Japanese Academic and Civic Groups Issue First Critical Statement: "Ramseyer's Paper Has No Scholarly Value"

"Criticism of 'Ignoring Prior Research, Arbitrary Handling of Literature, and Only Presenting Unsupported Claims'"

Professor Ryuta Itagaki of Doshisha University is explaining the statement criticizing the paper by Professor Mark Ramseyer of Harvard University during an online press conference held on the 10th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] The Japanese academic community and civil society have issued their first critical statement against the claim by Mark Ramseyer, a professor at Harvard Law School, USA, that "comfort women were voluntary prostitutes."

On the 10th, the Japanese civic group "Fight for Justice," which operates an academic site on the comfort women issue, together with the Historical Research Association, the Historical Science Council, and the History Educators Association, released an urgent statement criticizing Ramseyer's paper published in the international academic journal "International Review of Law and Economics" (IRLE).

In a statement titled "Criticism of the newly emerged denial of the Japanese military comfort women," these organizations criticized Ramseyer's paper claiming that comfort women were licensed prostitutes (公娼) for having been published without proper peer review.

The statement pointed out three problematic aspects of Ramseyer's paper, noting that prior research was ignored, the handling of Japanese-language sources was arbitrary, and that unsupported claims were made in important parts.

Representatives from Japanese civic and academic organizations, including the Fight for Justice Historical Research Association, the Historical Science Council, and the History Educators' Association, held an online press conference on the 10th.

The Japanese Military Comfort Women System Is Not Identical to the Licensed Prostitution System

First, regarding the claim that the comfort women system was part of the licensed prostitution system, the statement said, "The Japanese military comfort women system is deeply related to the licensed prostitution system but is not identical," adding, "Comfort stations were established and managed under direct orders and instructions from the Japanese military, unlike the licensed prostitution system."

It further added that comfort women were forcibly recruited under the orders and instructions of the Japanese military.

Prostitution Contracts under the Licensed Prostitution System Were Essentially Sexual Slavery

The statement continued, "Contracts of prostitutes under the licensed prostitution system were essentially human trafficking, and there was no freedom to quit business," as shown by numerous prior studies and historical records.

However, Professor Ramseyer arbitrarily and without specifying evidence, portrayed prostitutes as free contracting parties.

The statement also noted that Ramseyer's paper, beyond being the work of a single researcher, is welcomed by those who wish to deny Japan's responsibility as a perpetrator.

Claims such as "comfort women were licensed prostitutes," "comfort women were voluntary prostitutes," and "comfort women received a lot of money" have been discourses asserted by deniers of the Japanese military comfort women victims since the late 1990s to the present.

Yoshimi Yoshiaki, Professor Emeritus at Chuo University in Japan, is speaking at an online press conference held by Japanese academic and civic groups criticizing the paper by Mark Ramseyer, a professor at Harvard University in the United States, on the 10th.

The Same Old Claims... Just a New Form Using the Authority of a Prestigious American University

The statement emphasized that although these are the same old claims, this time the denial of comfort women has been newly packaged by leveraging the authority of a scholar from a prestigious American university.

It added concern over the resurgence of anti-Korean and xenophobic movements that attack criticism of Ramseyer's paper as "anti-Japanese."

The statement urged IRLE to conduct a proper peer review process and retract the publication of Ramseyer's paper.

It also stated that they are opposing the denialism spreading again in Japan based on facts and historical justice, and will respond in solidarity beyond borders and languages.

Japanese civic and academic groups such as "Fight for Justice" plan to launch full-scale activities to confront those distorting the reality of comfort women, including holding an online seminar on the 14th to precisely analyze and criticize the problems of Ramseyer's paper.

Meanwhile, the controversial paper drew public attention when Professor Ramseyer summarized and published it in the Japanese Sankei Shimbun in January this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.