textbook not be altered.

The actual results of the military's "systematic management"

However, even though the open letter of May 5 does show some progress towards common sense, both of the statements by foreign scholars still view the comfort women system in fundamentally the same way. Their basic viewpoint can be summed up in the following quote from the Open Letter: "Among the many instances of wartime sexual violence and military prostitution in the twentieth century, the 'comfort women' system was distinguished by its large scale and systematic management under the military, and by its exploitation of young, poor, and vulnerable women in areas colonized or occupied by Japan."

Before making a single country the target of such sweeping criticism, a considerable amount of careful, fact-based research and analysis of comparative data should be a prerequisite. My question to the signatories of the Open Letter is, "Did you undertake a careful investigation of this sort before producing your statement?" To shed light on this matter, I would now like to take another look at several of the claims made by the Open Letter.

First of all, concerning its scale, I already mentioned that there is a controversy over whether the number of women working within the Japanese Army's comfort women system was closer to 200,000 or to 20,000. Here the Open Letter simply states that the number of comfort women "will probably never be known for certain" and makes no attempt to pursue the matter further. How could the Open Letter have concluded that "the 'comfort women' system was distinguished by its large scale" if the scale "will probably never be known for certain?"

Secondly, the phrase "systematic management under the military" is simply a misunderstanding. The comfort women were hired by brokers who ran the brothels. The working conditions of comfort women may have been harsh, but they were paid high wages. At the time, a Japanese Army private first class soldier earned 10 yen per month, while a comfort woman in Burma was making an average of 750 yen per month. Comfort women who worked for a whole year were even able to buy new houses for their parents back at home. The essence of the wartime comfort women system was the extension of peacetime brothels onto the battlefield. Their customers were Japanese soldiers.

The fact that the comfort women were paid prostitutes rather than sex slaves was fully acknowledged by an official report of the US Army. "Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49," written by the US Office of War Information Psychological Warfare Team in Burma, states right in its opening preface that, "A 'comfort girl’ is nothing more than a prostitute or 'professional camp follower' attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers."

The Japanese Army's involvement in the comfort women system extended into three areas: signing contracts with and giving permits to brokers for the establishment of comfort stations, enacting regulations at those comfort stations, and having army doctors administer regular health checkups for the comfort women. The objective of the Japanese Army's regulation of the comfort stations was to protect the rights of comfort women by imposing safeguards on exploitative brokers. Without the Army's involvement, the working conditions of the comfort women would probably have been a lot worse. Both the relationship between the Army and the brokers and the relationship between the brokers and the comfort women were governed by contracts, and thus it was a lawful system comparable to those of contemporary nations which regulates public prostitution.

The comfort stations were put in place with the twin goals of keeping the sexual urges of frontline soldiers in check so that they would not harm local women and preventing the spread of venereal diseases from the use of local, already established brothels.

The tendency among American historians is to view military involvement as an unprecedented and impermissible policy. In the United States, it was typical for military personnel to take advantage of established, local brothels. For example, there was a redlight district in Hawaii called "Hotel Street," where prostitutes brought in from San Francisco took one hundred customers daily. The United States even made use of brothels that the Japanese government set up for American soldiers during the postwar US occupation. Likewise, since the start of the Korean War, American soldiers stationed in South Korea used local brothels that the Korean Government set up.

Nevertheless, this merely represents a difference in customs between our two nations, and it does not change the fact that the objective of both systems was to find a way to manage the sexual urges of soldiers near the battlefield. The Japanese comfort women system was itself based on the system created by Germany during World War I. American historians have taken the United States' own special method of wartime sexual management and upheld it as the perfect model, criticizing all other methods used by other countries. This is actually a naive sort of national chauvinism.

By way of comparison, the American method, involving the use of local brothels, suffers from its failure to control the risk of contracting venereal diseases. For instance, US Army units stationed in Kunming, China, used local brothels in the early 1940s, and as a result almost half of their soldiers and mechanics were stricken with sexually transmitted diseases and unable to work. In situations where battlefield conditions were harsh, like during the Vietnam War, the US Army created brothels under its virtually direct control when local brothels were unavailable.

The Japanese comfort women system was generally successful at achieving its designated goals. There were almost no rapes perpetrated by Japanese soldiers in occupied areas and few children of mixed nationality were left behind by the Japanese Army.

By contrast, American soldiers who had been stationed in Japan after the war left a great number of mixed-raced children behind them through liaisons with Japanese women. In Vietnam, the children of South Korean soldiers and Vietnamese women are known as Lai Dai Han, and there are estimated to be several tens of thousands of them.

Turning our attention back to World War II, the largest incident of mass rape occurred during the capture of Berlin by the Soviet Red Army. About one million German women were raped by Soviet troops, and it is said that 200,000 of them died. Many children were produced through acts of rape by Soviet forces. The Red Army also raped and massacred Japanese women in Manchuria immediately after the surrender of Japan. As an instance of wartime sexual violence in the twentieth century, why haven't the 187 historians taken up these transgressions, given that the scale of the atrocities was far greater?

It is certainly not true that Japanese men have unusually high sex drive in comparison to other people. Comparative data have consistently ranked Japanese males as being less lustful than other people in the world.

Fake atrocity stories and the credibility of testimonies

The third point I want to bring up is the claim in the Open Letter that, "the 'comfort women' system was distinguished by... its exploitation of young, poor, and vulnerable women in areas colonized or occupied by Japan." This is a major misconception. Most of the Japanese Army's comfort women were prostitutes from Japan. Hata Ikuhiko's calculation breaks down the total number of comfort women as being forty percent from Japan, thirty percent from the local area of occupation, twenty percent from Korea, and ten percent from other places. The number of Japanese and Korean comfort women was proportional to their relative populations.

It is likely true that these women were poor and vulnerable, and, if we imagine their individual circumstances, all of them deserve sympathy. However, it would be wrong to assume that the comfort women system cruelly forced them into a fate more inhumane than the alternatives. Women working in brothels in peacetime are also poor and vulnerable, and some former comfort women have even recalled that they sought out the army for more favorable conditions, which they felt were preferable to peacetime brothels.

Fourthly and finally, I will spend some time discussing one issue which I am certain influenced the thinking of the scholars who signed the Open Letter, and that is the "testimonies" and its credibility of former comfort women, in the context of wartime sexual violence. One can see in parts of the Open Letter that its signatories accepted that unbelievably cruel acts were perpetrated in the Japanese Army's comfort stations and that the comfort women were victims of sexual violence. The Open Letter refers to the "brutalization" of comfort women and states that they were "subjected to horrific brutality" by the Japanese Army.

In 1996 the United Nations Human Rights Council approved the Coomaraswamy Report, which included the following testimony from Jeong Ok-sun, a North Korean who claimed to be a former comfort woman:

"[The Japanese soldiers] took off her clothes, tied her legs and hands and rolled her over a board with nails until the nails were covered with blood and pieces of her flesh. In the end, they cut off her head. Another Japanese, Yamamoto, told us... 'since those Korean girls are crying because they have not eaten, boil the human flesh and make them eat it.'"

Japanese people would find stories like this ridiculous. Japanese people do not engage in such morbid habits and, of course, have never practiced cannibalism as a custom. These sorts of tales can be found abundantly in Chinese history books, which, in turn, have had a cultural impact on the Korean Peninsula. The former comfort women are simply relating stories based on those shared in common by nations within the Chinese cultural sphere.

It was also written in a resolution passed by the US House of Representatives in 2007 that “mutilation” was one of the brutal deeds perpetrated by the Japanese military. Mutilation or dismemberment was a terrible punishment traditionally practiced in the Chinese Emperor's harem, but it has never been practiced in Japan. Anyone who is a real expert on Japanese history and culture would surely support me in this statement.

The first former Korean comfort woman to testify about her experiences did so in 1991, more than forty years after the end of the war, and since then over fifty have come forward. Even so, not one of them has convincingly claimed that they were forcibly recruited without contradicting themselves. There are even some former comfort women who have said that, "I was taken to a comfort station in a jeep", or "We were especially busy around Christmas time." The Japanese Army had no jeeps, much less celebrated Christmas, so we have no choice but to conclude that the "victimizers" of these comfort women were American soldiers, not Japanese soldiers.

Therefore, using the testimony of comfort women as evidence just because they tug at our heartstrings (and they surely do tug at our heartstrings) cannot be permitted in any society governed by the rule of law. Allowing untested testimonies to prevail against Japan can only be described as discrimination against Japanese.

My proposal for academic conferences

The signatories of the Open Letter aspire to make sexual violence a thing of the past and to forge a world where human rights will be respected by all. I have no reason to question their motives, and in fact I share in this agenda and completely support it. Still, in pursuit of such aims, I do not quite understand why the signatories have chosen to deal with and condemn only the Japanese comfort women system, which ceased to exist more than seventy years ago.

To this day, we confront the existing reality that girls from poor families in Southeast Asia are sold and sent around the world, including to the United States, suffering from sexual abuse. China is engaging in large-scale ethnic persecution in Tibet and Xinjiang, which includes assaulting women. In North Korea's concentration camps for political prisoners, some inmates are subjected to dreadful sexual torture. Following the recent earthquake in Nepal, sex traders went to work, and it was reported by British media that 15,000 Nepalese girls were sold off to places like India and South Korea.

