A large majority of Japanese people disagree with a high-profile politician who said women forced to provide sex during the second world war were a military necessity, polls issued on Monday said.
Up to 200,000 “comfort women” from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during the second world war, mainstream historians say.
Outspoken Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto said last week these women served a “necessary” role keeping battle-stressed soldiers in line, sparking outrage in China and South Korea and inviting US criticism.
Two surveys carried out over the weekend indicated that Hashimoto’s opinion is not shared by many, despite regular foreign criticism that the Japanese public has still failed to come to terms with the country’s bellicose past.
In a poll of 1,550 Japanese households conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, 71 per cent of respondents said Hashimoto’s comments were “inappropriate” against 21 per cent who said the comments were “appropriate”.
In a separate survey among 3,600 households by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, 75 per cent of those who answered said the comments were “problematic”, while 20 per cent said they had little or no problem with them.