Published: Thursday, 03 October 2019 14:43
On Thursday, September 26, 2019, there was a film screening of "Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue" at the Queens College Patio Room (inside the student dining hall). The director, Miki Dezaki, talked before and after the screening about his documentary film, which uses the controversial "comfort women" issue as a case study for historical revisionism. The film is approximately 2 hours long. This event was co-sponsored by the Research Center for Korean Community (RCKC), the Asian/American Center, the Center for Jewish Studies, and the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding (CERRU), all of which are affiliated with Queens College. Approximately 100 people attended the screening.
The “comfort women” issue is one of Japan’s most contentious present-day diplomatic quandaries. In Japan, the issue has divided the country across clear ideological lines. Some of the issues in question include empirical evidence, the validity of oral testimony, the number of victims, the meaning of sexual slavery, and the definition of coercive recruitment. In addition, this largely domestic battleground has shifted to the international arena, commanding the participation of various state and non-state actors and institutions from all over the world. This film, which is based on the producer’s 30 personal interviews with Japanese neo-nationalist denialists and another 30 interviews with supporters of the redress movement, delves deep into the most contentious debates and uncovers the hidden intentions of the supporters and detractors of “comfort women.” Most important, it finds answers to some of the biggest questions for Japanese and Koreans: Were “comfort women” prostitutes or sex slaves? Were they coercively recruited? And, does Japan have a legal responsibility to apologize to the former “comfort women?”
March 20, 2021 - Virtual Book Talk on Korean "Comfort Women": Military Brothels, Brutality, and the Redress Movement
On Saturday, March 20, 2021, we hosted a virtual book talk for the recent publication of Korean "Comfort Women": Military Brothels, Brutality, ...
Read More |
March 27, 2021 - Virtual Film Screening of "Jeronimo"
On Saturday, March 27, 2021, we hosted an online screening of the documentary film Jeronimo, directed by Joseph Juhn. This film recounts the...
Read More |
RCKC Publication of Edited Book on "Japanese Military Sexual Slavery: The Transnational Redress Movement for the Victims"
It is with great pleasure that we announce the long-awaited publication of our edited volume on the "comfort women" issue and the redress ...
Read More |
October 25, 2019 - RCKC's 9th Conference "Korean Americans' Transnational Ties to the Homeland" at Queens College
On Friday, October 25, 2019, the Research Center for Korean Community (RCKC) held its 9th academic conference, "Korean Americans' Transnational Ties...
Read More |