In order to truly create a world without sexual violence, should not our work be focused on preventing the far more urgent crimes that are ongoing as I write these words? Japan would surely provide financial assistance and humanitarian aid in support of this goal. Is there any reason why the Japanese Army's alleged mistreatment of the comfort women over seventy years ago, which may not have even occurred, is an issue that is more important than the violations of women's rights which are happening around the world at this very moment? I sincerely hope that the "Open Letter" was not being influenced by the Korean and Chinese "nationalist invective" that it criticizes.

In conclusion, I would like to propose that a series of serious academic conferences be held between Japanese and American scholars in order to have a dialogue on issues like the nature of the Japanese Army's comfort women system, international comparisons on how nations managed their soldiers’ sexual activity on the battlefield, and the serious human rights problems plaguing the world today. The tone of the discussion would be dispassionate and scholarly, based on evidence and logical analysis.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs could provide a forum for such a discussion, or, alternatively, it might be preferable if a private foundation took the initiative. There is no better time than now to have a mutual dialogue through which we can learn from one another. Together we can make the twenty-first century a “Century of Hope.”

Note: The most part of this letter was published in Japanese language in Seiron magazine, July 2015 issue. However, this letter in English has been further developed and refined from the Japanese version for addressing the American audience.

+++++++++++++++

Fujioka Nobukatsu

Author profile: Fujioka Nobukatsu
Visiting Professor, Takushoku University

Fujioka Nobukatsu was born in Hokkaido, Japan in 1943. He graduated from Hokkaido University, and finished the doctoral course in Education. In 1993, he was posted Professor of Education at Tokyo University. He is well-known as an advocate for remaking of scheme of history education in the post-war Japan, being one of founders of the Japan Society for History Textbook Reform. He has been working for overcoming the “masochistic“ view of history, and writing new history textbook.
Among his numerous publications are History Not Taught in Schools(Tokyo, Sankei Publishing, 1996-7), An Analysis of Masochistic Historical Views in Japan(Tokyo, Bungeishunju, 1997), Unveiling Reality of Texbook Adoption (Tokyo, PHP Institute, 2005), History of a Nation at Crisis(Tokyo, Business-sha, 2015)

Essay / 社会主義・共産主義の新定義

ソ連誕生以来の社会主義国を見て、社会主義・共産主義の新定義を思いついた。


平等や公正さを理想とするが、誰かが平等を強制しなくてはならない体制が誕生するため、平等や公正さを取り仕切るはずの行政官が特権階級として、平等や公正以上のものを手に入れることになる社会を作る思想。体制維持のために支配層の特権階級が被支配層を使って暴力を用いることがたびたび見受けられる。 

韓国軍にベトナム人慰安婦がいた(拡散自由） The ROK Army Used Vietnamese Comfort Women （No restrictions on retransmission)

山口敬之元TBSワシントン総局長のスクープをケント・ギルバート氏が英訳(拡散自由）

韓国軍にベトナム人慰安婦がいた(拡散自由）
 The ROK Army Used Vietnamese Comfort Women （No restrictions on retransmission)

これはＴＢＳワシントン支局長（当時）の山口敬之氏が書いて、週刊文春４月２日号に掲載されたスクープ記事です。
This is the text of a scoop article written by Noriyuki Yamaguchi, the Washington Bureau Chief of TBS Television (at the time), which was published in the Shukan Bunshun Magazine dated April 2, 2015.
http://shukan.bunshun.jp/articles/-/4952

ご本人の承諾を得たので、和英二カ国語で全文掲載します。
I have obtained permission from Mr. Yamaguchi to distribute a full English/Japanese version.

山口さんに直接送って頂いた元原稿をベースに作成したので、週刊文春の編集部が手を入れた後の記述とは少し違うかも知れませんが、ご了承下さい。
This is based on the original version which I received from the author directly, so it may be slightly different from what was actually published after editing.

山口さんの丁寧な取材で明らかになった真実の歴史です。これらの事実は米国の公文書に書いてあるのです。当時の状況を知る人々も、詳細な証言をしています。
This is true history revealed by Mr. Yamaguchi's painstaking research. These are facts recorded in official documents of the United States government. It also includes detailed accounts by people who have direct knowledge of the situation at the time.

そして、韓国のハンギョレ新聞は「腹立だしいが反論は困難」と認めています。
In addition, the Korean Hankyoreh newspaper recognized "This is vexing, but difficult to refute."

http://japan.hani.co.kr/arti/international/20445.html…

ところがこの件、朝鮮日報や中央日報、韓国政府は完全に無視しています。
文春と産経以外の日本のマスコミは、このスクープに触れましたっけ？
そう言えばマグロウヒルの教科書にも、ぜひ載せてもらわないとね！
However, this event is being ignored in its entirety by The Chosun Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo newspapers in Korea, as well as by the Korean government. Have any of the Japanese media aside from Bunshun and the Sankei group covered this scoop? Come to think of it, this should be included in the McGraw-Hill history textbooks in the U.S.!
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
歴史的スクープ！　韓国軍にベトナム人慰安婦がいた
米機密公文書が暴く朴槿惠の”急所”
Historical Scoop! The ROK Army Used Vietnamese Comfort Women
Official U.S. Secret Documents Put President Park in a Tight Spot
(Shukan Bunshun: April 2, 2015, pp. 30-35)

ＴＢＳワシントン支局長　山口敬之
By Noriyuki Yamaguchi, TBS Television Washington Bureau Chief

1966年生まれ。慶応大学卒。90年ＴＢＳ入社。報道カメラマン、ロンドン支局、社会部（警視庁担当、運輸省担当など）、政治部（外務省担当、官邸キャップなど）を経て13年８月渡米。現ワシントン支局長（掲載時）
Born in 1966, and a graduate of Keio University, Yamaguchi joined TBS in 1990. After working as a news cameraman, as the London Bureau Chief, in the Local News Section (covering police, Ministry of Transportation, etc.), and in the Political Section (covering Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, etc.), he was transferred to the U.S., and is the current Washington Bureau Chief (at time of publication).

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

3月21日、ソウル。三年ぶりの日中韓外相会談が行われたが、日韓間で慰安婦問題の議論は平行線を辿った。だがもし韓国軍が同様の行為を行っていたら－－－。米公文書館での徹底調査とベトナム現地取材で初めて明らかになるベトナム戦争下での韓国軍の真実。
On March 21, the foreign ministers of Japan, China, and Korea met in Seoul for the first time in three years. The discussions between Japan and Korea on the comfort women issue yielded no progress. But if Korean troops had done the same thing, then what? As a result of thorough research of official U.S. government archives and field reporting on the ground in Vietnam, the truth about Korean troops during the Vietnam War is unveiled here.

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

最初に、ＴＢＳでワシントン支局長を務めている私が、なぜベトナム戦争当時の韓国軍について取材を始めたのかを記しておきたい。
First, let me tell you why I started gathering information for a news story on the ROK army during the Vietnam War as TBS Television’s Washington Bureau chief.

きっかけは、アメリカに赴任する直前の二〇一三年初夏、ある外交関係者から聞いた言葉だった。日韓関係に長らく関わり、野党時代の朴槿恵氏と食事をしたこともある人物だ。
Shortly before I took up my position in the U.S. in the early summer of 2013, a foreign affairs official who had long been involved with Japan-ROK relations and who had had dinner with Park Geun-hye when she was still in the opposition told me:

「朴大統領は就任早々、慰安婦問題で出口のない迷路に入り込んでしまった」
“President Park got herself into a cul-de-sac soon after taking office by raising the comfort women issue.”

その年の二月に第十八代大統領に就任した朴槿恵氏は、早くも慰安婦問題で日本に強硬な姿勢で臨む方針を明確にしていた。
Park, who became the 18th president of the ROK in February 2013, indicated she was going to take a tough stance toward Japan on the comfort women issue straightaway.

韓国では〇四年に、植民地時代に日本に協力した者を糾弾する「親日・反民族行為真相究明特別法案」が成立している。植民地時代、日本軍の将校だった朴正煕元大統領を父に持つ朴大統領は、この法律によって大いに苦しめられてきた。
The ROK enacted a “special law on fact finding on pro-Japanese and anti-national acts” in 2004 to punish collaborators during the Japanese colonial rule. Park’s father, former President Park Chung-hee, was an officer in the Japanese army during the colonial period. She suffered a lot as a result of this law.

「父の親日イメージを断ち切ろうとするかのように、日本批判を続ける事が彼女のレゾンデートルとなってしまった。そして、慰安婦問題が朴大統領自らの反日姿勢を証明するツールとなった以上、彼女が自分からこの問題を解決するという選択肢はなくなった。もはや慰安婦問題は韓国の内政問題となってしまったのだ」
“Criticizing Japan to clear her father’s pro-Japanese reputation came to be her raison d’etre. Since the comfort women issue has become a tool to prove her anti-Japanese stance, she no longer has the option of resolving this issue on her own. This issue has become a domestic political issue for South Korea.”

それでは、慰安婦問題を巡る日韓の軋轢に出口はないのだろうか？　私の問いに、彼はこう答えた。
So, isn’t there a solution to the Japan-ROK dispute over the comfort women issue? His answer to my question was:

「もしかしたら、あなたがこれから赴任するアメリカに解決のヒントがあるかもしれない」
“You may find clues to a solution in the U.S., where you will be going to work.”

