Seiji Yoshida
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese writer and former soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army
. He has published under a variety of pen name
s, including , , and .
on the Sea of Japan
, Yoshida was stationed in Korea
, then a colony of Japan
, during World War II
; he claimed that he assisted police to kidnap over 2,000 women from various rural areas of the Korean peninsula to serve as comfort women
. After the war, he ran as a Japanese Communist Party
candidate in the 1947 Shimonoseki city council elections, but was defeated.
Yōhei Kōno
. As Yoshida's memoirs became widely known, he began to attract suspicion. Ikuhiko Hata
, a historian at Takushoku University
and one of Yoshida's leading critics, pointed to inconsistencies between Yoshida's 1977 and 1983 memoirs, using these to assert that his claims are fabricated. South Korean newspaper interviews with residents of Jeju Island, where the forced recruitment allegedly took place, found no one who admitted to remembering a sweep through a button factory there which Yoshida detailed in his 1983 memoirs. In May 1996, weekly magazine Shūkan Shinchō published remarks by Yoshida made to them in an interview, admitting that portions of his work had been made up. He stated that "There is no profit in writing the truth in books. Hiding the facts and mixing them with your own assertions is something that newspapers do all the time too".
Since then, revisionist historians
seeking to deny or downplay the existence of comfort women commonly mention Yoshida and his testimony; they cherry-pick his work as an example of low-credibility writing and attack his claims that specific women in certain locations were enslaved as comfort women, with the aim of denying that any women anywhere were victims of sexual violence
by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese writer and former soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
. He has published under a variety of pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
s, including , , and .
Early life
Originally from Yamaguchi PrefectureYamaguchi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture. The largest city, however, is Shimonoseki.- History :...
on the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
, Yoshida was stationed in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, then a colony of Japan
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; he claimed that he assisted police to kidnap over 2,000 women from various rural areas of the Korean peninsula to serve as comfort women
Comfort women
The term "comfort women" was a euphemism used to describe women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 from some Japanese scholars to as high as 410,000 from some Chinese...
. After the war, he ran as a Japanese Communist Party
Japanese Communist Party
The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...
candidate in the 1947 Shimonoseki city council elections, but was defeated.
Memoirs controversy
In 1977 and again in 1983, Yoshida published memoirs about his actions during the war. His books and a subsequent 1991 media interview have been credited with bringing about an apology to Korea by Foreign Affairs ministerMinister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)
The of Japan is the Cabinet member responsible for Japanese foreign policy and the chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Since the end of the American occupation of Japan, the position has been one of the most powerful in the Cabinet, as Japan's economic interests have long relied on...
Yōhei Kōno
Yohei Kono
is a Japanese politician and a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2003 until August 2009, when the LDP lost its majority in the 2009 election...
. As Yoshida's memoirs became widely known, he began to attract suspicion. Ikuhiko Hata
Ikuhiko Hata
is a Japanese revisionist historian. He published many books and interpretive studies in both Japanese military and modern history.-Education and career:...
, a historian at Takushoku University
Takushoku University
Takushoku University is a private university in Japan. It was founded in 1900 by Prince Taro Katsura . The university is located in Tokyo and has two campuses: the main campus in the Bunkyō district, and a satellite campus in the Hachiōji district...
and one of Yoshida's leading critics, pointed to inconsistencies between Yoshida's 1977 and 1983 memoirs, using these to assert that his claims are fabricated. South Korean newspaper interviews with residents of Jeju Island, where the forced recruitment allegedly took place, found no one who admitted to remembering a sweep through a button factory there which Yoshida detailed in his 1983 memoirs. In May 1996, weekly magazine Shūkan Shinchō published remarks by Yoshida made to them in an interview, admitting that portions of his work had been made up. He stated that "There is no profit in writing the truth in books. Hiding the facts and mixing them with your own assertions is something that newspapers do all the time too".
Since then, revisionist historians
Historical revisionism
In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on evidence, motivations, and decision-making processes surrounding a historical event...
seeking to deny or downplay the existence of comfort women commonly mention Yoshida and his testimony; they cherry-pick his work as an example of low-credibility writing and attack his claims that specific women in certain locations were enslaved as comfort women, with the aim of denying that any women anywhere were victims of sexual violence
Sexual violence
Sexual violence occurs throughout the world, although in most countries there has been little research conducted on the problem. Due to the private nature of sexual violence, estimating the extent of the problem is difficult...
by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Works
|month=March|year=1977|isbn=978-4404007957|oclc=23327293|publisher=新人物往来社 [Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha]|author=吉田清治 [Seiji Yoshida]}}|month=January|year=1983|oclc=13784662|publisher=三一書房 [San'ichi Shobō]|author=吉田清治 [Seiji Yoshida]}}-
- Translated into Korean as