women’s active museum on war and peace Issue 1. Fall 2006

アクティブ ミュージアム 女たちの戦争と平和資料館 women’s active museum on war and peace wA B O U T Wa A M m We record women’s L O O K I N G B A C K stories of suffering un- WAM celebrates ITS FIRST Anniversary der military aggression, and their struggle for It has been a year dignity and justice, as since the Women’s well as researching Active Museum on and exhibiting the facts War and Peace (WAM) behind their stories. opened on the 1st of August 2005, marking Our main focus is the 60th anniversary ’s military sex- of the end of WW2. ual slavery, or the We thank all of you so-called “comfort who have helped us to women” system as the make WAM a reality. responsibility of the Our first year has perpetrating country, At the entrance of WAM is a wall of portraits of the courageous wom- passed quickly. We Japan. en who broke their silence. WAM exhibits only portraits of survivors who have given us their permission. have held four spe- We serve as a center cial exhibitions: 1) All for action to eliminate about the Women’s Tribunal 2000, 2) Korean Survivors’ Paintings, 3) The Life all violence against and Works of Yayori Matsui, and 4) Korean “” Abandoned. For women in war, to build deeper understanding, we have also held a series of seminars during each ex- a world of peace and hibition. We have published books and catalogues, conducted research and non-violence through staffed hotlines on the “comfort women” issue, launched a database of the global solidarity. books and materials we have at WAM, and taken action in solidarity to urge the Japanese government to accept responsibility for its wartime aggression. While learning from the past, WAM seeks to serve as a place where people can take action now to end all violence against women during war and armed conflicts CONTENTS from a gender perspective. Our goal is to make WAM a very “active” focal point for those working for a peaceful and non-violent Asia. Looking Back: WAM Celebrates its First Anniversary /1 The political situation in Japan, however, has worsened in the past decade. The Japanese government has increasingly sought to deny the facts of its Four special Exhibitions aggression during WWII. The words “comfort women” have now disappeared 2005-2006 /2 from all junior high school history textbooks. Article 9 of the Japanese con- stitution, which denounces Seminars and Research /3 war, is now in danger of re- peal. In this situation, WAM Action, Yayori Award, has become a place that Who we are, and Mem- gives strength and encour- bership /4 agement for those working against this trend. More than 3,700 people, not only from Japan, but also from CONTACT the world over have visited AVACO Building 2F WAM. Men as well as women 2-3-18, Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku have become members. To- 169-0051 JAPAN day, more and more young people are coming to WAM t +81 (0)3 3202 4633 – a hope for our common fu- f +81 (0)3 3202 4634 “Comfort women” survivors from South Korea, Taiwan and e [email protected] ture. We hope to keep work- the Philippines visited WAM. Taiwanese survivors, Lu Man- ing in solidarity with you. mei (left) and Wu Hsiu-mei (right)