日韓両国から遠く離れたアメリカに、何があるというのか。
What is to be found in faraway America?

「実は、ベトナム戦争当時、韓国軍が南ベトナム各地で慰安所を経営していたという未確認の情報がある。これをアメリカ政府の資料等によって裏付ける事ができれば、慰安婦問題において韓国に『加害者』の側面が加わる事になる。そのことをきっかけに、朴大統領と韓国国民が頭を冷やし、真摯に慰安婦問題に向き合うようになれば、事態は変わるかもしれない」
“Actually, I have unconfirmed information that during the Vietnam War, the ROK army operated comfort stations in many places in South Vietnam. If you are able to substantiate this with U.S. government documents, an additional dimension to the comfort women issue will be that the ROK was also a ‘perpetrator.’ If this results in President Park and the South Korean people coming to their senses and dealing with the comfort women issue in good faith, the situation may change.”

日韓関係の現状を憂うこの人物に背中を押され、ワシントン赴任早々の一三年九月から、私の全米各地に眠る公文書を探す取材が始まった。
Encouraged by this person who was truly concerned by the current state of the Japan-ROK relationship, I began to look for previously undiscovered official documents all over the U.S. after I took up my job in Washington in September 2013.

アメリカには、国立公文書記録管理局、通称「ＮＡＲＡ」と呼ばれる組織がある。政府の公文書や歴史的価値が高いと判断された各種資料を保管する米政府の公式機関で、全米三十三カ所に公文書管理施設を持ち、四十億枚の紙、三十万本の映像、五百万枚の地図や統計資料などを保管、公開する世界最大の公文書管理組織だ。
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official body in the U.S. that preserves government documents and materials deemed to be of significant historical value. It has archives in 33 locations in the country with a collection of 400 billion pages of documents, 300,000 videos, 5 million maps, statistics, and so forth. It is the biggest archive in the world that preserves such materials and makes them available to the public.

ベトナム戦争についても、南北の内戦突入（六十年）から米軍全面撤退(七十三年)に至る、膨大な公文書や映像資料が保管されている。
The NARA has an extensive collection of official documents and video footage on the Vietnam War from the start of the North-South civil war in 1960 to the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973.

そもそも、一九六〇年代に本格化したベトナム戦争は、ソ連や中国など共産主義陣営が支援する北ベトナム側と、アメリカや台湾など自由主義陣営が支援する南ベトナム側が戦ったことから「冷戦米ソの代理戦争」と呼ばれた。
The Vietnam War, which turned into a major war in the 1960s, was called a proxy Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union because it was fought between North Vietnam, supported by the USSR, China, and the Communist camp, and South Vietnam, backed by the U.S., Taiwan, and the free nations.

五〇年代前半の朝鮮戦争で国土が荒れ果て、世界の最貧国レベルにまで落ち込んでいた韓国。六三年に第五代大統領となった朴正煕は、ベトナム戦争を復興に向けた千載一遇のチャンスと位置づけた。粘り強い交渉の結果、アメリカ政府から派兵規模に応じた補助金支給と、対米移民枠の設定を勝ち取り、六五年から本格的に韓国軍を投入。延べ三十一万人の韓国兵がベトナムに渡った。
South Korea was devastated by the Korean War in the first half of the 1950s. It became one of the poorest countries in the world. Park Chung-hee, who became its fifth president in 1963, regarded the Vietnam War as a golden opportunity for national reconstruction. Through dogged negotiations, he was able to obtain subsidies and an immigration quota from the U.S. government in return for sending troops to Vietnam. The ROK began sending a substantial number of troops in 1965. A total of 310,000 South Korean forces were deployed in South Vietnam, a number second only to the U.S. forces.

ベトナム戦争時の韓国軍に関する公文書は全米各地に点在している。私は本業のワシントン支局長としての業務の合間を縫って、ワシントン市内や郊外メリーランド州の公文書館、さらに各地の米軍基地付属の図書館や資料館を訪れたり、リサーチャーを派遣したりして、関連の文書を大量にコピーし、支局に持ち帰っては読み込む作業を続けた。
Various official documents on the ROK army during the Vietnam War can be found in many locations in the U.S. I tried to find time in between my regular duties as the Washington Bureau chief to visit various archives in Washington and Maryland nearby. I also visited libraries and archives of U.S. military bases or sent researchers to these places, making copies of a considerable volume of documents and browsing through them.

ジョン・Ｆ・ケネディ大統領(六一～六三年)やリンドン・Ｂ・ジョンソン大統領(六三～六九年)、ロバート・マクマナラ国防長官(六一～六八年)　など当時のキーマンの書簡から、各国の外交官や軍関係者のメモまで、ありとあらゆる階層の様々なやり取りを記録した公文書からは、教科書や歴史書からは伝わらない、当時の生々しい息遣いが感じられた。
Records of exchanges at all levels, from letters of the key persons at that time – such as President John F. Kennedy (1960-63), President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69), and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara (1961-68) – to memos of diplomats and military officers gave me a real sense of the situation at that time that was impossible for textbooks or history books to convey.

最初に集中的に読み込んだのは、ホワイトハウスや国務省等の外交文書の分析だ。そこから判明したのは、当時のアメリカ政府がベトナムにおける韓国兵の行状に、相当手を焼いていたという事だった。
At first, I focused on reading and analyzing diplomatic documents of the White House and the State Department. What I found out was that the U.S. government at that time was having serious trouble dealing with the South Korean soldiers’ behavior in Vietnam.

韓国兵の蛮行の記録は派兵が本格化された六五年から早くも始まっていた。戦地での市民の虐殺、強姦から、サイゴンなどの都市部での為替偽造、物資の横流し、麻薬密売に至るまで、ありとあらゆる犯罪記録が大量に残されていた。
Records of South Korean soldiers’ atrocities began soon after full-fledged deployment in 1965. There were numerous records of all sorts of criminal acts, from the massacre and rape of citizens in the field, to counterfeiting of currency in Saigon and other cities, to selling supplies on the black market and peddling of drugs.

米軍司令部は韓国軍司令部に対して繰り返し書簡を送り、違反者の訴追と再発防止を求めたが事態は悪化の一途をたどった。
The U.S. military command sent many letters to the ROK army command, asking for punishment of offenders and measures to prevent recurrence but the situation continued to deteriorate.

七〇年には、アメリカ連邦議会下院の外交委員会で、韓国軍による残虐行為を追及する特別調査チームが作られる事態にまで発展した。
In 1970, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs even set up a special team to investigate the ROK army’s atrocities.

ただ、これら外交文書の多くは虐殺や経済犯罪などに関するもので、韓国軍の慰安所に関するものはなかなか出てこなかった。
However, most of the diplomatic documents concerned killings and economic crimes. I could not find any record of the ROK army’s comfort stations.

そこで、私はリサーチの目先を変えてみた。韓国兵の悪行が問題になっていたなら、犯罪や裁判の記録の中に何らかの手がかりがあるのではないかと考えて、一四年の春から、ベトナム駐留米軍の軍政部と軍警察の犯罪記録に手を伸ばし、年代順にコピーして片っ端から読み始めた。そこには、強姦、暴行、窃盗、傷害、軍需物資の不正取得など、夥しい数の韓国兵の犯罪が様々な形で記録されていた。
Therefore, I changed the focus of my research. I thought if the ROK soldiers’ actions were a problem, there must have been criminal or court records. From spring 2014, I began to look into criminal records of the U.S. military government and the military police. I copied the documents in chronological order and read through them. They gave an even more vivid picture of the rapes, assaults, thefts, stealing of military supplies, and other crimes committed by South Korean soldiers.

サイゴンの「韓国軍慰安所」
“ROK Army Comfort Station” in Saigon

そして、七月二十五日深夜。誰もいない支局の小部屋で、いつものように犯罪記録の公文書を一枚一枚剥ぐように読み込んでいると、一通の書簡に行き当たった。
In the middle of the night on July 25, I was reading the criminal records page by page alone, as usual, in a small room in the Washington Bureau office. I came across a letter.

その書簡は、サイゴン（現ホーチミン市）のアメリカ軍司令部から、同じくサイゴンの韓国軍司令部に送られたものだった。宛先は、ベトナム駐留韓国軍最高司令官・蔡命新（チェ・ミュンシン）将軍だ。
This letter was sent by the U.S. forces command in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) to the ROK forces commander in Saigon. The addressee was Lt. Gen. Chae Myung Shin, the highest commander of ROK forces in Vietnam.

この書簡には日付の記載がなかったが、年代順に整理された他の公文書や記載内容を基にした関連取材で、六九年一月から四月の間に書かれたものと判明した。
While there was no date on this letter, the letter was most probably written between January and April in 1969, based on the other documents arranged in chronological order and other information I obtained on the subject matter in this letter.

書簡の主題は、韓国兵が関与した経済事件に関するもので、不正な通貨を用いて米軍の軍需物資が大量に横流しされていると指摘していた。 その一連の犯罪行為の舞台のうちの一つが、サイゴン市中心部にあったという「The Turkish Bath」（トルコ風呂）だ。
The main topic of the letter was economic crimes the South Korean soldiers were involved in. A large amount of U.S. military exchange merchandise was being sold on black market currency exchange rates. One establishment where such criminal activities took place was the Turkish Bath in downtown Saigon.

