Hashimoto tells US to “use prostitutes” in Japan

Outspoken Osaka mayor and founder of the Japan Restoration Party, now Japan’s third largest party, Toru Hashimoto has got himself in hot water over some comments he made about the “comfort women” during the war and his recommendations for how to avoid rapes in Okinawa.

Hashimoto, no stranger to getting noticed by provocative comments, told reporters in Osaka on on Monday that the “comfort women” (local women forced into prostitution by the colonizing Japanese forces in Asia during the war) were necessary in order to maintain military discipline.

The women “were necessary in order to provide relaxation for those brave soldiers who had been in the line of fire,” he said.

He then explained that on a trip to Okinawa he told leading US military staff that troops should make more use of prostitutes to relieve sexual tension.

“I’m not merely making conversation. I want them to use sex shops more,” Hashimoto told the American.

US troops are formally forbidden from entering brothels and the number of sexual assaults on Okinawa against local women is high.

On the surface, what Hashimoto is saying is not crazy but his style is likely what is upsetting people. (Also, Osaka has the largest population of Korean-Japanese, many of whom are descended from people forcibly brought to Japan, so he should have tread more carefully given the turf he was on!)

“The wartime violations of women is a grave violation of human rights that is widely shared by the international community. The remarks by Hashimoto reveal a serious lack of perception for women’s human rights,” responded one South Korean government spokesperson.

Of course, just because “comfort women” were “necessary” it doesn’t mean they wanted to do it (and Hashimoto also admits they were forced, which many Japanese deny — including Shinzo Abe’s first government in 2007!) or that it was a nice thing, but it would be naive to suggest that armies don’t “need” sex.

Likewise, he justified his other remarks with the valid historical example of how the American Occupation forces and Japanese government organized prostitutes for the US troops immediately after the foreign troops arrived to avoid large-scale rape… It basically worked, though I’m sure it was horrible for the women involved.

Shintaro Ishihara, who is co-leader of Hashimoto’s party and well-known for his own verbal gaffes, said: “Any military is commonly associated with prostitution. It’s a principle of history and by no means preferable. But Hashimoto is not saying anything wrong, basically.”

Washington apparently responded that Hashimoto’s comments were “ridiculous”.