is a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

written and illustrated by Yoshinori Kobayashi and published by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

in November 2000. A Chinese version was published in Taiwan by Avanguard Publishing in February 2001 sparking controversy and even imposing a travel ban on the author by Taiwanese officials.

Criticism

Critics of the book say it distorts history by claiming that Taiwanese women volunteered as

comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

for Japanese soldiers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Such claims were backed by comments from petrochemical Chi Mei Corporation Chairman Hsu Wen-lung whom the author cited as confirming that no women were forced into prostitution.

Responses to the book

Taiwan legislators and other protesters stormed Taipei's biggest bookstore, grabbing the books and setting them on fire on the sidewalk. On 2 March 2001, the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China barred Kobayashi from travel to Taiwan, igniting objections from high ranking government officials including National Policy Advisor Alice King. President

Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian ( zh, t=陳水扁; born 12 October 1950) is a Taiwanese former politician and lawyer who served as the fifth president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progres ...

spoke out in defense of King and Kobayashi stating that freedom of speech is the right of everyone and must be safeguarded. The ban was lifted on 23 March 2001.

References

{{Taiwan-stub

Criticism

Responses to the book

See also

References