この「トルコ風呂」について書簡は、「売春行為が行われていて、ベトナム人女性が働かされている」と説明している。
According to the letter, “prostitutes are available and Vietnamese women work there.”

そして、主題である通貨不正事件の捜査のために、米軍とベトナム通関当局が共同で家宅捜索を行った結果を、次のように記していた。
「この施設は、韓国軍による、韓国兵専用の慰安所（Welfare Center）である」
A joint investigation by the U.S. forces and the Vietnamese customs authorities found that “the Turkish Bath was a Republic of Korea Army Welfare Center for the sole benefit of Korean troops.”

何度も読み返したが、間違いなく、米軍司令部が捜査に基づいて、「韓国軍の韓国兵のための慰安所」と断定している。
I was amazed, so I read through the letter several times. Based on its investigation, the U.S. military command determined that the establishment was a “comfort station for Korean troops.”

米軍司令部は「韓国軍の慰安所」と断定するにあたり二つの根拠を示している。
The U.S. military command’s conclusion was based on the following:

まず、押収資料の中から、韓国兵の福利厚生を担当する特務部次長の任にあった韓国軍大佐の署名入りの書類が見つかり、その書類が韓国軍の慰安所であると示している事。
First, one of the seized documents, signed by the ROK army’s assistant special services officer, indicated that the Turkish Bath was an ROK army welfare center for the sole benefit of Korean troops.

さらに、家宅捜索でこの施設から押収された物資について、韓国軍幹部がベトナム税関当局に対し、返還を求める書類を提出した事実を、軍幹部の実名を示して韓国側に突きつけていた。
Furthermore, documents signed by a senior ROK military officer were produced at the Vietnamese customs building in an attempt to secure the release of the goods confiscated during the raid.

その上で米軍司令部は、韓国軍の最高司令官蔡命新に対して、経済犯罪に関わった疑いのある大佐や中佐など、韓国兵六名の実名を通報した。友軍の司令官に犯罪者の摘発を要請する書簡だけに、その文章は捜査と証拠に基づいていて隙がない。
The U.S. military command further provided the Korean commander with the names of six colonels, lieutenant colonels, and other military officers thought to be involved with the economic crimes. Since this was a letter notifying the commander of an allied force about the crimes committed by his subordinates, it must have been solidly based on an investigation and evidence.

今回、米国の公文書によって初めてその存在が明らかになった、サイゴンの「韓国軍慰安所」とは、一体どのように運営されていたのか。
How was the ROK army comfort station in Saigon that has come to light through a U.S. archive document operated?

すぐにでもホーチミンに飛んで現地取材したかったが、ワシントン支局長という立場上長期間アメリカを離れる事は難しい。そこで私は、アメリカにトルコ風呂の実態やこの施設について知っている人物がいないか、改めてリサーチを開始した。
I would have wanted to fly to Vietnam immediately to investigate, but as the Washington Bureau chief, it was difficult to take leave from my job for an extended period. Therefore, I began research to find out if there was anybody in the U.S. who was knowledgeable about the sex industry in Saigon at that time or who knew about the establishment in question.

まず、当時の米軍関係者とベトナム系アメリカ人に照準を絞って、アメリカにおけるベトナム関連のネットワークを探した。関連のフォーラムに出席したり、米政府の退役軍人省のデータベースを調べたりして、連絡先の判明した関係者に虱つぶしに手紙やＥメールを送った。また、サイゴンに駐在経験のある人物の証言を得る為、ワシントン郊外バージニア州のベトナム人集住地区の新聞に情報提供を求める広告を出した。すると、ほどなくして広告を見たアメリカ人からＥメールが来た。
I focused first on former U.S. military personnel and Vietnamese-Americans and looked for Vietnam-related networks in the U.S. I attended the relevant forums, looked into the databases of the U.S. government’s Department of Veteran Affairs, and sent letters and e-mails to people with known contact information who might know. I also placed an advertisement in a newspaper in the Vietnamese community in Virginia outside Washington, asking for information. Shortly after, an American who saw the
 ad sent me an e-mail.

ハンス・イケス氏（70）。六〇年代後半にアメリカの通信インフラ会社からサイゴンに派遣され、その後数年間にわたってベトナムとアメリカを往復したというイケス氏は、今はバージニア州東部で年金生活を送っているが、若くして訪れたサイゴンは印象が強烈だったという事で、当時の街の様子を饒舌に語ってくれた。しかし、トルコ風呂について質問が及ぶと、周りを憚るように声を潜めた。
Hans Ekes [spelling not confirmed], 70, was sent by an American communication infrastructure company to Saigon in the late 1960s. Ekes, who traveled back and forth between Vietnam and the U.S. for several years, is a pensioner living in eastern Virginia. He talked at length about what Saigon was like, since the city made a strong impression on him as a young man. However, when we asked about the Turkish Bath, he suddenly lowered his voice and became wary of people around us.

「『トルコ風呂』は、当時サイゴンにいた人の間では、『射精パーラー』(Steam and Cream Parlor)と呼ばれていました。若いベトナム人女性から性的サービスを受けることが出来たからです」
“At that time, people in Saigon called the Turkish Bath a ‘steam and cream parlor’ because it was a place where you could avail yourself of the sexual services of young Vietnamese women.”

トルコ風呂の実態については徐々に明らかになってきたが、韓国軍の慰安所の存在を確実に知っている人物にはなかなか辿り着けなかった。
It became clear from the statements that the Turkish baths in Saigon at that time were another name for brothels, like in Japan in the past. However, I had difficulty finding someone who knew about the ROK army’s comfort station.

作業を続けて半年程経った頃、ベトナム戦争を戦った経験のある米軍ＯＢからＥメールが送られてきた。
About six months after I started the research, I received an e-mail from a U.S. veteran who fought in the Vietnam War.

アンドリュー・フィンライソン氏（71）。米海兵隊の歩兵部隊長として六七年から二年八カ月に渡ってベトナム戦争を戦い、サイゴンをはじめ南ベトナム各地を転戦。退役後は紛争地域の軍事顧問団として活躍し、ベトナム戦争に関する著作も発表している研究者だ。早速インタビューを申し込むと、快く応じてくれた。
Andrew Finlayson, 71, served with the U.S. Marines’ infantry unit in the Vietnam War for two years and eight months from 1967 and fought in various locations in South Vietnam. After leaving the military, he served in military adviser groups in conflict areas. He is a researcher and has published books on the Vietnam War. He agreed to be interviewed.

「休息と回復期間」の兵士
Soldiers’ “Rest and Recuperation”

朝晩の冷え込みが厳しくなってきた昨年初冬、アメリカ東海岸バージニア州の小さなホテルに現れたフィンライソン氏は、黒いタートルにジャケットを着た、温厚な容貌の紳士だった。だが、衣服越しにも明らかな分厚い胸板と鋭い眼光が、元海兵隊幹部という肩書きを裏付けていた。
In early winter last year, when it was becoming cold in the mornings and evenings, Finlayson, wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a jacket, appeared at a small hotel in Virginia. He looked like an affable gentleman but his thick chest and piercing eyes disclosed that he was a former marine officer.

その体躯とはうらはらに、フィンライソン氏の語り口は、研究者だけあってあくまで知的で静かだった。
Contrary to his looks, Finlayson, a researcher, spoke quietly with the manner of an intellectual. He said:

「韓国軍の慰安所は、確かにサイゴンにありました。よく知っています」
“There was indeed a ROK army comfort station in Saigon. I knew about it very well.”

南ベトナム各地の農村の偵察部隊の責任者として、韓国軍との連絡調整に従事した経験があり、韓国軍の実情に詳しかった。
Finlayson was responsible for reconnaissance teams in the rural villages in South Vietnam, so he was involved with liaison with the ROK army and was familiar with the situation at that time.

「米軍司令官が指摘している韓国の慰安所とは、韓国軍の兵士に奉仕するための大きな売春施設です。韓国兵士にセックスを提供するための施設です。それ以外の何ものでもありません」
“The ROK army comfort station cited by the U.S. military commander was a major sexual facility for the South Korean soldiers. It was precisely a facility for providing sexual services to these soldiers.”

フィンライソン氏によれば、問題の施設は、トルコ風呂としてはかなり大規模なものだが、サイゴン市内の別の場所には、これよりもさらに大きい慰安所があったという。施設は内部が多くのブロックに分かれていて、一区画に二十人前後のベトナム人女性が働かされていたという。
According to Finlayson, it was a Turkish bath of an enormous size. However, according to Finlayson, there was an even bigger facility in another location in Saigon. These facilities were divided into blocs inside. Around 20 Vietnamese women worked in each bloc.

韓国軍が、なぜサイゴン市内に大規模な慰安所を作らなければならなかったのかを尋ねると、フィンライソン氏は即座にこう答えた。
When asked why the ROK army had to set up large comfort stations in Saigon, Finlayson responded immediately:

「韓国兵がベトナム女性をレイプしたり、個別に性的関係を持ったりするのを防ぎたかったからです。また、韓国軍将校が農村で女性を売春婦として囲う恐れもあり、こうした行為はベトナム社会と韓国兵の間で政治的トラブルに発展する危険性がありました」
“This was to prevent South Korean soldiers from raping Vietnamese women or having individual sexual relations with them. There was also concern that South Korean officers might keep prostitutes as mistresses in Vietnamese villages. These things might develop into political trouble between the Vietnamese society and the ROK army.

