An effort to shed light on the painful experiences of females procured for brothels for the Japanese military during the war is underway at a Tokyo museum ahead of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
In a yearlong exhibition through the end of next June, the Women's Active Museum on War and Peace addresses the issue of sexual exploitation under the Japanese occupation in what is now Indonesia with a panel display that depicts testimony and photos from about 70 former "comfort women" along with memoranda from Japanese soldiers.
"While many local women and those of the former colonial power, the Netherlands, suffered damage, such history of Indonesia has remained unknown," said Eriko Ikeda, director of the museum, known as WAM. "We expect people to learn through this exhibition that the comfort women issue is not only a problem between Japan and South Korea but also an issue affecting a wide area."