Oct 30 (Japan Times) - A film festival that began over the weekend in Kawasaki has decided not to show a documentary focused on debates over the issue of “comfort women.â€
The phrase refers to women who provided sex, including those who did so against their will, for Japanese troops before and during World War II.
The organizer said it could not avoid changing its initial plan of showing the film — “Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue†— after the city, a co-sponsor of the festival, expressed concerns.
It said the city, which has provided ¥6 million ($55,200) for the Kawasaki Shinyuri Film Festival, was worried about potential problems given that some of the people interviewed in the film by director Miki Dezaki had filed a lawsuit to stop its screening, claiming they had not given permission to appear in a commercial film.