Japanese Film Backfires in America

Recently the young man filmmaker Yujiro Taniyama debuted a film dealing with the comfort women issue at Central Washington University. The result was a much larger demonstration of opposition to Japan. The Chinese communist goal of causing division between Japan and America was given a boost because of this film and a lack of understanding of American culture and politics. The film was called "Racist America: The Scottsboro Girls". If the intention of the filmmaker was to tell Americans the Japanese side of the comfort women story and convince them that there was no official policy for the systematic enslavement of women by the Imperial Japanese Army, it failed completely. If the desire was to help communist China by causing division between the people of America and Japan, weakening the alliance between the two countries, it was much more successful. After the incident, more people heard the anti-Japanese, Korean version of the comfort women story.

Why was this? Anyone who knows the facts will understand that it is ridiculous to claim that Japan was able to keep 200,000 women as sex slaves. The filmmaker presented numerous facts to support this. However, facts have no impact if no hears them. People have to first listen in order to hear those facts and people will not listen if they are first insulted. That is what this filmmaker did by calling Americans "racist" and invoking the name "Scottsboro Girls" which is a reference to the "Scottsboro Boys" which is a term for a group of Black men who were accused of raping two White women in America many decades ago. It is a painful and sensitive subject in the United States. The American writer, Michael Yon, who has made similar statements, reviewed the film and stated that it went too far even for him and warned that it would be counter-productive to the Japanese goal of refuting the "sex slave" version of the comfort women story. You can read his post on the subject (in English and Japanese) on his page here. With this film, it is not a case of there being any incorrect information in regards to the comfort women issue but rather the way it is presented and who is presenting it to the people in the United States. Again, if you start by insulting the American people, calling them "racist", they are not going to listen to what you have to say.

This is exactly what happened to this filmmaker. After his speech, only about 20 people remained to watch his movie, the rest left during his opening remarks. However, about 100 people attended a rebuttal discussion held at the university by Korean activists giving an anti-Japanese point of view. Why the difference? One easy difference is that the pro-Korean view meeting did not begin by insulting the audience they were trying to win over. Unfortunately, this filmmaker, Yujiro Taniyama, has a habit of making insulting remarks about Americans. As he recently tweeted prior to an appearance on the Islamic Al-Jazeera network:

Such remarks only help those who wish to portray Japan as a "false friend" of the United States and not a trusted ally, which is the Red Chinese goal. This will infuriate Americans on both the left and the right, Black Americans and White Americans the same.

Leftists and Black Americans will be outraged simply by the title, using the memory of the "Scottsboro Boys" for an issue not having anything to do with Black Americans. It is always a controversial issue whenever anyone tries to compare their situation with that of Blacks in the United States. On the other side, to the right, White Americans will be equally outraged at being called "racists" and blaming Americans for the comfort women issue. Similar to Japanese difficulties with Korea and China, White Americans are often confronted with accusations of racism based on issues of history long in the past. There are also many on both sides and both Black and White who will resent what appears to be a foreign young man stirring up racial antagonism in the United States over a past issue that causes both sides pain and anger. None of this helps Japan but rather it greatly helps the Chinese communists and Korean enemies of Japan who want to divide Japan and the United States, especially at a time before Japan has fully revised Article 9 and become as militarily strong as possible. This film has already caused damage and given Japan a negative image in the United States. Whether or not that was the intention, it has been the result. It is simply a question of taking sides; to be on the side of the Americans and Japanese who want a strong alliance or the side of the Red Chinese who want the alliance to end and isolate Japan on the world stage.