While keeping this blog I've alluded several times to the ongoing friction between Japan and both Koreas. Each has a long list of grievances with the other. The most prominent bone of contention is probably the Occupation. I've written it with a capital "O" because that's how Koreans refer to it. I've never heard 'em say "the Japanese occupation" or "World War Two." It's just "the Occupation." Neither North nor South Korea has forgotten the 35 years of oppression they endured at Japanese hands.
Compounding matters is the issue of "comfort women." (This must surely ring some bells, right?) It's widely known that the Japanese military kidnapped thousands of women and girls from their conquered territories in East Asia and pressed them into sexual slavery. Korea was no exception. Many elderly Korean women have come forth in recent years and told horror stories of the indignities they were subjected to.
But matters aren't as simple as that. There's still a great deal of debate going on about what exactly happened. Historians on both sides of the Sea of Japan have argued that the comfort women's recruitment was voluntary, and the 200,000 women involved came of their own free will. Others, of course, vehemently deny these allegations and insist that the Empire of Japan committed a brutal war crime, violating these women's human rights. To my knowledge, no reparations have been called for; a simple acknowledgement of guilt is all the Korean protesters are looking for.
Most everybody in Korea (except for those historians I mentioned) is united in the belief that Japan kidnapped their women. Most young folk in Japan don't dispute the matter. However, the nexus of Japan's right-wing party, which has long been defined by its hardline nationalism, insists that Korea is making much ado about nothing. Their arguments have run the gamut: at times they've alleged that the comfort women came voluntarily; at others, they hold that, yes, even though it was a terrible thing to take these women by force, it was necessary to keep up the morale of the soldiery.
This is where Mayor Hashimoto comes in. He created quite a buzz during a recent press conference when, instead of apologizing for some off-color remarks he made earlier, actually wound up making some more. He essentially said that, while what happened to the comfort women was a terrible and inexcusable thing, there's no evidence that the Japanese government was directly involved.
Many in Korea beg to differ.
This recent gaffe has got me curious. I've often longed for a chance to go to Japan and figure out what they think of Koreans. You know, hear their side of the story. I'm not saying that they're not to blame for what happened to the comfort women; I'm just curious to know what the average Japanese man on the street thinks about all this, now that I know what the Korean one does.
Well, now's my chance. Summer break's coming, and I'm spending the month of July at home. After that, though, I'm heading for Japan to meet Miss H and our mutual friend from Bucheon (whose codename I've forgotten). We'll spend two days in Tokyo, going to Disneyland, checking out the sights and sounds of Shibuya and Shinjuku, eating ramen and sushi and perhaps even fugu, and then we'll split. Miss H and our friend will head back to Korea to work (suckers), but I'm a free agent. I reckon I'll ride the shinkansen (bullet train) down the length of the country, see Kyoto and Osaka, visit Miyamoto Musashi's grave, go to Kumamoto and lurk outside my idol Eiichiro Oda's birthplace, stand beneath Rashomon, et cetera, et cetera. Then I'll take the train to Fukuoka and ride the high-speed ferry back to the Korean peninsula. Perhaps I'll chill with Adam in Busan for a few days and then take the KTX back to Seoul. Who knows? I have yet to plan it all out.
But I'm going to Japan, that's the main thing. And may many adventures, new experiences and lucrative travel articles come of it.
Stay tuned...
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