A bipartisan group of female lawmakers Thursday called for Osaka Mayor and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) coleader Toru Hashimoto to retract and apologize for his abrasive comments justifying the sexual enslavement of females during the war and suggesting that U.S. servicemen in Okinawa make use of legal brothels.
"Hashimoto's comments harmed the dignity of both men and women," said Keiko Itokazu, an independent representing Okinawa in the Upper House.
Itokazu said Hashimoto insulted the people of Okinawa, where women from Taiwan, Korea and Okinawa itself were forced to provide sex for Imperial soldiers at more than 140 wartime "comfort stations." Japan euphemistically refers to them as the "ianfu," or "comfort women."