Two U.S. congressmen strongly criticized an outspoken Japanese politician Wednesday for openly backing Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women during the World War II.
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto reportedly said earlier this week that pushing those women into sexual servitude was a military necessity. More than 200,000 young women from Japan's colonies are said to have been forced to serve as "comfort women," an euphemistic expression.
"Mayor Hashimoto's remarks that comfort women were 'necessary' are contemptible and repulsive," Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) said in a joint statement with Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY).
Hashimoto, who co-heads a conservative opposition party, was quoted as telling reporters in Osaka earlier this week that they were "needed to provide rest to a group of brave soldiers who were exalted in the line of fire."
"Why is the Japanese 'comfort women' system only blamed?" he asked, according to Japan's Kyodo News Service. "Other countries had similar schemes at the time."
Reports of his remarks have sparked furor in South Korea and some other Asian nations that suffered from Japan's past atrocities.
"Mayor Hashimoto's comments demonstrate why a formal acknowledgement, apology, and acceptance of historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner by the Government of Japan is still necessary," said Honda, who introduced a 2007 resolution calling on Japan to formally apologize for the sexual enslavement.
Israel also lashed out at the mayor's comments, saying he was "disgusted" by them.
"I strongly condemn Mayor Hashimoto's remarks and continue to urge the Japanese Government to offer a formal acknowledgement and apology for the atrocities committed by its Imperial Armed Forces during World War II," he said.
In Tokyo, South Korea's top envoy in Japan also accused Hashimoto of lacking respect for women's rights.
"Following Mayor Hashimoto's remarks, I felt disappointed with the understanding of history and the lack of respect for women's rights among politicians who are supposed to be Japan's leaders," Amb. Shin Kak-soo said at the Japan National Press Club. (Yonhap News)