「また性病の蔓延も重大な懸念でした。慰安所ならば慰安婦の健康を管理できます。当時現地では性病が大きな問題で、特に梅毒が蔓延していました」
“Venereal diseases were also a serious concern for the armed forces. It would be possible to manage the health of the comfort women at the comfort stations. At that time, venereal disease was a serious problem in South Vietnam. Syphilis was particularly rampant.”

ベトナム戦争当時、一定期間前線で戦った韓国軍の兵士は、「休息と回復期間（Rest & Recuperation）」として戦地を離れ、サイゴンで休養する事を許された。この「静養中」の韓国兵がサイゴンや近郊の農村でトラブルを起こしたり、性病に罹ったりしないよう、韓国軍が韓国兵のための慰安所を、サイゴン市内に設置したというのだ。
During the Vietnam War, South Korean soldiers who fought on the front lines for a certain period of time were allowed to leave the battlefield for R&R (rest and recuperation) in Saigon. Apparently, the ROK army set up comfort stations in Saigon for the soldiers so that they would not make trouble in Saigon and the nearby villages while on R&R and to prevent the spread of venereal disease.

では韓国兵士の相手をさせられたベトナム人の慰安婦とは、どんな女性たちだったのか。
Who were the Vietnamese women made to serve the South Korean soldiers?

フィンライソン氏は、そのほとんどがベトナム各地の農村の少女だったと断言した。
Finlayson said they were almost invariably young girls from the rural villages in Vietnam.

「こうした売春施設で働いている女性はほぼ例外なく農村部出身のきわめて若い女性でした。
“Women who worked in these brothels were almost invariably very young girls from the rural areas.

彼女達が施設に来た理由は様々です。貧困のために家族に売られてきた少女もいたし、自らの意思で来た女性もいた。彼女たちは、職を失って慰安婦となった。 騙されて連れてこられた女性も当然いたでしょう」
“They were there for various reasons. There were girls who were sold by their families due to poverty. Some went there of their own free will. They lost their jobs and became comfort women. For sure, there were also women who were deceived and brought there.”

同書簡には、この施設は韓国兵専用の慰安所として設立されたが、米軍など友軍の兵士も特別に利用する事ができ、その場合は一回につき三十八ドルが請求されたと書かれている。
The letter mentioned earlier wrote that while this facility was set up as a comfort station for the sole benefit of the Korean troops, U.S. soldiers and members of other allied forces were given special access, in which case, they were charged $38 each time. Finlayson explained why this happened.

施設に行った事があるという別の米軍ＯＢは、匿名を条件に次のように証言した。
A U.S. veteran who had once gone to the facility provided the following information on the condition of anonymity:

「ほとんどが十代の少女だった。十六歳だという少女もいたし、もっと幼く見える女の子もいた。こうした農村出身の素直で華奢な少女に夢中になる兵士も多く、こうした者は『Yellow Fever（黄熱病）』と揶揄されていた」
“Most of the women who worked in the Turkish baths were girls from the rural villages under 20 years old. Some said they were 16 and others looked even younger. Many soldiers went so gaga over these simple petite girls that they were ridiculed as having the ‘yellow fever’.”

ニュージャージー州に住む七十代前半のこの人物は、問題の慰安所は隣接する複数の家屋を併せた大規模な施設で、通りの向かい側にも別棟があったと語った。その後の調査で、この施設が入っていた建物はホーチミン市内に現存する事が確認されたが、隣接する地番が一体となって雑居ビルを構成している点など現地の状況は完全に一致していた。ベトナム人慰安婦の多くが年端も行かぬ少女だったという驚くべき証言だったが、十分に信頼しうると感じた。
This man in his 70s and living in New Jersey said that the comfort station in question was a large-scale facility including several adjacent buildings, and an annex across the street. On later investigation, I confirmed that the building housing this facility actually still exists today, and that this facility was operated together with two adjacent buildings and there was also an annex across the street, matching his description. I felt that his incredible account that the majority of the
Vietnamese comfort women were minors was reliable.

韓国軍慰安所が友軍の兵士を受け入れた理由については、フィンライソン氏はこう説明した。
Finlayson gave the following reasons for why friendly forces were accepted at a Korean Comfort Women facility.

韓国の国家としての意思
South Korean Government Policy?

「『休息期間』でサイゴンに滞在する韓国兵の数は時期や季節によってばらつきがありました。このため、そもそもは韓国兵専用として設立された施設ですが、韓国兵の数が少ない時期に、友軍の兵士も受け入れるようになっていったのです」
“There were seasonal fluctuations in the number of South Korean soldiers coming to Saigon for R&R. Therefore, this facility set up for the exclusive use of ROK troops came to accept soldiers of the allied forces during low seasons.”

私が投げかけるあらゆる質問に対して、フィンライソン氏の答えは簡潔かつ明快だった。そしてその解説は、それまでに読み込んだ公文書の内容や関係者からの聞き取りと、ぴったりと一致していた。
Finlayson was unequivocal in answering all my questions. His explanation also corresponded completely with what I had learned from archive documents and interviews with informed sources.

もちろん、韓国軍による慰安所設置の経緯、規模、運営実態など、今後解明されなければならない事は多い。しかしフィンライソン氏への一時間半に渡るインタビューを終え、ベトナム戦争当時「都市型慰安所」とでもいうべき、これまで知られていなかった施設が存在したという点については、確信を持つに至った。
After the 90-minute meeting with Finlayson, I felt that several of the questions I had had throughout my 15 months of information gathering were answered. For sure, many facts still need to be uncovered regarding how the ROK army set up the comfort stations, their size, and how they were operated. However, there is no doubt that what could be called “urban comfort stations” set up by the ROK army existed in Saigon during the Vietnam War.

では、韓国軍の慰安所経営について、ベトナムの人々はどう受け止めるのだろうか。南ベトナム政府の元官僚で現在はワシントン郊外に住むグエン・ゴック・ビック博士に話を聞く事ができた。
So, how do the Vietnamese feel about the ROK army’s comfort stations? I asked Dr. Nguyen Goc Bich, a former Vietnamese government official who now resides in Washington.

ビック博士とは、昨年夏ワシントンで開かれたベトナム戦争五十周年の記念フォーラムで出会った。中部の港湾都市ダナンで生まれサイゴンで育ったビック博士は、ベトナム戦争が本格化する直前の五八年にアメリカに渡り、コロンビア大学や京都大学などに留学した後、複数のアメリカの大学で教鞭をとったアジア文学の研究者だ。
I met Bich at a forum commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War in Washington last summer. He was born in the port city of Danang in central Vietnam and grew up in Saigon. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1958, shortly before the Vietnam War intensified. He is a scholar who taught Asian literature at several U.S. universities after studying at Colombia University and Kyoto University.

ベトナム戦争時の韓国軍による虐殺などの蛮行については詳しく知っていたが、慰安所の事は知らなかったという。ビック博士は小柄で白髪の温厚な紳士だが、問題の書簡を読んでもらうと見る見る顔つきが厳しくなった。
He was familiar with the killings and other atrocities committed by the ROK army during the Vietnam War but did not know about the comfort stations. Bich is a pleasant gray-haired gentleman, but after reading the letter in question, his facial expression hardened.

「韓国軍がベトナム人に対して酷いことをしたのであれば、うやむやにすることは絶対にできません」
“If the South Korean army had indeed done those terrible things to the Vietnamese, our people will absolutely not overlook this fact.

アメリカ在住のベトナム人団体の議長も務めるビック博士は、ベトナム人について「二千年前の出来事でも昨日のことのように話す民族」であるという。
Bich, who also chairs an organization of Vietnamese in America, said that the Vietnamese people “talk about events 2,000 years ago as if they happened yesterday.”

「犯罪や酷い行為が行われたのならば、それは日本人だろうが韓国人だろうがベトナム人だろうがアメリカ人だろうが、悪いものは悪いのです」
“If crimes and hideous acts were committed, evil is evil whether Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese or Americans were responsible.”

「我々は良心に従って韓国と向き合い、調査し、交渉をして、白黒はっきりつけなければならない。真実が分からない限り、いつまでも問題は解決しないし、国家間の関係を害することになる」
“We must talk to the ROK, conduct investigations, negotiate, and find out the facts following our conscience. This issue cannot be resolved and will continue to poison bilateral relations unless we find out the truth.”

ビック博士が最も強調したのが、慰安所設置に踏み切った、韓国の国家としての意思だ。
Bich was most interested in whether the setting up of comfort stations was a ROK government decision.

「一部の不良がやっていた違法行為でなく、韓国政府が政策としてやっていたのなら、看過されるべきではない。国家が関与したこういう行為は、決して正当化する事はできないのです」
“If this was not an act by a bunch of bad guys and was the result of an ROK government policy, it should not be overlooked. There is no way to justify such an act if the state was involved.”

「軍の規律維持」と「性病防止」のために、韓国政府と韓国軍が組織的に慰安所を設置、運営したのであれば、そこには明白な国家の意思が存在することになる。そしてその構図は、韓国政府が繰り返し厳しく批判する日本軍の慰安所と全く同じだ。
If the ROK government and army were involved in the systematic operation of comfort stations for the sake of maintaining the armed forces’ discipline and preventing venereal disease, this was certainly a government action. And this was a system that was exactly the same as the Japanese Imperial Army’s comfort stations that the ROK government has criticized relentlessly.

