Taiwanese aborigine former comfort woman speaking in Tokyo this Fri/Sat

I should have posted a notice about the talk by a different woman here in Kyoto a couple of weeks ago, but it just didn’t occur to me even though I went to it. Anyway, here’s the info that I got through a mailing list. No point in giving the details in English since you’d need to understand Japanese (or Taroko, which is rather unlikely) to understand anyway. I’m sure there are people with all manner of views on the comfort women issue reading this, but hearing some first-hand testimony may be interesting to any of them.

Details below, for those who may wish to attend. It mentions a “texts fee” of 1000 yen, but I believe (no promises) that it is not required for admission.

台湾の原住民であるタロコ族のイアン・アパイ(中国名:林心中)さんが
アジアフォーラムの招きで来日し、証言いたします。

イアン・アパイさんは、部落の近くに駐屯していた日本軍部隊に性暴力を受け、
流産をくりかえし、3度の結婚もすべて不幸なものとなった経験をしております。
日本軍撤退のあとは、そのまま自分の部落で生活をしましたが、後ろ指をささ
れる辛い毎日を乗り超えて今日にいたっています。
イアン・アパイさんは裁判の原告でもありました。最初、起訴状には仮名のまま
だったのですが、初来日したときに、本名と顔を出していく決意をなさった方です。

ぜひ、みなさま、この集会にご参加下さいまして、私たちもイアンアパイさんととも
にいることを伝えてくださればありがたく思います。

アジアフォーラムの集会内容は下記の通りとなっています。
●集会タイトル
なぜ私は証言するのか
~タロコ族(台湾先住民族)の日本軍「慰安婦」の証言~

日時:12月19日(金)19時から(開場18時30分)
12月20日(土)14時から(開場13時30分)

場所:神宮前区民会館4階会議室1・2号室
JR原宿駅徒歩8分
地下鉄 明治神宮前駅 徒歩2分
資料代 一般1200円(前売り1000円)

2 thoughts on “Taiwanese aborigine former comfort woman speaking in Tokyo this Fri/Sat”

  1. At perhaps its most basic definition “comfort woman” is the term used for prostitutes serving in brothels established by the Japanese army during WW2. The idea was that by having official prostitutes, they could prevent the soldiers from raping local women, which was the same logic used by the Japanese government when they set up similar brothels for American GIs during the post-war occupation.

    The general consensus seems to be is that some proportion of them were essentially slaves and possibly even kidnapped, and some larger proportion was tricked into prostitution by being promised other jobs. However, there is a LOT of controversy over the actual numbers, as well as how much coercion was involved.

    Generally, comfort women were transported from one region controlled by Japan to another and were not made to service soldiers in their home country, but some Taiwanese aborigines (like the woman who spoke last weekend in Tokyo, and two years ago in Kyoto) were reportedly forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers in the mountains of Taiwan, near their homes.

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