Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 10 - 16 [CIVIL RIGHTS]

Hashimoto labels majority of protesters as communists

Osaka City Mayor Hashimoto Toru, also serving as co-leader of the Japan Restoration Party, stated that a majority of protests regarding his remarks affirming the Imperial Japanese Army’s “comfort women” system is from pro-Japanese Communist Party groups.

The mayor told reporters in May that the sexual slavery system was “necessary” during World War II in order to maintain discipline in the military. His remarks provoked severe criticism from inside and outside the country.

According to the city government, it had received a total of 9,139 opinions in regard to his remarks from citizens in a month after the mayor made the remarks. Hashimoto said in his speech in Osaka’s Yao City on July 7, “Of the opinions, about 6,000 are opposing my argument because they are members of pro-JCP groups. The pros and cons are approximately fifty-fifty among the remaining 3,000.”

In response to inquiries from Akahata, a city official said that they didn’t check what percentage of the total views were from JCP affiliated groups.

The right-wing politician was condemned for conducting a survey questioning political ideology of city workers last year. With regard to the fact that almost all the opinions gathered from about 30,000 people were opposed to his civic reform plan, the mayor argued, “Only opponents put forward their views.”


Related past article:
> JCP Ichida criticizes Hashimoto for refusing to retract ‘comfort women’ remarks [May 28, 2013]
> Protests continue against Hashimoto’s remarks on ‘comfort women’ [May 15-19, 2013]