"Comfort Women Are Prostitutes" Controversial Remark by Japanese Far-Right Figure... Composer of 'Tokyo Olympic' Entrance Song

Sugiyama's Multiple Atrocities Including Support for Distorted History Textbooks and Encouragement of Yasukuni Shrine Visits
"'Comfort Women' Portrayed as Sex Slaves but Claimed to Have Prostituted with Permission"
"Children Who Are Homosexual Have Suicide Rates Six Times Higher Than Others," Claims

On the 23rd, the Japanese team entered the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony held at the National Stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] On the 23rd, it was revealed that the composer of the athlete entrance music used at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony is a prominent Japanese far-right figure who has led efforts to deny the atrocities of the Japanese military 'comfort women' and the Nanjing Massacre in China, sparking severe criticism.

On the 27th, Mainichi Shimbun and others mentioned that the theme song "Overture: Roto's Theme" from the Japanese game "Dragon Quest" was used during the athlete entrance at the opening ceremony. The composer of this piece, Koichi Sugiyama (90), is a hardcore far-right figure who received the Rising Sun Medal in 2018.

Due to his controversial actions and statements, there have been ongoing criticisms in Japan questioning whether using his work at the Olympic opening ceremony aligns with the Olympic spirit that values "diversity and harmony."

Sugiyama is a member of the "Institute for Research on National Fundamentals," founded by far-right commentator Yoshiko Sakurai, and actively supports the production of distorted history textbooks for elementary, middle, and high schools. He also encourages visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where Class A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined, and in 2012, he actively supported Shinzo Abe's return to the prime ministership.

In June 2007, Koichi Sugiyama led a denial newspaper advertisement about the comfort women atrocities published in the US Washington Post (WP). / Photo by WP

His reckless behavior does not end there.

In July 2007, when the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution demanding an apology and responsibility from the Japanese government regarding the 'comfort women' atrocities, he led obstruction efforts. On June 14, 2007, just before the resolution passed, he placed an opinion advertisement titled "THE FACTS" in The Washington Post (WP) along with Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers. Sugiyama fully funded the WP newspaper ad at that time.

Sugiyama and others claimed absurdly that "'comfort women' are described as 'sex slaves,' but in fact, they were prostitutes who worked with permission and there was no coercion," and that "the income of 'comfort women' was higher than that of Japanese military officers or even generals."

He also placed advertisements in The New York Times (NYT) and other outlets denying the Nanjing Massacre, stating that "the claim that there were 300,000 victims of the Nanjing incident and the massacre by the Japanese military based on this is not recognized as fact."

In 2015, he made hateful remarks against sexual minorities on YouTube. When far-right LDP lawmaker Mio Sugita (54) said, "You are using your taxes to support unproductive homosexual people; where is the justification for that?" Sugiyama went further, claiming, "The suicide rate of children of homosexuals is six times higher than that of other children."

On Japanese social media and internet article comments, opinions continue such as "Using the work of someone like Sugiyama violates the Olympic spirit" and "The organizing committee bears significant responsibility for not properly verifying this."

Professor Ryu Seok-chun of the Department of Sociology at Yonsei University was revealed to have made remarks comparing comfort women victims to prostitutes during a lecture. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, former Yonsei University professor Ryu Seok-chun, who was prosecuted for stating during a lecture that "'comfort women' victims voluntarily engaged in prostitution," appeared at a trial held on the morning of the 21st at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

In September 2019, during his Development Sociology lecture in the Sociology Department at Yonsei University, Ryu was charged with defaming the honor of 'comfort women' victims by making remarks implying that the Japanese military 'comfort women' grandmothers voluntarily became 'comfort women' to engage in prostitution.

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