だがそれもそのはず、当時の大統領・朴正煕は、日本の陸軍士官学校を卒業し、太平洋戦争では日本軍兵士として満州各地を転戦した経歴を持つ。それだけに、日本軍の慰安所の仕組みと機能を熟知していた。また、問題の書簡を受け取った蔡命新司令官は、六一年に朴正煕がクーデターを起こした直後に幹部に抜擢した、腹心中の腹心だ。
Perhaps this was understandable. The president at that time, Park Chung-hee, fought in Manchuria as a member of the Japanese army during the Pacific War after he graduated from a military academy in Japan. He must have been very familiar with the operation and functions of the Japanese army’s comfort stations. Commander Chae Myung Shin, the addressee of the letter, was given a high level position shortly after Park Chung-hee succeeded in his coup d’etat in 1961. He was one of Park’s closest
 confidants.

蔡命新は、九四年に執筆した自叙伝『死線幾たび』の中で、朝鮮戦争当時韓国軍が慰安所を運営していた事実を認めている。
Chae admitted that the ROK army set up comfort stations during the Korean War in his autobiography published in 1994.

朝鮮戦争終結後、わずか十年余でベトナム戦争に参戦した韓国軍が、ベトナムでも慰安所を経営するのはごく自然な成り行きだっただろう。朴正煕と蔡命新という政軍両トップの存在があったからこそ、ベトナム戦争でも韓国軍が慰安所経営に踏み切ったともいえる。
It would be quite natural for the ROK army, which participated in the Vietnam War less than 10 years after the end of the Korean War, to operate comfort stations. It can be said that the decision to operate comfort stations was made during the Vietnam War precisely because Park and Chae headed the government and the armed forces at that time.

一方、朴正煕の娘である朴槿恵大統領は、私が渡米して以降も、日本軍の慰安所について国際社会で厳しく糾弾し続けていた。 昨秋の国連総会では、世界に向けてこう演説した。
Meanwhile, Park Chung-hee’s daughter, President Park Geun-hye, has persisted in criticizing harshly the Japanese army’s comfort stations in the international community. She told the world in her address to the UN General Assembly last fall:

「戦時の女性に対する性暴力は、時代、地域を問わず、 明らかに人権と人道主義に反する行為だ」
“Sexual violence against women in wartime is a clear violation of human rights and humanism regardless of time and place.”

韓国軍によるベトナムでの慰安所経営がアメリカの公文書によって明らかになった今、朴槿恵大統領は自ら発した言葉に自ら応える義務を負った。
Now that an official U.S. document has shown that the ROK army operated a comfort station in Vietnam, President Park has to take responsibility for her own words.

彼女が慰安婦問題を、反日を煽る内政や外交のツールではなく、真に人権問題として捉えているのであれば、サイゴンで韓国兵の相手をさせられたベトナムの少女に思いを致すだろう。何人の少女が、どのような経緯で慰安婦にされたのか。意に反して慰安婦になる事を強いられた女性はいなかったのか。どんな環境で働かされたのかなど、率先して調査するだろう。韓国の元慰安婦に対して行ったのと同じように。
If she truly regards the comfort women issue as a human rights issue and not as a tool in domestic politics and foreign affairs, she ought to think of the young Vietnamese girls who serviced the South Korean soldiers in Saigon. How many girls were made to work as comfort women under what circumstances? Were there not women forced to become comfort women against their will? She should take the lead in investigating their working conditions, just like what was done for the former South Korean comfort women.

そして、韓国軍慰安所と日本軍慰安所は、どこが同じでどこが異なっていたのか調査し、何が問題で何が問題でないのか検証するだろう。こうした公正な姿勢によってのみ、日韓両国の慰安婦問題が整理され、両国が真の和解に向かう礎が生まれると私は信じる。
She ought to investigate the similarities and differences between the South Korean and Japanese comfort stations and find out what were the issues with these facilities. I believe it is only by taking an impartial approach that the comfort women issue in both countries can be sorted out and the foundation for the two countries to achieve true reconciliation can be laid.

しかし、もし韓国政府がこの問題を黙殺したり、調査もせず否定したりするなら、彼らこそ都合の悪い事実に背を向け、歴史を直視しない国家である事を、国際社会に対して自ら証明する事になる。
However, if the ROK government suppresses this issue and denies it without even conducting an investigation, it will be proving to the international community that it is the ROK that is a country that turns a blind eye to inconvenient facts and refuses to face history squarely.

Racism America & Sex Slaves [ 8 TIPS you need to know about Comfort Women before taking sides] By Yujiro Taniyama

#ComfortWomen #AcademicFreedom #ComfortWomenPropagandeDeception

This is the video produced by Yujiro Taniyama.

Samurai Democracy. We broadcast, you decide. "SCOTTSBORO GIRLS" Trailer : http://JapanBroadcasting.net/Scottsboro
WARNING! : The speaker adores mocking BS like Mr Lance Armstrong, as well as obnoxious figures of shameless dishonesty. Please continue to watch this content only if you have the eligibility to understand cynical expressions, and the guts to face the reality over this controversy.

Racism America & Sex Slaves [ 8 TIPS you need ...

#StopChinesePropaganda #StopKoreanPropaganda #BiasedHistory #StopRacism
#SouthKorea #FreedomofSpeech #HumanRights #Hate #Harassment #AntiJapan #SexSlave

Korea / Human Trafficking & Sex Trade in Nepal

#ComfortWomen #AcademicFreedom #慰安婦
#ComfortWomenPropagandaDeception

ネパールの女性たちも韓国へ人身売買されている。
Girls and young women in these communities have long been targeted by traffickers, who abduct them and force them into sex work.
The UN and local NGOs estimate 12,000 to 15,000 girls a year are trafficked from Nepal. Some are taken overseas, to South Korea and as far as South Africa.

#BoycottMadeinKorea #BrainwashingEducation #ForgedHistory #BiasedHistory
#ChinesePropaganda #SouthKorea #FreedomofSpeech #HumanRights #FreeSpeech #Fascism #Hate #Harassment #AntiJapan #ParkGeunhye #朴槿惠 #言論弾圧 #産経 #言論の自由 #南朝鮮 #韓国 #ファシズム #反日 #StopRacism #仏像返せ

www.theguardian.com

A brilliant speech to a joint-session of the United States Congress by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan's Address to a ...

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished members of the Senate and the House, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Back in June, 1957, Nobusuke Kishi, my grandfather, standing right here, as Prime Minister of Japan, began his address, by saying, and I quote,

"It is because of our strong belief in democratic principles and ideals that Japan associates herself with the free nations of the world."

58 years have passed. Today, I am honored to stand here as the first Japanese Prime Minister ever to address your joint meeting. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to you for inviting me.

I have lots of things to tell you. But I am here with no ability, nor the intention, ....to filibuster.

As I stand in front of you today, the names of your distinguished colleagues that Japan welcomed as your ambassadors come back to me: the honorable Mike Mansfield, Walter Mondale, Tom Foley, and Howard Baker.

On behalf of the Japanese people, thank you so very much for sending us such shining champions of democracy.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy also embodies the tradition of American democracy. Thank you so much, Ambassador Kennedy, for all the dynamic work you have done for all of us.

We all miss Senator Daniel Inouye, who symbolized the honor and achievements of Japanese-Americans.

America and I

Ladies and gentlemen, my first encounter with America goes back to my days as a student, when I spent a spell in California.

A lady named Catherine Del Francia let me live in her house.

She was a widow, and always spoke of her late husband saying, “You know, he was much more handsome than Gary Cooper.” She meant it. She really did.

In the gallery, you see, my wife, Akie, is there. I don't dare ask what she says about me.

Mrs. Del Francia’s Italian cooking was simply out of this world. She was cheerful, and so kind, as to let lots and lots of people stop by at her house.

They were so diverse. I was amazed and said to myself,"America is an awesome country."

Later, I took a job at a steelmaker, and I was given the chance to work in New York.

Here in the U.S. rank and hierarchy are neither here nor there. People advance based on merit. When you discuss things you don’t pay much attention to who is junior or senior. You just choose the best idea, no matter who the idea was from.

This culture intoxicated me.

So much so, after I got elected as a member of the House, some of the old guard in my party would say, "hey, you’re so cheeky, Abe."

American Democracy and Japan

As for my family name, it is not “Eighb.”

Some Americans do call me that every now and then, but I don’t take offense.

That's because, ladies and gentlemen, the Japanese, ever since they started modernization, have seen the very foundation for democracy in that famous line in the Gettysburg Address.

The son of a farmer-carpenter can become the President... The fact that such a country existed woke up the Japanese of the late 19th century to democracy.

For Japan, our encounter with America was also our encounter with democracy. And that was more than 150 years ago, giving us a mature history together.

World War II Memorial

Before coming over here, I was at the World War II Memorial. It was a place of peace and calm that struck me as a sanctuary. The air was filled with the sound of water breaking in the fountains.

In one corner stands the Freedom Wall. More than 4,000 gold stars shine on the wall.

I gasped with surprise to hear that each star represents the lives of 100 fallen soldiers.

I believe those gold stars are a proud symbol of the sacrifices in defending freedom. But in those gold stars, we also find the pain, sorrow, and love for family of young Americans who otherwise would have lived happy lives.

