Japan Press Weekly

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2013 June 12 - 18 [HISTORY]

Women lawyers demand Osaka mayor’s resignation over sexist remarks

A group of women lawyers in Osaka on June 17 jointly published a letter of protest to Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru demanding that he retract his abusive remarks regarding the wartime “comfort women” system and resign as mayor.

Terasawa Katsuko, Ono Machiko, and Watanabe Kazue initiated the action, and the number of women lawyers who expressed support for the action reached 102 in just five days.

Representatives of the lawyers’ group visited the city office on the same day to hand the letter to the mayor, A city official, however, received them at a corridor although they gave advance notice of their visit. The lawyers criticizingly said, “We are here on behalf of over 100 lawyers, and it’s impolite and indeed insulting to behave toward citizens like this.”

The letter points out that no public official has ever made such a blatantly sexist remark arguing that the wartime “comfort women” system was necessary. The United Nations Human Rights Committee advised the Japanese government to take measures to solve the issues surrounding the system of military sex slavery.

Regarding Hashimoto’s suggestion to a U.S. military commander that the U.S. troops in Japan make use of sex service businesses, the letter criticizing the mayor said, “It’s nothing but another blatant sexist remark which regards women as mere sex tools to be used by men.”

The representatives at a news conference said, “Mayor Hashimoto shows no hesitation in making abusive remarks that deny women’s rights. We as women and as lawyers cannot let this pass.”