A Japanese far-right group recently stirred controversy by organizing an event in Tokyo offending the comfort women victims in the Japanese military.

Last weekend in Tokyo, the Japan First Party, a far-right political party with an anti-Korea tendency, organized the event, 2022 Tokyo Triennale, with a theme offensive to the women who were sexually exploited in the Japanese military. The Japan First Party is led by Makoto Sakurai, who formed a civic group against privileges for ethnic Koreans in Japan. The group organized hate demonstrations against Koreans. On May 23 (local time), the group posted a video on YouTube capturing an installation of balloon figures resembling the “Girl of Peace” statue, which symbolizes the comfort women victims. The event was held in the form of an exhibition where visitors could take part. Makoto and other organizers gave a performance in which they pumped air into the balloons using an air pump wrapped in Asahi Shimbun articles on the comfort women. It implied that members of the Japanese press with progressive tendencies exaggerated the issue of the comfort women. Makoto once criticized the way the Japanese press covered the victims of sexual slavery in the Japanese military and said, “It all began when the Asahi Shimbun published an exclusive article on the comfort women on August 13, 1991.”

In addition to the performance, the exhibition was full of content ridiculing the female victims in the Japanese military. On the shoulder of the girl figure, sat a bird decorated with fake Japanese bills. They insulted the victims by claiming that they were not forced into sexual slavery but engaged in prostitution in exchange for money. On the floor, they posted words from an article that described the words recruiting comfort women, “Urgent and Major Recruitment of Comfort Women.” They also displayed a painting of a girl with a Taegeukgi (Korean national flag) with her shadow smiling like the devil along with a painting of An Jung-geun’s hand on the floor mocking the independence fighter.

In August 2019, the Aichi Triennale was held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. At the time, the Japan First Party threatened the event organizers and temporarily suspended the exhibit, After “Freedom of Expression?” which displayed the “Girl of Peace” statue and pictures of female victims who were sexually exploited by the Japanese military. Later the group held an exhibition expressing its hostility toward Korea titled Freedom of Expression for the Japanese People.