Pearl Harbor, Bataan Corregidor, Coral Sea.... The battles engraved at the Memorial crossed my mind, and I reflected upon the lost dreams and lost futures of those young Americans.

History is harsh. What is done cannot be undone.

With deep repentance in my heart, I stood there in silent prayers for some time.

My dear friends, on behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during World War II.

Late Enemy, Present Friend

Ladies and gentlemen, in the gallery today is Lt. Gen. Lawrence Snowden.

Seventy years ago in February, he landed on Iōtō, or the island of Iwo Jima, as a captain in command of a company.

In recent years, General Snowden has often participated in the memorial services held jointly by Japan and the U.S. on Iōtō.

He said, and I quote, “We didn’t and don’t go to Iwo Jima to celebrate victory, but for the solemn purpose to pay tribute to and honor those who lost their lives on both sides.”

Next to General. Snowden sits Diet Member Yoshitaka Shindo, who is a former member of my Cabinet. His grandfather, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, whose valor we remember even today, was the commander of the Japanese garrison during the Battle of Iwo Jima.

What should we call this, if not a miracle of history?

Enemies that had fought each other so fiercely have become friends bonded in spirit.

To General Snowden, I say that I pay tribute to your efforts for reconciliation. Thank you so very much.

America and Post-War Japan

Post war, we started out on our path bearing in mind feelings of deep remorse over the war. Our actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries. We must not avert our eyes from that. I will uphold the views expressed by the previous prime ministers in this regard.

We must all the more contribute in every respect to the development of Asia. We must spare no effort in working for the peace and prosperity of the region.

Reminding ourselves of all that, we have come all this way. I am proud of this path we have taken.

70 years ago, Japan had been reduced to ashes.

Then came each and every month from the citizens of the United States gifts to Japan like milk for our children and warm sweaters, and even goats. Yes, from America, 2,036 goats came to Japan.

And it was Japan that received the biggest benefit from the very beginning by the post-war economic system that the U.S. had fostered by opening up its own market and calling for a liberal world economy.

Later on, from the 1980’s, we saw the rise of the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, the ASEAN countries, and before long, China as well.

This time, Japan too devotedly poured in capital and technologies to support their growths.

Meanwhile in the U.S., Japan created more employment than any other foreign nation but one, coming second only to the U.K.

TPP

In this way, prosperity was fostered first by the U.S., and second by Japan. And prosperity is nothing less than the seedbed for peace.

Involving countries in Asia-Pacific whose backgrounds vary, the U.S. and Japan must take the lead. We must take the lead to build a market that is fair, dynamic, sustainable, and is also free from the arbitrary intentions of any nation.

In the Pacific market, we cannot overlook sweat shops or burdens on the environment. Nor can we simply allow free riders on intellectual property.

No. Instead, we can spread our shared values around the world and have them take root: the rule of law, democracy, and freedom.

That is exactly what the TPP is all about.

Furthermore, the TPP goes far beyond just economic benefits. It is also about our security. Long-term, its strategic value is awesome. We should never forget that.

The TPP covers an area that accounts for 40 per cent of the world economy, and one third of global trade. We must turn the area into a region for lasting peace and prosperity.

That is for the sake of our children and our children's children.

As for U.S. - Japan negotiations, the goal is near. Let us bring the TPP to a successful conclusion through our joint leadership.

Reforms for a Stronger Japan

As a matter of fact, I have something I can tell you now.

It was about 20 years ago. The GATT negotiations for agriculture were going on.

I was much younger, and like a ball of fire, and opposed to opening Japan's agricultural market. I even joined farmers' representatives in a rally in front of the Parliament.

However, Japan’s agriculture has gone into decline over these last 20 years. The average age of our farmers has gone up by 10 years and is now more than 66 years old.

Japan's agriculture is at a crossroads. In order for it to survive, it has to change now.

We are bringing great reforms toward the agriculture policy that's been in place for decades. We are also bringing sweeping reforms to our agricultural cooperatives that have not changed in 60 long years.

Corporate governance in Japan is now fully in line with global standards, because we made it stronger.

Rock-solid regulations are being broken in such sectors as medicine and energy. And I am the spearhead.

To turn around our depopulation, I am determined to do whatever it takes. We are changing some of our old habits to empower women so they can get more actively engaged in all walks of life.

In short, Japan is right in the middle of a quantum leap.

My dear members of the Congress, please do come and see the new Japan, where we have regained our spirit of reform and our sense of speed.

Japan will not run away from any reforms. We keep our eyes only on the road ahead and push forward with structural reforms.

That's TINA: There Is No Alternative. And there is no doubt about it whatsoever.

Post War Peace and Japan's Choice

My dear colleagues, the peace and security of the post-war world was not possible without American leadership.

Looking back, it makes me happy all the time that Japan of years past made the right decision.

As I told you at the outset, citing my grandfather, that decision was to choose a path.

That's the path for Japan to ally itself with the U.S., and to go forward as a member of the Western world.

In the end, together with the U.S. and other like-minded democracies, we won the Cold War.

That's the path that made Japan grow and prosper. And even today, there is no alternative.

The Alliance: its Mission for the Region

My dear colleagues, we support the “rebalancing” by the U.S. in order to enhance the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region.

And I will state clearly. We will support the U.S. effort first, last, and throughout.

Japan has deepened its strategic relations with Australia and India. We are enhancing our cooperation across many fields with the countries of ASEAN and the Republic of Korea.

Adding those partners to the central pillar that is the U.S.-Japan alliance, our region will get stable remarkably more.

Now, Japan will provide up to 2.8 billion dollars in assistance to help improve U.S. bases in Guam, which will gain strategic significance even more in the future.

As regards the state of Asian waters, let me underscore here my three principles.

First, states shall make their claims based on international law.

Second, they shall not use force or coercion to drive their claims.

And third, to settle disputes, any disputes, they shall do so by peaceful means.

We must make the vast seas stretching from the Pacific to the Indian Oceans seas of peace and freedom, where all follow the rule of law.

For that very reason we must fortify the U.S.-Japan alliance. That is our responsibility.

Now, let me tell you.

In Japan we are working hard to enhance the legislative foundations for our security.

Once in place, Japan will be much more able to provide a seamless response for all levels of crisis.

These enhanced legislative foundations should make the cooperation between the U.S. military and Japan's Self Defense Forces even stronger, and the alliance still more solid, providing credible deterrence for the peace in the region.

This reform is the first of its kind and a sweeping one in our post-war history. We will achieve this by this coming summer.

Now, I have something to share with you.

The day before yesterday Secretaries Kerry and Carter met our Foreign Minister Kishida and Defense Minister Nakatani for consultations.

As a result, we now have a new framework. A framework to better put together the forces of the U.S. and Japan.

A framework that is in line with the legislative attempts going on in Japan.

That is what's necessary to build peace, more reliable peace in the region. And that is namely the new Defense Cooperation Guidelines.

Yesterday, President Obama and I fully agreed on the significance of these Guidelines.

Ladies and gentlemen, we agreed on a document that is historic.

Japan's New Banner

In the early 1990s, in the Persian Gulf Japan's Self-Defense Forces swept away sea mines.

For 10 years in the Indian Ocean, Japanese Self-Defense Forces supported your operation to stop the flow of terrorists and arms.

Meanwhile in Cambodia, the Golan Heights, Iraq, Haiti, and South Sudan, members of our Self-Defense Forces provided humanitarian support and peace keeping operations. Their number amounts to 50,000.

Based on this track record, we are resolved to take yet more responsibility for the peace and stability in the world.

It is for that purpose we are determined to enact all necessary bills by this coming summer. And we will do exactly that.

We must make sure human security will be preserved in addition to national security. That's our belief, firm and solid.

We must do our best so that every individual gets education, medical support, and an opportunity to rise to be self-reliant.

Armed conflicts have always made women suffer the most. In our age, we must realize the kind of world where finally women are free from human rights abuses.

Our servicemen and women have made substantial accomplishments. So have our aid workers who have worked so steadily.

Their combined sum has given us a new self-identity.

That's why we now hold up high a new banner that is "proactive contribution to peace based on the principle of international cooperation."

Let me repeat. "Proactive contribution to peace based on the principle of international cooperation" should lead Japan along its road for the future.

Problems we face include terrorism, infectious diseases, natural disasters and climate change.

The time has come for the U.S.-Japan alliance to face up to and jointly tackle those challenges that are new.

After all our alliance has lasted more than a quarter of the entire history of the United States.

It is an alliance that is sturdy, bound in trust and friendship, deep between us.

No new concept should ever be necessary for the alliance that connects us, the biggest and the second biggest democratic powers in the free world, in working together.

Always, it is an alliance that cherishes our shared values of the rule of law, respect for human rights and freedom.

Hope for the future

When I was young in high school and listened to the radio, there was a song that flew out and shook my heart.

It was a song by Carol King.

“When you're down and troubled, ...close your eyes and think of me, and I'll be there to brighten up even your darkest night.”

And that day, March 11, 2011, a big quake, a tsunami, and a nuclear accident hit the northeastern part of Japan.

The darkest night fell upon Japan.

But it was then we saw the U.S. armed forces rushing to Japan to the rescue at a scale never seen or heard before.

Lots and lots of people from all corners of the U.S. extended the hand of assistance to the children in the disaster areas.

Yes, we've got a friend in you.

Together with the victims you shed tears. You gave us something, something very, very precious.

That was hope, hope for the future.

