Ramseyer Ignored Even in Japan... "Does Not Meet the Requirements of an Academic Paper"

Mark Ramseyer, Harvard Law School Professor
[Captured from Harvard Law School YouTube. Resale and DB prohibited] / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Japanese academia and civic groups have also criticized Mark Ramseyer, a professor at Harvard Law School, stating that his paper on comfort women "does not meet the requirements of an academic paper."

On the 14th, the Japanese civic group 'Fight for Justice,' which operates an academic site related to Japanese military comfort women, held an online seminar criticizing Ramseyer's comfort women paper together with academic organizations such as the Japanese History Research Association, the Historical Science Council, and the History Educators Association.

At the seminar, Yoshimi Yoshiaki (吉見義明), an emeritus professor at Chuo University and a leading figure in comfort women research, pointed out the problems in Ramseyer's paper in detail.

In his presentation titled "What is the Problem with Professor Ramseyer's Comfort Women Theory," Professor Yoshimi pointed out that although Ramseyer discussed comfort women contracts, he did not present or review a single contract document.

He also criticized Ramseyer's paper for ignoring the fact that during the Pacific War, the Japanese government and military created and maintained the 'sexual slavery system' known as the comfort women system.

Yoshimi Yoshiaki, an authority on the study of Japanese military comfort women and an emeritus professor at Chuo University in Japan, spoke at an online press conference held by Japanese academic and civic groups on the 10th, criticizing the paper by Mark Ramseyer, a professor at Harvard University, which denies the reality of comfort women.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Professor Yoshimi refuted Ramseyer's claim about the 'comfort women contracts,' stating, "Only most Japanese women and some Korean women had contracts," and added, "Many women from Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and others were abducted or kidnapped by the military and brokers without contracts and confined there."

He further noted that even if there were contracts, countless women could not return home after the contract period ended and after repaying all the money.

He continued, "There are several cases in Ramseyer's paper where evidence supporting his claims is either not presented or the presented evidence tells the opposite story," and criticized, "He also fabricated stories arbitrarily. Viewed this way, this paper is broken and difficult to recognize as an academic paper."

Professor Onozawa Akane (小野澤あかね) of Rikkyo University criticized the content related to Japan's courtesan (sh?gi) contracts in Ramseyer's paper.

Professor Onozawa pointed out, "The courtesan contracts were effectively human trafficking, as shown by the majority of prior research," and said, "Ramseyer's paper does not meet the requirements of an academic paper and makes claims without documentary evidence, so it cannot be said to discuss the realities of the courtesan and comfort women systems."

The Japanese civic group "Fight for Justice," which operates an academic site on the comfort women issue, issued an urgent statement on the 10th criticizing Professor Ramseyer's paper published in the online edition of the international academic journal "International Review of Law and Economics" (IRLE), together with academic organizations such as the Historical Research Association, the Historical Science Council, and the History Educators Association. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the seminar was attended by Professor Chitani Sayaka (茶谷さやか) of the National University of Singapore, Professor Kim Buja of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Professor Fujinaga Takeshi (藤永壯) of Osaka Sangyo University, and Professor Itagaki Ryuta (板垣龍太) of Doshisha University.

'Fight for Justice' also issued a statement on the 10th under the name of "Japanese researchers and activists criticizing the newly disguised form of Japanese military comfort women denial" to IRLE, demanding "the withdrawal of Ramseyer's paper."

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