 www.wam-peace.org women’s active museum on war and peace Issue 1. Fall 2006 FOUR SPECIAL EXHIBiTIONS 2005-2006 Special exhibitions give visitors traveled to 11 cities in Japan an overview of an issue through and profoundly touched the panels and exhibits, while hearts of many. Sadly, a num- seminars deepen their under- ber of survivors famous for their standing of each issue. While artwork are no longer with us. making the exhibition panels, Photographs of the survivors we collect more facts, testimo- by Yajima Tsukasa (Japan), nies and materials regarding and sculptures of survivors’ the topic, and broaden our net- faces created by Ho Yeon (Ko- works. By publishing a cata- rea), were also exhibited. logue for each exhibition, we Today WAM keeps the spirit of seek to share the information the Tribunal alive. It was the The Life and Work of we have gained with a larger focus of our first exhibition, in Yayori Matsui community. Since its opening which we displayed all the pro- (Dec.11 – Apr. 23, 2006) in 2005, WAM has held four ceedings, including testimony special exhibitions. The panels from nine countries, and the are now traveling to communi- Judgment. Because the Tribu- ties throughout Japan. In the nal highlighted the question near future, we hope to send of the late Emperor ’s them to Europe for a traveling war responsibility, the Japa- exhibition. nese media largely ignored this historical event. In 2005, reve- lations concerning the political pressure that led to the sabo- tage of media coverage gave the a good oppor- tunity to learn about the Tribu- nal. For our first four seminars, we invited experts and activists Yayori MATSUI was a promi- who actually took part in the nent journalist and activist Tribunal. for women’s human rights. In 1998 she proposed the idea of The Tribunal found the Emperor Hirohito and 9 high-ranking officials criminally - re the Women’s Tribunal 2000, sponsible for the “comfort women” system. and shortly before her untimely death in December 2002, she All about WoMen’s conceived of WAM as a means T ribunal 2 0 0 0 of continuing the Tribunal’s (Aug. 1 – Nov. 20, 2005) legacy. This special exhibition showed her wartime experi- The Women’s Internation- ences as a child, her work as al War Crimes Tribunal on a journalist for a leading Japa- Japan’s Military Paintings of nese newspaper, and her life as was held in Tokyo in December K orean “Comfort a feminist activist. The main fo- 2000. The Tribunal found that Women” Survivors: cus was her work as journalist. the accused high-ranking of- Traveling Exhibitions 2006 with It was Yayori’s habit of care- ficials of wartime Japan were Photography and Sculpture fully filing away all her articles, criminally responsible, and that (Nov. 23 – Dec. 4, 2005) even those without a by-line, Japan bears state responsibil- that made this possible. Until ity even today. It was an epoch- As a part of their rehabilitation, the end of her life she remained making People’s Tribunal orga- Korean “comfort women” sur- a journalist who never hesitat- nized by the global women’s vivors now living in the House ed to confront those in author- movement to end impunity for of Sharing have been painting ity for the sake of women and violence against women in war- their memories of war, scenes marginalized people throughout time, and to bring justice to its that have remained in their Asia. (See: Yayori Award, p. 4) survivors. imagination. Their paintings

 www.wam-peace.org women’s active museum on war and peace Issue 1. Fall 2006 The Korean “Comfort Women” Abandoned (Apr.29-Nov.12, 2006) This was the first in a series of exhibits specially designed to highlight the characteristics of “comfort women” survi- vors from each victimized country. This exhibition focused on the abandonment of women and girls from the Korean Peninsula. From 1910-1945, Korea was under Japanese rule. During the war, many Korean women and girls were forcibly taken to practically every location where Japa- nese troops were stationed. After Japan’s defeat, many were abandoned in foreign lands. A few managed to reach home on their own effort or were repatriated by allied forc- es. Others were able to return to Korea only after half a century had passed. Still others have never made it back, and remain in exile. Areas where Korean women were taken during WW2 What was the structure of colonial rule, which enabled the victimization of Korean women on such a large scale? What has kept the victimized women away from home for so long? What were their lives like in a foreign land, and how are they living now? By focusing on the abandonment question, we sought to help the audi- ence understand the victimization of Korean women and address the issue of Japan’s responsibility.

RESEARCH Around August 15, the anniver- The World’s attention, sary of Japan’s defeat, WAM runs Japan’s silence an information hotline on “com- As a rule, the Japanese media fort women” to collect more facts does not cover the “comfort about Japan’s military sexual women” issue. This has become slavery. This year we also asked even more true since NHK, for information about the RAA Japan’s public broadcasting (Recreation and Amusement As- station, aired a program that sociation) that Japan set up as presented an extremely dis- Yoon Jung-ok, who has played a leading role the last “comfort station” just af- torted view of the Women’s Tri- in researching the “comfort women” issue ter WWII to serve allied occupa- bunal 2000. Early in 2005, it was SEMINARS tion forces personnel. We have revealed that Mr. ABE Shinzo, followed up with research and who is currently Japan’s pro- During each special exhibition, documentation obtained from spective Prime Minister, had along with other politicians WAM has held seminars, sym- veterans or witnesses. We have pressured NHK into altering the posiums and guided tours by the also launched a collaborative in- curators, to give visitors a deeper program. But the media’s at- vestigation with Korea on “com- tention lasted only as long as understanding of the issues in- fort stations” within Japan. volved. An autumn highlight is Abe continued to make bla- tantly false statements about “WAM de Video,” special semi- the Tribunal in public. nars where videos from WAM’s library are shown. The director Furthermore, while Asian and of the video, or a specialist in the European media such as the theme it deals with, is invited to BBC, South Korean KBC and speak. On a larger scale, inter- MBC, and German and Swed- national symposiums have also ish radio service, all reported been held. These include a sym- WAM’s opening, the Japanese media almost completely ig- posium on Japanese people who nored it. The mainstream me- supported the Korean democra- dia has paid as little attention tization movement, held to com- to WAM as it did to the Wom- memorate Yayori’s dedication to en’s Tribunal in 2000, despite this issue, and a symposium with the fact that due to the pres- Yoon Jung-ok, who first helped to ent Prime Minister’s visits to bring the “comfort women” issue Yasukuni Shrine, Japan’s war to light in 1980s Korea, as key- responsibility has become a major political issue during the note speaker. Veterans and witnesses provide infor- mation through our “comfort women” past five years. hotline

