2016年1月18日の参院予算委員会で、安倍首相、岸田外相共に“慰安婦は性奴隷に非ず”と発言し、慰安婦を“Sex Slave”と表現している海外メディアに対し、“性奴隷は事実ではない”、“性奴隷という表現を使うな”と求める姿勢を示しました*1。
もっとも今の所、海外メディアは安倍政権に遠慮することなく、日本軍慰安婦を“Sex Slave”と表現し続けています。
欧米の感覚で言えば、日本軍慰安婦は性奴隷以外の何ものでもありませんから、当然ではありますが。
2015年12月28日の日韓政府間合意を当事国以外の海外メディアが概ね評価したのは、安倍政権が“慰安婦が性的人身売買の被害者であること”を認め、その「責任」が日本政府にあることを認め、“日本首相として謝罪”したからです。
性的人身売買の被害者が性奴隷であることは、日本以外の先進国では社会的常識と言ってよく*2、ために当然、欧米メディアは日韓政府間合意を“日本が性奴隷制度の責任を認めて謝罪し、日韓間の慰安婦問題が解決した”と報じたわけです。
日本政府による“慰安婦は性奴隷に非ず”発言は、海外の好意的理解を崩しかねないものですから、多分に国内向けで実際に日本政府が海外メディアに対し“Sex Slave”表現をやめるよう圧力をかけるとは、ちょっと考えられません（まあ、常識で考えられない愚行をするのが今の日本政府ではありますが）。
日本政府の“慰安婦は性奴隷に非ず”発言に対しては、韓国や中国系のメディアでは報じられましたが、欧米メディアではあまり報じられていないようです。その一方で冒頭に述べたように、海外メディアは“Sex Slave”表現を使い続けています。
さて、日本政府の“慰安婦は性奴隷に非ず”発言に対して明確な態度を示したのがJapan Timesでした。
It is the policy of The Japan Times that “sex slaves” is acceptable for referring to the women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/18/national/politics-diplomacy/japans-foreign-minister-challenges-use-of-sex-slaves-term-for-comfort-women/
日本国内の主要メディアは安倍政権の弾圧を恐れて、慰安婦という“euphemism”すら遠慮して“いわゆる従軍慰安婦”と表現することが多くなってますから情けない限りではあります。
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/18/national/politics-diplomacy/japans-foreign-minister-challenges-use-of-sex-slaves-term-for-comfort-women/Japan’s foreign minister challenges use of ‘sex slaves’ term for ‘comfort women’
by Reiji Yoshida
Jan 18, 2016
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida argued Monday that “comfort women” should not be described as “sex slaves,” challenging widespread use of the term by Western media outlets.
“The term ‘sex slaves’ doesn’t match the facts, and (the Japanese government) believes it should not be used,” Kishida said during a session of the Upper House Budget Committee when asked about the matter by Takashi Uto, a fellow member of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Kishida also said the South Korean government has confirmed that the formal term used by Seoul is “victims of the comfort women issue of the Japanese military,” not “sex slaves.”
The term “comfort woman” is a euphemism for females who were forced into Japanese military brothels in the 1930s and ’40s.
On Dec. 28, Seoul and Tokyo reached a landmark agreement to settle a long-standing diplomatic row over issues involving these women. The deal includes setting up a \1 billion fund for the women.
When reporting on the agreement, many major Western media outlets, including the Washington Post, New York Times, Guardian and CNN, used the term “sex slaves.”
It is the policy of The Japan Times that “sex slaves” is acceptable for referring to the women who were forced to provide sex for Japanese troops before and during World War II.
The Japanese government admitted “the honor and dignity of many women” was damaged with “the involvement” of the military authorities, and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed his “most sincere apologies and remorse” for the suffering of comfort women.
But Japan has not recognized its legal responsibilities because private-sector businesses, not wartime Japanese authorities, are believed to have been the main entities that recruited the women on the Korean Peninsula.
Japan has also maintained that all compensation issues involving Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule were “settled completely and finally” in a bilateral pact attached to the 1965 Japan-South Korea basic treaty.
