The Asahi Shimbun Must Apologize for the “Sex Slave” Lie Before Going Bankrupt
Drawing on a Royal Ballet professor’s words that artists alone reveal hidden truths, Masayuki Takayama demonstrates his role as both journalist and artist. In his Themis column, he traces slavery from biblical times to America’s founding, exposing the brutality of Washington and Jefferson, U.S. soldiers’ rapes in WWII, and Korea’s hereditary slavery. Contrastingly, Japan’s history shows military discipline and rejection of slavery. Takayama denounces the Asahi Shimbun for fabricating the Nanjing Massacre and the “300,000 sex slaves” myth, noting its collapse from eight million to three million copies. This searing critique argues that before bankruptcy, Asahi must apologize to the world for its lies—a must-read essay for Japan and beyond.
From a column by journalist Masayuki Takayama, this article uncovers the historical truth of global slavery and the conduct of the Imperial Japanese Army. It details how the United States’ medieval mindset led to slavery and how U.S. soldiers committed atrocities after WWII. The author contrasts this with the historical record of Japanese people who never practiced slavery and the discipline of the Japanese military. Takayama urges the Asahi Shimbun to apologize to the world for its fabricated “sexual slaves” reporting before it goes bankrupt due to its dwindling circulation, making this a must-read for all.
The Turntable of Civilization — Takayama Masayuki’s Column in Themis
Some time ago, an elderly female professor from the Royal Ballet School of Monaco, deeply respected by prima ballerinas worldwide, visited Japan. On that occasion, she spoke about the significance of the artist’s existence:
“The reason why artists are important is that they are the only ones capable of shedding light on hidden truths and expressing them.”
No one would dispute her words. Takayama Masayuki is not only a one-of-a-kind journalist in the postwar world but also, without exaggeration, a one-of-a-kind artist.
The following is from his serialized column in Themis, the subscription-only monthly magazine that arrived at my home yesterday. It perfectly proves my long-standing conviction: that in today’s world, no one is more deserving of the Nobel Prize in Literature than Takayama Masayuki. This is required reading not only for the Japanese people but for people everywhere.
The Asahi Shimbun Must Apologize for the “Sex Slave” Lie Before Going Bankrupt
Americans, Stuck in Medieval Thought, Raped Women and Pillaged
Washington’s Dentures Taken from Slaves
Shichihei Yamamoto once wrote, “Only the Japanese and the Jews never had slavery.”
It is a fine statement, though slightly inaccurate.
The Old Testament recounts Abraham and his wife Sarah. When she could not bear a child, Sarah gave him her female slave Hagar. Ishmael, forefather of the Arabs, was born. Later, Sarah conceived Isaac at age ninety. The legitimate son Isaac became forefather of the Jews.
There were times when Jews owned slaves, but history records that they soon lost that institution. In Isaac’s great-grandchildren’s era, the Jews left their arid homeland for the fertile Nile, only to be enslaved by Egypt. Four hundred years later, Moses led them to escape to Canaan, but they were soon enslaved again by Babylon—known as the Babylonian Captivity.
A century later, Babylon fell and the Jews returned to Canaan, only to be conquered by Rome. Three times enslaved, they scattered in the Diaspora. Thus, it was not moral superiority but continuous victimhood that kept Jews from being slave-owners.
Slavery, after all, arose as a result of conquest: victors raped women, plundered goods, and enslaved survivors. With the growth of trade, slaves became commodities. Peoples of the Volga sold Irish and Africans; they became known as Slavs—“slave peoples”—today’s Russians.
In the seventeenth century, the Westphalia Treaty outlawed privateering and conquest, paving the way toward nation-states. But the first settlers in America crossed the ocean with medieval minds intact. Hence witch hunts and the buying of Black slaves.
George Washington owned a vast slave plantation. Suffering from bad teeth, he had healthy teeth pulled from slaves and made five sets of dentures. Thomas Jefferson was worse: when European nations cracked down on the slave trade, he bred female slaves domestically for profit. After his wife’s death, he took her slave Sally Hemings as a concubine and fathered children—America’s most infamous case of sexual slavery.
Even in war, Americans kept medieval practices. Victorious, they raped and looted. After WWII, between August 29 and September 10, 1945, around Atsugi alone, there were 1,326 reported rapes by U.S. soldiers (Mary Louise Roberts, What Soldiers Do). Finance official Hayato Ikeda even had his government car seized at Hibiya Crossing by GIs.
In 1982, Congress passed the Amerasian Act, granting U.S. citizenship to children fathered by American soldiers through rape in Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand. Japan had 3,479 such cases, but in order to preserve the lie that “American soldiers are gentlemen” (John Dower), the law was never even reported here.
Korea’s Hereditary Slavery
Korea never won wars, yet maintained slaves known as nobi and baekjeong, perpetuating them through heredity until Japanese rule abolished the practice. Women lacked names until Japan required them for family registers—thus names like Ryōko and Ikue became models.
As for the Japanese, despite enduring earthquakes, eruptions, and typhoons, they never fled abroad, and thus were neither enslaved nor slave-owners. Their foreign wars were mostly victories, but they did not take slaves.
In the only major defeat, at Baekgang in 663, some were enslaved by Tang. Forty years later, envoy Awata Mahito pleaded with Empress Wu Zetian for their release, bringing them back to Japan.
The next “slaves” Japan saw were Africans brought by Jesuits. Nobunaga pitied one, took him in as retainer, and named him Yasuke. He served faithfully, carrying Nobunaga’s severed head at Honnō-ji to preserve his lord’s honor.
Even in later wars, Japanese forces avoided wanton slaughter, looting, or rape. During the Sino-Japanese War, and five years later during the Boxer Rebellion, discipline was maintained. While German forces under Waldersee pillaged Beijing, civilians fled to the Japanese-guarded legation quarter for protection from German, Russian, and American troops.
From Eight Million to Three Million: Asahi’s Fall Toward Bankruptcy
Humiliated by Japanese discipline, MacArthur sought revenge at the Tokyo Trials by falsely branding the Japanese Army as murderous, rapacious, and looting. His claims cited the Nanjing Massacre, the Bataan Death March, and Unit 731—all unsubstantiated fabrications crafted for the tribunal.
While Japanese society largely doubted these charges, only the Asahi Shimbun kowtowed, parroting MacArthur’s lies: claiming the Army used poison gas, that the Miyakonojō Regiment was the ringleader of Nanjing, and concocting the “300,000 sex slaves” myth of comfort women.
Confronted by Shinzo Abe, Asahi saw its circulation plummet from eight million to three million. Though punished for its lies, it shows no repentance. Its fabrications continue to spread worldwide, defaming Japan’s history and honor.
Before bankruptcy, Asahi must confess to the world that its “300,000 sex slaves” was a lie and correct the distortion it created.