The Imperial War Museums in the UK faces criticism from Japan over factually incorrect comfort women displays, raising fears of statue campaigns.
comfort women statue in UK

A panel displaying a comfort woman statue as part of a special exhibition at The Imperial War Museums in London (©Yoshinari Kurose)

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A special exhibition titled "Sexual Violence in Conflict" at the Imperial War Museums (IWM), Britain's most prestigious national military museum, has come under scrutiny for including displays that misrepresent historical facts. 

In particular, the exhibition claims that "young women were forcibly made into sex slaves by the Japanese military" in connection with the so-called comfort women issue. 

Responding to the exhibition, the Japanese government has expressed "strong concern" to the relevant parties and called for "appropriate measures" to be taken.

The special exhibition, which runs from May 23 to November 2, was organized by the Imperial War Museums in collaboration with private organizations and experts in Britain and overseas. 

Among the participating groups is the Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan. It is South Korea's biggest comfort women-related civic group. 

Battle Over Narratives

The exhibition guide at the venue features descriptions of various historical cases, including the exploitation of women by German soldiers during World War I and the persecution of the Yazidi minority by the Sunni extremist group Islamic State (IS). 

It also includes a factually inaccurate claim that the former Imperial Japanese Army "established a comfort women unit" during the previous war. The same description also states that "thousands of women across the Pacific were deceived, coerced, and sold into state-sanctioned sexual slavery."

Comfort women statue in front of the former Japanese embassy in Seoul, South Korea. (©JAPAN Forward by Kenji Yoshida)

However, there was no such military unit and, to date, no documents. While there is evidence of the business practices of private entrepreneurs that established comfort stations, there is no documentary evidence or records of Japanese military or other state authorities sanctioning the abduction of women to force them into comfort women. Previous allegations to the contrary were furthermore subsequently proven to be fraudulent.

Furthermore, the Japanese government has repeatedly stressed at the United Nations and other international forums that the term "sex slaves" is inappropriate and factually incorrect. 

This position was affirmed in the December 2015 agreement between Japan and South Korea, in which both sides confirmed the comfort women issue was "resolved finally and irreversibly."

Overlooked Efforts 

On the other hand, the panel exhibition gives only a brief and incomplete mention of the Japanese government's efforts regarding the comfort women issue. It simply states that "compensation was provided through the Asian Women's Fund, and several politicians offered personal apologies."

Former Korean comfort woman Lee Yong-soo (center), lawyer Lee Sang-hee (left) and others hold a press conference on November 23 , 2023 in Seoul (©Kyodo News)

The exhibition ignores the activities of the Asian Women's Fund, which provided ¥2 million JPY (around $21,000 USD) in compensation to 285 former comfort women in the Philippines, South Korea, and other countries. Likewise, it fails to acknowledge that four former Japanese prime ministers personally signed and sent letters of apology to former comfort women.

Although the total number of comfort women remains difficult to determine, the exhibition presents the highly disputed figure of "200,000 (at most)." It's a number often cited by comfort women advocacy groups and discounted as unlikely by other experts.

Fears of Statue Erection

Other exhibits include an English translation of the testimony of activist Kim Bok-dong, who passed away in 2019. Kim claimed to have been a comfort woman for the Japanese military. 

The exhibition also features panels introducing efforts to erect comfort woman statues in various countries, along with models of the actual statue.

The Statue of Peace is on display at the University of Kassel in Germany. (©Korea Verband Facebook) 

As of now, the Japanese government states there is no evidence that South Korean organizations in the UK have taken steps to erect comfort women statues or increase publicity about the comfort women issue.

However, a Japanese resident in the UK said that "the war museum is a popular tourist attraction." The individual cautioned that "we must be wary of the possibility that this exhibition could promote one-sided claims about the comfort women issue and spark a movement to erect statues."

Description panel in the exhibition containing disputed claims about comfort women. (©Yoshinari Kurose)

The Sankei Shimbun contacted the museum to inquire about the background of the special exhibition. In response, an IWM spokesperson stated:

"IWM stands by the content of Unsilenced: Sexual Violence in Conflict. Throughout the development of the exhibition we have consulted with a wide range of experts including academics, historians and NGOs working in the field of conflict-based sexual violence. An expert advisory panel has overseen the development of the exhibition to ensure all content is grounded in research, expertise and historical fact."

They added, "The exhibition acknowledges that the Japanese government offered restitution for so-called 'comfort women' through the Asian Women's Fund, with personal apologies from subsequent Prime Ministers."

About the Museum

The Imperial War Museums are a group of five national museums dedicated to preserving materials from modern wars involving the United Kingdom. 

Founded in London in 1917 to document World War I, it now operates three sites in London: the main museum, the HMS Belfast museum on the River Thames, and the Churchill Museum (Cabinet War Rooms). Additionally, there are two branch museums elsewhere in the UK. Together, these five locations attract over 2 million visitors each year.

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