Assessment of the 2000 Tokyo Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery

by the Violence Against Women in War-Network (VAWW-NET Japan).At issue was the partial censorship by NHK of a documentary on Japan's wartime, aired on January 30, 2001.More precisely, the national broadcaster cut four crucial minutes presenting the verdict of a citizens' tribunal, held in Tokyo in December 2000, which found the Japanese state responsible for the creation of a 'sex slave' system (e.g.JT13June or NHKfile 2010).How could a few minutes of silence have led to almost seven years of legal pursuit?In fact, the censored verdict had been handed down by the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery, a citizen's body without legal power, which found the Japanese government guilty of allowing the 'comfort women' system to develop throughout Asia, from the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937)(1938)(1939)(1940)(1941)(1942)(1943)(1944)(1945) until the end of the Pacific War (1945).In this paper, in order to better understand the real weight of these four minutes, it is necessary to assess the Women's Tribunal itself.Firstly, motives behind this action need to be clarified.Secondly, we will show the legal, historical, and psychological reasons why it had to take the form of a popular tribunal.Thirdly, the meeting and its final recommendations will be succinctly described, and its impact on both Japan and the international community will be appraised, a decade after the judgment.In conclusion, we will see why there are reasons for hope for an improvement.