The deletion from YouTube of statements by Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) lawmaker Nariaki Nakayama denying the Imperial Japanese Army forced thousands of Asian females to provide sex for soldiers during the war has once again put NHK under the national spotlight.
Under questioning March 8 at the Lower House Budget Committee that was aired by NHK, Nakayama used panels and newspaper cutouts to back his claim that the sexual slavery "was never forced" and that Koreans were never forced to change their names during Japan's brutal colonial rule.
After the footage appeared online, NHK asked YouTube to delete it, claiming a copyright violation. But the nationalist lawmaker's incendiary comments are already back online, courtesy of his own office, which uploaded it.