Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was critical Thursday of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's recent remarks about Japan's wartime system of military brothels, noting such actions were "harmful" to Japan's image.
"The real crime in this is this is at such odds . . . with the Japan of the last 70 years, a Japan which has been a paragon of protection of human rights and human freedoms," Armitage said at a Tokyo forum. "To make these comments, to me, is inane."
Hashimoto said earlier this month that Japanese military brothels during the war were necessary to maintain discipline, sparking anger in South Korea.