1. Who is Abe Shinzo?
Abe Shinzo's father was Abe Shintaro, who held various key government positions including Foreign Minister and was at one point a candidate for an LDP presidential election. Abe Shinzo used his father's coattails to get elected to the Diet for the first time in 1993. He is a peculiar existence within the LDP, having climbed the party by consistently advocating extreme right-wing policies. Here are some of his career highlights.
As soon as Abe was elected in 1993, he became a member of the LDP's "History and Deliberation Committee." This committee held about twenty meetings with right-wing scholars, and as a result, published a book called Overview of the Greater East Asia War, on August 15, 1995, the 50th anniversary of Japan's defeat in the Asia-Pacific War. The book argues: 1) "The Greater East Asia War" (the Asia-Pacific War) was not an aggressive war, but a war for self-existence and self-defense, and for liberation of Asia from Western powers; 2) Events such as the Nanjing Massacre and the "comfort women," are fabrications. Japan did not commit war crimes and was not a perpetrator; 3) Since "biased" school textbooks contain false information about Japan's wartime activities, a "textbook struggle" (an attack on education) is necessary. Abe still holds these positions.
2. Attack on the Kono Statement
On August 4, 1993, during the Miyazawa administration, then chief cabinet secretary Kono Yohei released a statement on the result of a study into the "comfort women" issue. Commonly called the Kono Statement, it said the following:
He and his "Group of Young Diet Members for Consideration of Japan's Future and History Education," called Kono to a meeting and argued that Kono had recognized the "coerciveness" of the act without convincing evidence, as the Korean side demanded so, but Kono stuck to his guns. At the House of Representatives Budget Committee on May 27, 1997, Abe further said there was no need to specifically reference the issue in textbooks unless the women were coerced, and no document had been discovered to verify this.
3. Double-tongued prime minister
Abe was first elected prime minister on September 26, 2006. As a state head, there was only so much history revisionism that he could get away with. History denial might be tolerated within the LDP or even within Japan, but it was evident that it would invite international animosity and backlash. One area where his position caused much international embarrassment was the military sex slavery issue.
On January 31, 2007, when Democrat congressman Mike Honda introduced a resolution calling for the Japanese government to "formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery," Prime Minister Abe fought back. He said he had "no plan to apologize" even if the resolution was adopted, and argued that there was "no evidence that supports 'narrowly-defined coercion,' or the allegation that Japanese soldiers kidnapped women and coerced them." This was despite the fact that the Kono Statement had expressed "sincere apologies and remorse to all those, irrespective of place of origin, who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women." Abe's statement, which suggested the women had voluntarily provided sex to Japanese soldiers, was criticized by US newspapers including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.
On December 26, 2012, Abe announced his 19 new cabinet members. Nine, including Abe, are members of the "Group of Diet Members for Consideration of Japan's Future and History Education," which has consistently worked to remove the description of the military sex slavery and the Nanjing Massacre from textbooks. Thirteen, also including Abe, are members of the "Discussion Group of the Nippon Kaigi Diet Members," affiliated with the "Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference)," the biggest right-wing organization in Japan. These numbers show the far-right character of the new Abe administration.
Abe Shinzo's father was Abe Shintaro, who held various key government positions including Foreign Minister and was at one point a candidate for an LDP presidential election. Abe Shinzo used his father's coattails to get elected to the Diet for the first time in 1993. He is a peculiar existence within the LDP, having climbed the party by consistently advocating extreme right-wing policies. Here are some of his career highlights.
As soon as Abe was elected in 1993, he became a member of the LDP's "History and Deliberation Committee." This committee held about twenty meetings with right-wing scholars, and as a result, published a book called Overview of the Greater East Asia War, on August 15, 1995, the 50th anniversary of Japan's defeat in the Asia-Pacific War. The book argues: 1) "The Greater East Asia War" (the Asia-Pacific War) was not an aggressive war, but a war for self-existence and self-defense, and for liberation of Asia from Western powers; 2) Events such as the Nanjing Massacre and the "comfort women," are fabrications. Japan did not commit war crimes and was not a perpetrator; 3) Since "biased" school textbooks contain false information about Japan's wartime activities, a "textbook struggle" (an attack on education) is necessary. Abe still holds these positions.
2. Attack on the Kono Statement
On August 4, 1993, during the Miyazawa administration, then chief cabinet secretary Kono Yohei released a statement on the result of a study into the "comfort women" issue. Commonly called the Kono Statement, it said the following:
As a result of the study which indicates that comfort stations were operated in extensive areas for long periods, it is apparent that there existed a great number of comfort women. Comfort stations were operated in response to the request of the military authorities of the day. The then Japanese military was, directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women. The recruitment of the comfort women was conducted mainly by private recruiters who acted in response to the request of the military. The Government study has revealed that in many cases they were recruited against their own will, through coaxing, coercion, etc., and that, at times, administrative/military personnel directly took part in the recruitment. They lived in misery at comfort stations under a coercive atmosphereThe fiercest criticism against the Kono Statement came from within LDP, namely Abe.
He and his "Group of Young Diet Members for Consideration of Japan's Future and History Education," called Kono to a meeting and argued that Kono had recognized the "coerciveness" of the act without convincing evidence, as the Korean side demanded so, but Kono stuck to his guns. At the House of Representatives Budget Committee on May 27, 1997, Abe further said there was no need to specifically reference the issue in textbooks unless the women were coerced, and no document had been discovered to verify this.
3. Double-tongued prime minister
Abe was first elected prime minister on September 26, 2006. As a state head, there was only so much history revisionism that he could get away with. History denial might be tolerated within the LDP or even within Japan, but it was evident that it would invite international animosity and backlash. One area where his position caused much international embarrassment was the military sex slavery issue.
On January 31, 2007, when Democrat congressman Mike Honda introduced a resolution calling for the Japanese government to "formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery," Prime Minister Abe fought back. He said he had "no plan to apologize" even if the resolution was adopted, and argued that there was "no evidence that supports 'narrowly-defined coercion,' or the allegation that Japanese soldiers kidnapped women and coerced them." This was despite the fact that the Kono Statement had expressed "sincere apologies and remorse to all those, irrespective of place of origin, who suffered immeasurable pain and incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women." Abe's statement, which suggested the women had voluntarily provided sex to Japanese soldiers, was criticized by US newspapers including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.
On December 26, 2012, Abe announced his 19 new cabinet members. Nine, including Abe, are members of the "Group of Diet Members for Consideration of Japan's Future and History Education," which has consistently worked to remove the description of the military sex slavery and the Nanjing Massacre from textbooks. Thirteen, also including Abe, are members of the "Discussion Group of the Nippon Kaigi Diet Members," affiliated with the "Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference)," the biggest right-wing organization in Japan. These numbers show the far-right character of the new Abe administration.
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