This essay documents how the Japanese government officially informed the United Nations that major newspaper reporting on the comfort women issue had been retracted, and analyzes the profound international consequences caused by media misinformation.

2016-03-03

Yesterday, an essay by Professor Takahashi Shiro of Meisei University was published in the opinion section on page 19 of the Sankei Shimbun.

All emphasis in the text is mine.

At the review meeting on Japan held on February 16 in Geneva by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Foreign Ministry Vice-Minister Sugiyama Shinsuke responded to a question from an Austrian committee member regarding the comfort women issue by stating that erroneous reporting by Asahi Shimbun had exerted a significant influence on the international community. He pointed out that Asahi itself had acknowledged that the figure of “200,000” originated from confusion between members of the Women’s Volunteer Corps mobilized for ordinary wartime labor and comfort women.

In response, on the 18th, Asahi Shimbun submitted a written protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, citing the view of members of the “Third-Party Committee to Examine Asahi Shimbun’s Comfort Women Reporting,” including Hayashi Kaori, who claimed that there had been “no international impact,” and objected that Sugiyama’s remarks were made “without presenting evidence.”

Asahi also stated, “Our newspaper has not reported that the figure of 200,000 originated from confusion between the Women’s Volunteer Corps and comfort women.”

In response, Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio dismissed Asahi’s protest at a press conference on the 23rd, stating, “The substance of the remarks is consistent with explanations we have given to date and presents no problem.”

In fact, at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting held on September 15 the year before last, a representative of the Japanese government had already rebutted a statement by South Korea, referring to the Coomaraswamy Report, as follows:

“I wish to report that articles by a major Japanese newspaper were recently retracted based on that newspaper’s own verification. The figure of 200,000 resulted from confusion between the Women’s Volunteer Corps and comfort women, and claims of forcible abduction were shown to be falsehoods by the individual who provided the testimony. It is deeply regrettable that media information influenced these reports submitted to the United Nations.”

[Omitted]

Committee member Hayashi Kaori concluded, based on a keyword search for Yoshida Seiji, that there had been “little impact on the international community.” However, even without explicit reference to Yoshida, numerous articles clearly relied on or referred to his testimony. It is evident that had Asahi Shimbun withdrawn Yoshida’s testimony at an early stage, the harmful effects could have been prevented.

Major U.S. newspapers and Korean newspapers had not taken up the comfort women issue prior to Asahi Shimbun’s “January 1992 forcible abduction propaganda.”

For reference, an editorial in the Chosun Ilbo dated August 30, 2012 cited Asahi’s January 11, 1992 report on “military involvement” and Yoshida’s testimony as grounds for claims of forcible abduction.

[End of excerpt]