Editor:
In the 1/30/14 issue, Phil Shigekuni wrote that he, along with Harold Kameya, “representing JACL,” as well as members of NCRR, met with members of the Japanese Diet in order to discuss the comfort women controversy.
That was a stretch.
National JACL has never taken a position on this contentious subject, presumably because it is a 70-year-old “she said, he said” that will never be resolved to anybody’s satisfaction.
That is probably the reason why, aside from Congressman Mike Honda, no Nikkei member of Congress, past or present, has spoken out on this subject.
If Mr. Shigekuni left members of the Diet with the impression that he and Mr. Kameya were representing JACL, he needs to take corrective action. Messrs. Shigekuni and Kameya were representing not JACL, but one chapter of JACL.
Best regards,
George Nakagawa
Former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama visited South Korea this past week and said that “Japan committed “indescribable wrongdoings” by forcing women from South Korea and elsewhere to serve as wartime sex slaves.”
Here’s the link http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/02/12/national/sex-slavery-an-indescribable-wrong-murayama/#.UwD4F9vwDzp
In fairness to Phil Shigekuni, he states in his article that he was representing the San Fernando JACL (not the national JACL). Shigekuni states, “A few from our San Fernando Valley JACL, as well as from NCRR, were in the audience in support of its (memorial) construction.” He also states that “Recently elected San Fernando Valley JACL President Harold Kameya has written a letter of support for the monument…”. Here’s the link to his article http://rafu-launch.newspackstaging.com/2014/01/senior-moments-comfort-women/