Japan’s “Big Lie': The Negation of Oral Testimony of Sexual Violence

In recent years, powerful actors in Japan’s political elite have consistently denied the oral testimony of so-called “comfort women.†The denial of this and related historical crimes is made in the service of a claim we denote here as the “big lie.†This is the erroneous assertion that the Asia-Pacific War was a straightforward war of liberation by the Japanese Imperial Army, inspired by a blameless Emperor and carried out by morally exemplary military forces. This denial of historical realities, especially those related to “comfort women,†has constituted a contributory factor for a pattern of denial regarding all historical crimes. Effects have been far-reaching, including for survivors of sexual abuse who pursue justice. The determination to deny the validity of oral testimony by “comfort women†carried over into the judiciary and society so that numerous public conversations have created a chilling effect for survivors of abuse. Survey research with 800 young Japanese indicated that invocation of “comfort women†issues and the trope of the selfish “bad girl†led to a diminution in support for victims of sexual abuse and an increased tendency to maintain the status quo of inegalitarian gender relations. Further research is required to determine the extent and the nature of the chilling effect that is engendered by the “big lie†to the detriment of sexual abuse survivors in Japan.