Japanese non-governmental organizations to promote the publication of "comfort women" in Shanxi Province

For the 78-year-old Ishida Ishida, China's Shanxi Province is not unfamiliar. From 1996 till now, members of the “identification society” with the Japanese non-governmental organizations have come twice a year, once in the early spring and once in the late summer. Thousands of miles running around, she was also worried about a group of elderly - survivors of the comfort women in Shanxi during World War II.

On the 29th, it was the day that 11 members of the "Assays" including Ishida Ishida made their way back home. On a few days’ journey, they visited China’s first victim of public violence against the Japanese military. Wan Aihua visited the survivors of the “comfort women” in the village of Shan County, Yangquan City, Shanxi Province.

After the dust settled on, the three members of the “Association of the Ming Dynasty” accepted an interview with a reporter from the China New Network.

"I can't take it anymore."

For 16 years in a row in China, Ishida Ishida has been able to speak Chinese. But for the first time, the thin, slightly slim body made people wonder how she insisted on her journey to the ocean for 16 years.

Professor Ishida, who retired from the University of Okayama, Japan, is a historian. She said that in her 50s, the first time she came into contact with a Korean comfort woman was infringed by Japanese soldiers. When she was in her 60s, she first heard about the old man who loved flowers from Shanxi, China, and used her personal experience to explain the history. After feelings, this historical scholar has initiated a study of Japanese women’s sexual violence against Asian women during World War II and first chose Shanxi.

"Mr. Ishida is also a historian. He is currently seriously ill in bed. He should have taken care of him. But Professor Ishida still came here." When Ishida Yoshiko was telling, Kato Xiuhong, the next member, could not resist interposing.

“In the beginning, I just wanted to understand what these old people had experienced in the past and how their living conditions are now changing. But when I first came to Shanxi and touched the real living conditions of these old people, I knew that I would have to take off. Do not open up." Speaking of this, Ishida Yida helped the mirror.

The first publication of the special report on comfort women in Shanxi

In 1996, the “identification meeting” initiated by Ishiko Ishida and others was established. Members include media people, lawyers, company employees, housewives, and other general citizens, about two to three hundred people. The full name of the “identification meeting” was very long and was called “To ascertain the facts of sexual violence in the Japanese army in Shanxi, and to attend the meeting with aunts”. But Yoshiko Ishida said that the name of the club showed their original intention and determination.

Since the founding of the "Association of the Ming Dynasty," dozens of trips to and from China's Shanxi and Japan have been made to search for Japanese victims of sexual violence who are still alive and to conduct one-on-one interviews with them. In addition to investigation and evidence collection, they currently fixed 9 elderly people in Shanxi and a daughter of a deceased victim, and provided them with RMB 8,000 yuan in medical assistance each year.

In the course of the interview, Keiko Ikeda, a member, took a publication to the reporter. The title is very special, called “Exporting Qi”, but the content is very heavy. It tells the story of the survivors of the comfort women in Shanxi.

Ikeda Rieko said that this periodical will be published twice a year, specifically describing historical facts about the survivors of the comfort women in Shanxi. In addition to membership, the publication is also available to local people in Japan. The reason why they were called "Export Gas" was because they were in contact with the survivors of comfort women and they often heard "I am in a lawsuit and want to export gas for myself".

At the same time, the “Association for Identification” also opened the only private exhibition hall in Japan that described acts of sexual violence during the Second World War. At the end of April 2011, an exhibition of Japanese Army crimes against women during the Second World War period was completed at the closing ceremony of the Eight Route Army Taihang Memorial Hall in Wuxiang County, Shanxi Province.

“A lot of Japanese people around me are committed to this, including some young people.” Ryoko Ikeda said that we must dare to face history, but also do some specific things to let people understand history.

At the end of the interview, Ishida Ishida tells us that at the beginning of the spring and the end of the summer, the old people in the village will look forward to their arrival. They have produced a similar affection to each other.

“In the past 16 years, there have been continuous deaths of old people. I hope to see them every year and not leave so fast,” said Ikeda.

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