Japan Press Weekly

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2024 January 31 - February 6 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

LDP Sugita denies there was Korean forced labor in wartime Japan

Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives Sugita Mio on February 3 on her X account issued a post denying Japan’s use of Korean forced labor during the war.

She posted this in regard to a news report that the Gunma prefectural government, in defiance of many citizens’ opposition, removed a monument which had been established in a prefectural park in memory of Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor.

In her X post, welcoming the removal of the monument, Sugita wrote, “Japan has no need of any monuments that lie about Japan’s history,” and stated that all monuments and statues in Japan related to the so-called “comfort women” issue and the issue of wartime forced labor should be removed.

Sugita is notorious for online hate speech against Japan’s indigenous Ainu people and Korean residents in Japan. Her hate-filled speeches were recognized as human rights violations last year by Judicial Ministry legal affairs bureaus in Sapporo and Osaka.

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on February 1 at a House of Councilors plenary meeting, when asked if he will take any action against Sugita making a number of discriminatory remarks, gave no clear answer. He, in effect, showed a stance of tolerating her remarks that help inflame racism and historical revisionism.

Past related articles:
> LDP Sugita’s blog post insulting Koreans in Japan recognized as human rights violation [October 20, 2023]
> Ainu people demand removal of parliamentary vice minister notorious as hate speech monger [December 10, 2022]