History is haunting Shinzo Abe

　　历史遗留问题正困扰着安倍晋三

　　Unable to forget

　　无法忘记

　　JAPAN'S imperious newspapers rarely issue apologies; two in six months is unheard of. In August, the liberal Asahi Shimbun admitted running stories based on discredited testimony by a former Japanese soldier who said he had corralled Korean women into wartime military brothels. Last week, the Asahi's conservative archrival, Yomiuri Shimbun, said sorry to its 10m readers for using the term “sex slaves” in many articles about so-called comfort women since 1992. Such language was “inappropriate”, its editors said. This will inflame the issue.

　　强势的日本报纸几乎不会道歉，半年内两度发表道歉声明的事更是闻所未闻。今年8月份，自由派报纸《朝日新闻》因以一位前日本军人不可信的证词作了系列报道而道歉，这名军人说自己曾强迫朝鲜女性进入战时的军队妓院。上周，朝日的劲敌保守派报纸《读卖新闻》又为在自1992年以来的多篇文章中使用“性奴”称呼慰安妇而向其1千万读者道歉。该报编辑表示，这种措辞是“不恰当的”。这使得事件火上浇油。

　　日本的战争阴影.jpg

　　The apology reflects an ideological war that has been waged for over two decades. Conservatives in Japan have fought to reverse an admission by a previous government of military involvement in coercing Asian women into sexual slavery during the second world war. They say the women were willing prostitutes who served the troops. Critics accuse Japan of whitewashing the past.

　　这一道歉折射出进行了长达20多年之久的意识形态战争。日本前任政府曾承认日本在二战期间强迫亚洲各国女性成为性奴，但日本的保守派极力否认这些。他们认为这些女性是自愿服务军队的妓女。有关方面则批评日本粉饰历史。

　　Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, is deeply entangled in this controversy. Several in his cabinet deny war crimes and say Japan has been bullied into expressions of guilt and remorse. Mr Abe is unhappy that events from 70 years ago dominate Japan's diplomatic relations with South Korea (at a G20 meeting in Australia last month, Mr Abe and South Korea's president, Park Geun-hye, spent 40 minutes talking about how to resolve their differences over the wartime women). He blames the Asahi for poisoning ties with Japan's closest neighbour and besmirching Japan's image abroad. Japan must regain its honour, he says. In an interview with The Economist, he said his heart ached thinking about the women. But he said previous governments had also taken his view that there was no proof of coercion.

　　日本首相安倍晋三被深深卷入这一争议。其内阁中的一些成员不承认战争罪，并认为日本是被迫表达出罪恶感和悔恨。70年前的事件仍左右日本同韩国的外交关系，安倍对这一现实感到不快（在上月于澳大利亚举行的G20峰会上，安倍和韩国总统朴槿惠在讨论如何消除两国关于战时慰安妇问题的分歧上花费了40分钟之久）。安倍指责《朝日新闻》毒害了日本同其最好的邻国之间的关系，并且损害了日本的海外形像。他表示，日本需要赢回尊严。在同《经济学人》的一次访谈中，他表示他为这些女性感到心痛。但是他也认同前任政府的观点，即没有证据证明这这些人是受到强迫的。

　　Historians disagree. They say women were treated as the spoils of war throughout Japanese wartime territories. Some were driven into prostitution by poverty. Others were enticed with promises of legitimate work or marched into “comfort stations” at gunpoint. Revisionists who describe them all as volunteers are “completely wrong”, says Haruki Wada, a former director of Japan's official compensation fund for the women.

　　历史学家对此观点不一，他们认为这些女性在日本战时的领地中完全被当做战利品。一些女性是由于贫困而成了妓女。还有一些或是被合法工作的许诺所诱惑，或是被枪口威胁着去往“慰安所”。那些把这些人描述成自愿行为的修正主义者们“完全错了”，日本官方的慰安妇赔偿基金的前官员和田春树这样说道。

　　The Yomiuri's retraction, which follows a similar move by NHK, a public-service broadcaster, is a victory for revisionists—and a pre-emptive strike. Since the Asahi retraction, the Yomiuri has run many articles berating its rival. The apology is a way of protecting the newspaper from counter-attack, while thumbing its nose at its ideological opponents.

　　《读卖新闻》这次撤销报道行为跟在公共电视台NHK的一次类似行为之后，这即是一次修正主义者们的胜利，也是一次先发制人。在《朝日新闻》撤销报道后，《读卖日报》曾发表众多文章抨击对手。《读卖日报》的这次道歉能够保护报纸不受攻击，同时又可以在意识形态上对手嗤之以鼻。