 www.wam-peace.org women’s active museum on war and peace Issue 1. Fall 2006

Left:Global Wednesday Demonstration, holding lanterns with the names of women who have passed away. Right: “Yasukuni NO!” 1000 people’s protest with candles ACTION Join & support WAM! Every August, people through- out Japan take part in the WAM was started by donations “Global Wednesday Rally”, join- from more than 1,800 individu- ing in the spirit of the weekly als and groups. Today, WAM “Wednesday Rally” held in is a People’s Museum with no Seoul, Korea. WAM has been support from any state author- taking part as a member of ity. Our operational costs are the Action Network for Japan’s covered by donations, individ- Himalayan Times headline coverage of Military “Comfort Women”. Yayori Award recipients. ual membership fees, and en- This year, in spite of intense trance fees. Please join us! right-wing interference, a rally award is divided into two parts: was held in Tokyo on August the Yayori Award, presented to General Membership 9, 2006. After the names of acitivists/groups working for JPY3,000(US$ 30.00) more than 250 survivors who the human rights of women at the grassroots level in Asia, and You will receive: spoke out but have since died • Information on events and exhibi- the Yayori Journalist Award, were read aloud, participants tions marched quietly through the for an individual journalist ac- • Newsletter busy streets of the big city. On tive in Japan, chosen to pro- • Membership in our list serve August 14, the people of Korea, mote the recipient of the Yayori Taiwan, Okinawa and main- Award through creative media Sustaining Membership land Japan protested against during the following year. JPY 10,000(US$100.00) the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, All general membership plus: The first Yayori Award recipient which glorifies Japan’s role in • Free admission to WAM is usha titikshu (Nepal), a pho- WWII and other past acts of ag- • Discounts for seminars and pub- to-journalist actively involved gression. Three Korean “comfort lications in the peace and democracy women” survivors also joined movements in Nepal. The Yayori Bank account for dona- in the rally and the subsequent Journalist Award was given to tion and membership fees candlelight protest. GOTO Yumi (Japan), who has The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Y ayori been introducing the work of Ltd.(SWIFT Code: BOTKJPJT) freelance journalists in South Shibuya-branch 135-3345859 A war d East Asia. The collaboration of Women’s Fund for Peace and Women’s Human these two recipients will be seen Human Rights Rights Award in the autumn of 2006 at WAM. launched Yayori Matsui was a journalist WHO WE ARE and activist with a global per- WAM is managed by the Steering Committee. There are two secretariat staff mem- spective, who constantly spoke bers, and many volunteers who are helping out. The members of the committee are: NISHINO Rumiko (Director of WAM), I KEDA Eriko (Chair of the Steering Commit- up for women and other mar- tee), WATANABE Mina (Secretary General), SUZUKI Sawako (Secretariat), ARIMURA ginalized peoples. In Yayori’s Junko, IKEDA Yumiko, NIWA Masayo, SAITO Yumiko, SHOJI Rutsuko, TABA Sachiko, name, and in accordance with TAKAHASHI Chikako, and YAMAMOTO Kazumi. WAM is a project of the Women’s Fund for Peace and Human Rights. The Fund has the will she left at her death, the two projects: one is WAM and the other is the Yayori Award. The Fund oversees Yayori Award was set up to en- WAM’s activities and directly operates the Yayori Award. The board members of the courage women who are strug- Fund are: SHOJI Rutsuko (Chair of the Fund), NIWA Masayo (co-vice chair), IKEDA Eriko (co-vice chair), NISHINO Rumiko, ARIMURA Junko, HIROTA Shizue, NAKAHARA gling to make women’s human Michiko, MUKOUYAMA Yayuki, and WATANABE Mina rights a reality in Asia. The

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