日本报纸为将慰安妇称为性奴道歉

日本报纸为将慰安妇称为性奴道歉

TOKYO — The Yomiuri Shimbun, the conservative newspaper that is the largest-circulation daily in Japan, has apologized for using the term “sex slaves” to refer to the women many historians say were coerced into working in a sprawling network of brothels supervised by the Japanese military during World War II.

东京——日本发行量最大的日报、持保守派立场的《读卖新闻》(Yomiuri Shimbun)表示道歉，因为它在指代二战期间在日军监管下的庞大妓院网络工作的妇女时，使用了“性奴”一词。许多历史学者认为，这些妇女受到了胁迫。

In a challenge to the view held by those historians, as well as by the governments of South Korea and China, the newspaper said it was “inappropriate” to suggest that the women — of many nationalities and known euphemistically as comfort women — had been recruited against their will. Writing “as if coercion by the Japanese government or the army was an objective fact” was incorrect, it said.

《读卖新闻》表示，说这些妇女——她们来自多个国家，也被称为“慰安妇”——在违背其意愿的情况下遭日本政府与军队征召，是“不恰当的”。这种说法挑战了历史学者以及韩国和中国政府的立场。该报称，如果你写作时表达的意思“就好像日本政府或军队的胁迫是客观事实，”是不正确的。

The Yomiuri’s apology Friday for the use of the term “sex slave” in its English-language edition over more than two decades came as the newspaper campaigns to correct what it sees as unduly negative portrayals of Japan’s wartime behavior.

《读卖新闻》周五为20多年来一直在英文版上使用“性奴”一词表示道歉的同时，该报也正在掀起一场运动，那就是纠正在它看来对日本战时行为的大量负面描述。

The Yomiuri has for months castigated its liberal archrival, The Asahi Shimbun, over mistakes in its reporting on sexual abuses by the Japanese military during World War II. The Asahi Shimbun wrote articles in the 1980s and 1990s about a man who claimed to have kidnapped Korean women during the war and forced them into Japanese military brothels. The man turned out to be lying, and The Asahi’s retraction of those stories in August prompted The Yomiuri to accuse it of an “extremely grave” error that had damaged Japan’s international reputation.

《读卖新闻》数月来一直在抨击自由派的主要对手《朝日新闻》(Asahi Shimbun)，指责它在涉及二战期间日军性侵行为的报道中的错误。上世纪80、90年代，《朝日新闻》撰写的一些文章称，一名男子声称在战争中绑架了一些朝鲜妇女，并强迫她们进入了日本军队的妓院。这名男子最终被证明是在说谎，《朝日新闻》今年8月撤回了相关报道，《读卖新闻》因此谴责该报犯了“极其严重”的错误，破坏了日本的国际声誉。

The debate over wartime history in Japan has intensified with the ascent of Shinzo Abe, the culturally conservative prime minister who regained power in 2012. Mr. Abe has made restoring pride in Japan’s past a central theme of his political career and has shown a willingness to intervene against news media outlets that he believes stand in the way of that cause. He has spoken out against The Asahi’s reporting on the brothels and installed supervisory board members at Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK.

随着安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)的上位，有关日本战时历史的讨论变得更加激烈。这位文化上持保守立场的首相在2012年重新掌权，他已经把恢复对日本历史的骄傲变成了其政治生涯的一个核心主题，并表现出对在他看来妨碍了这项事业的媒体进行干预的意愿。他已经公开谴责了《朝日新闻》对军队妓院的报道，并在日本国家电视广播公司 NHK的监督委员会里安插了多名成员。

The Yomiuri’s chairman, Tsuneo Watanabe, is a close associate of Mr. Abe’s, and the newspaper firmly backs the prime minister. With the apology, it appeared less to be bending with the conservative wind than stoking its power. Critics sensed a political statement disguised as an admission of guilt.

《读卖新闻》的会长渡边恒雄(Tsuneo Watanabe)是安倍晋三的亲密盟友，该报坚定地支持这位首相。随着道歉的刊出，它似乎更多的是在强化自己的实力，而不仅是向保守主义风潮低头。批评人士感到，这份道歉表面上是认错，实际上却是一个政治声明。

“It’s no mistake to see the Abe administration’s views reflected in the Yomiuri article,” Koichi Nakano, a political scientist at Sophia University in Tokyo, said in a post on Twitter.

“认为《读卖新闻》的文章反映了安倍政府的立场，这是没错的，”东京上智大学(Sophia University)政治学者中野晃一(Koichi Nakano)在Twitter上发帖说。