Japan Press Weekly

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2012 June 20 - 26 [HISTORY]

Court orders Nikon to not cancel photo show of sex slave victims

The Tokyo District Court on June 22 issued a provisional order instructing Nikon to retract its decision to cancel a planned photo exhibition of former Korean “comfort women” who had been left in China by the Japanese Army after the end of the war.

The case was filed by South Korean photographer Ahn Sehong. At a press conference in Tokyo on the same day, he said that the ruling is “reasonable based on constitutional principle of freedom of expression.”

In December, Ahn’s application for a photo exhibition of Korean sex slave victims passed a review of a selection committee for Nikon’s photo gallery in Tokyo. The exhibition was originally scheduled for June 26 to July 9.

Once the schedule was announced in a newspaper, voices of protest against the exhibition rapidly increased on the Internet. Nikon said it received many calls opposing its plan to host such an event. It told Ahn on May 22 of its decision to cancel the exhibition.

The photo exhibit records the lives of Korean sex slave victims and calls for restoration of their human rights. It has been shown throughout the world by the “Ju Ju Project” organizing committee led by Ahn.