Women's groups and other parties in Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday protested Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's contentious remarks about the wartime sex slaves, with some calling for his immediate resignation.
The outspoken mayor's remarks came during a visit to Okinawa on Monday, where he also told reporters U.S military personnel stationed there should make more active use of the local sex industry so they can ease their sexual frustration in a legal manner.
He said the Japanese military's wartime recruitment of Asian females to provide sex in frontline brothels was a necessary evil in order to "maintain discipline."