Ladies and gentlemen, the finest asset the U.S. has to give to the world was hope, is hope, will be, and must always be hope.

Distinguished representatives of the citizens of the United States, let us call the U.S.-Japan alliance, an alliance of hope.

Let the two of us, America and Japan, join our hands together and do our best to make the world a better, a much better, place to live.

Alliance of hope.... Together, we can make a difference.

Thank you so much.

AIIBと米国外交についての戯言

世界最重要の意志決定機関がG7からG20に交代し、米英が西欧諸国や日本、カナダなどを率いる形で先進諸国を団結させる組織としてのG7は衰退した。同じように米英の地位も衰退したのだと、最近のAIIB参加問題を取り上げるときに説明されることがある。

確かに米国の地位は国際的取り決めの多くがG7からG20でなされる傾向によって落ち続けているように見える。また、G7における米英の指導的役割もG20では目立たなくならざるを得ない。
しかし、その背景にあるのは米国の衰退ではない。米国の国家的資源を活かしきれていないオバカ民主政権の内向的思考にあるのだ。

オバカは、ソ連崩壊後の社会における「大規模な平和の配当」を国民皆保険、教育、雇用に充てようとしたE.M.ケネディの発想をまねている。

アフガン、イラク戦後の米国財政をブッシュ共和党政権の責任だと位置づけ、世界唯一のスーパーパワーである地位を維持するために、「大規模な平和の配当」金を費やしてはいけないと考えた。そして「大規模な平和の配当」金は、国民皆保険、教育、雇用に充てられるべきだと考え、それを実行した。

そのために「もはや米国は世界唯一のスーパーパワーではない」と世界に宣伝さえした。この巧妙な宣伝により世界は惑わされてきた。同盟国ですらだ。

その結果が、同盟国をして現在の米国離れを引き起こしているに過ぎない。
依然として米国は世界唯一のスーパーパワーなのだ。
AIIBは、米国の政策次第では「机上の空論」と化す。

ただし、米国が「その気になれば」である。

米国と西側諸国が戦わねばならない敵はオバカの宣伝を利用し、少しづつ台頭し続けている。敵が実力をつけ実力で攻撃可能となるまで座して待つのが「外交」というのなら、そのつけは高くつくだろう。

The Extraction about "Comfort Women Issue" From Overview of IWG Final Report to Congress

Followings are the sentences extracted and cited from ;

Nazi War Crimes &
Japanese Imperial Government Records
Interagency Working Group
Final Report to the United States Congress
April 2007

http://www.archives.gov/iwg/reports/final-report-2007.pdf

(A $30 million US Government Study specifically searched for evidence on Comfort Women allegations. After nearly seven years with many dozens of staff pouring through US archives -- and 30 million dollars down the drain -- we found a grand total of nothing. Nobody should be writing about Comfort Women issues without reading this report cover to cover. If you do not have time for the whole report, do a search inside the report for Comfort Women, and carefully read those parts:) the sentences cited from Michael Yon "The Truth Behind The Comfort Women"

I'd be glad if you could have time to visit his video "The Truth Behind The Comfort Women" The IWG (Interagency Working Group) and Global Alliance, Who is behind the Comfort Women Propaganda Deception?   https://youtu.be/jlyHZWvGL20

P20
Japan Under Scrutiny

Public interest in Japanese war crimes arose intermittently in the postwar period as the stories of victims received public notice as a result of historical and popular studies and media attention. Books such as the late Sheldon Harris’ 1994 Factories of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare 1932-1945 and the American Cover-up and the late Iris Chang’s 1997 best seller, The Rape of Nanking, helped give the subject visibility.44

The earliest groups to receive attention were American POWs and civilian internees who made claims under the War Claims Act after its passage in 1948. However, mistreated POWs, sex slaves (the so-called “comfort women”), civilian internees, and forced laborers remained dissatisfied with the extent of compensation—if any—for their suffering. Even more of an irritant to these groups, however, has been the failure of the Japanese Government to apologize fully for its wartime behavior with regard to acts of cruelty such as harsh forced labor, conditions aboard the POW transports known as “hell ships,” and the criminal brutality of the Bataan Death March. Victims have repeatedly called for redress, citing as precedent settlements in the late 1990s between victims of Nazi looting and the German Government and Swiss banks.

In the 1990s, no fewer than 16 measures dealing with Japanese war crimes were introduced in the Congress in attempts to secure some sort of redress for victims.45 For instance, in 1997 a joint resolution was introduced in Congress that expressed a number of groups’ frustration with the stance of the United States and Japanese governments with respect to Japanese accountability for war crimes committed by Imperial Japan. House Concurrent Resolution 126 sought to express the sense of Congress concerning war crimes committed by the Japanese military during World War II. After listing particular offenses, characterized as “atrocious crimes against humanity,”the resolution called on Japan to

(1) formally issue a clear and unambiguous apology for the atrocious war crimes committed by the Japanese military during World War II; and

(2) immediately pay reparations to the victims of those crimes, including United States military and civilian prisoners of war, people of Guam who were subjected to violence and imprisonment, survivors of the “Rape of Nanjing” from December, 1937, until February, 1938, and the women who were forced into sexual slavery and known by the Japanese military as “comfort women.”46

Although not passed, the resolution recognized the longstanding frustration of victims and registered dissatisfaction with the Government’s position that American lawsuits against Japan and Japanese companies over war crimes were precluded by the 1951 Peace Treaty between the United States and Japan, despite side agreements providing Americans with treatment comparable to that of compensated victims in other countries.
The movement to call Japan to account stemmed in part from dissatisfaction with perceived postwar leniency toward Japan and Japanese war criminals, a leniency that was part of the effort to get that country firmly in the American camp during the Cold War.

By February 2000, more than a dozen class-action lawsuits had been filed in the United States against Japanese corporations by former Allied prisoners of war, civilian internees, and Asian slave laborers. Additional suits were filed and in preparation for Japanese courts seeking redress for “comfort women,” slave laborers, and other victims of Japanese crimes, all of whom demanded a Japanese apology and compensation from Japanese courts. The Simon Wiesenthal Center lobbied Attorney General Janet Reno and the Pentagon for the release of U.S. documents concerning amnesties granted to Japanese war criminals, including amnesties granted to supervisors of Japan’s biological and chemical warfare program in exchange for the data obtained from experiments conducted on humans in the infamous Unit 731, Japan’s biological warfare unit.

_________________________________

44. Sheldon H. Harris, Factories of Death: Japanese Secret Biological Warfare, 1932-45, and the American Coverup, Rev. ed. (New York: Routledge, 2002); Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (New York: Basic Books, 1997).
45. Report by Jaryk Reynolds, “U.S. Prisoners of War and Civilian Citizens Captured and Interned by Japan in World War II:
The Issue of Compensation by Japan” (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, July 7, 2001).
46. House Concurrent Resolution 126 “Expressing the Sense of Congress Concerning War Crimes Committed By the Japanese Military During WWII,” 105th Congress. Available online at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_bills&docid=f:hc126ih.txt.
________________________________

P26
Statutory Functions of the IWG

The Disclosure Acts required the IWG to locate classified Nazi and Japanese war criminal and war-crimes related records held by the United States, recommend the declassification of these records, and make them available to the public (with specific exceptions). The following sections detail the IWG’s approach to implementing the acts (illustrated by figure 3).58

Locating Records

On February 22, 1999, Samuel Berger, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, directed agencies to begin implementing the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act.59 He ordered agencies to undertake a preliminary survey of their records, directing them to “take an expansive view of the act in making this survey and in subsequent identification of records and declassification review.” He attached to his memorandum the IWG’s initial guidance to the agencies, clarifying the types and topics of records considered relevant and reiterating the open spirit of the law. “To the extent permitted by law,” he stated, “such guidance should be considered authoritative.” He issued a similar directive on December 5, 2000, to initiate the search for Japanese war crimes related records.60

IWG Guidance on Preliminary Surveys

The IWG directed agencies to include in their preliminary surveys any records that were likely to contain information on war crimes, war criminals, acts of persecution, and looting of assets. Although the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act targeted records of crimes committed 1933–45 in particular geographic locations, relevant records could be dated up to the present, and they could be located among Government records relating to any country in the world. In his December 5, 2000, memorandum, Berger directed agencies to locate records held by the U.S. Government relating to war crimes committed by agents of the Government of Japan during the period 1931–45, although the records themselves could have been created later. The IWG advised agencies to give particular attention to locating any records related to topics of great interest to the public and to historians, particularly materials related to 

・Japanese treatment of prisoners of war and civilian internees, including any materials related to forced or slave labor;

・persecution of and atrocities against civilian populations;

・development and use of chemical and biological warfare agents, especially the work of General Ishii, medical experimentation on humans, and Unit 731;

・the so-called “comfort women” program—the Japanese systematic enslavement of women of subject populations for sexual purposes; and

・the U.S. Government decision after the war not to prosecute the Emperor and certain war criminals.

The IWG enjoined agencies to conduct their surveys with the intention of discovering and eventually declassifying as many documents as possible, not merely those that were indisputably required by a narrow interpretation of the law.

_____________________

58. Chapter 5 provides details of each agency’s implementation process.
59. These agencies were the departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Justice, State, Treasury, CIA, FBI, NARA, FRB, NASA, and USIA.
60. The Berger directives are found in appendix 6
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