Asian Women's Fund

The Asian Women's Fund (財団法人女性のためのアジア平和国民基金, zaidan hojin josei-no tame no Ajia heiwa kokumin kikin), also abbreviated to アジア女性基金 in Japanese, was a fund set up by the Japanese government in 1994 to distribute compensation to comfort women in South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Indonesia.^[1] Each survivor was provided with a signed apology from the prime minister, stating "As Prime Minister of Japan, I thus extend anew my most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."^[2] The fund was dissolved on March 31, 2007.^[3]

Background

On the Japanese general election on July 18, 1993 the Liberal Democratic Party lost government for the first time since 1955. Tomiichi Murayama became Prime Minister on June 30, 1994 and in 1995 the fund, tentatively named "Josei no Tameno Ajia Heiwa Yuko Kikin (the Asian Peace and Friendship Foundation for Women). As expressed by Murayama at a press conference on July 18, 1995^[4] the government's role in the fund was defined as following:

• The Fund would call for donations from a wide spectrum of Japanese society as a way to enact the Japanese people's atonement for the former comfort women;
• The Fund would support those conducting medical and welfare projects and other similar projects which were of service to former comfort women, through the use of government funding and other funds;
• When these projects were implemented, the Government would express the nation's feelings of sincere remorse and apology to the former comfort women; and
• The Government would collate historical documents relating to the comfort women, to serve as a lesson of history. The Chief Cabinet Secretary also clearly stated that the Fund would, through the use of government and other funds, support those who undertook projects aimed at resolving contemporary problems, such as violence against women.^[1]

History

The fund was formally established on June 19, 1995. The first president was Bunbei Hara.^[5] The fund was set up by the Japanese government and run with state funds, and it was under the direct supervision of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was a quasi public organization, but it was managed by volunteers who were private citizens. South Korea claimed that state redress was what was required, and that the fund was not state redress.^[2]

No activities in China or North Korea were funded. The Chinese and Japanese governments were unable to reach any agreement, and Japan had no regular diplomatic relations with North Korea.^[2][6]

On January 24, 2005 a press conference was held announcing that the fund's would wrap up in March 2007 after the Indonesian projects were completed. On March 6, 2007 a press conference was held and president of the fund Tomiichi Murayama announced that the fund would dissolve on March 31, 2007.^[3]

Japanese right-wing objections

Some Japanese right-wingers objected to the fund on the basis that it was attempting to solve a "non-existent problem".^[7][2][6] The conservative Yomiuri newspaper said in an editorial in 2011 "No written material supporting the claim that government and military authorities were involved in the forcible and systematic recruitment of comfort women has been discovered", and that it regarded the fund as a failure based on a misunderstanding of history.^[8]

South Korea's objections to the fund

The fund was set up by the Japanese government and run with state funds, and it was under the direct supervision of the Cabinet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. South Korea claimed that state redress was what was required, and that the fund was not state redress.^[2][9]

Financial payments

• ¥565m ($4.7m) was raised in donations from the Japanese people, and given to 285 comfort women from Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, each of whom received about 2m yen ($16,700)
• ¥770m ($6.5m) in taxpayers' money was provided to pay for medical fees for these women, and for 79 other women from the Netherlands
• ¥370 million ($3.1m) was spent building medical facilities and old peoples' homes in Indonesia, rather than compensating individuals there, and the rest was used for the fund's running costs and other smaller projects.^[6]

See also

• Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future"

References