MUSEUM: Women's Active Museum on War and Peace

In this summer of 2005, which marks the sixtieth anniversary of Japan's defeat in WWII, we are opening the Women's Active Museum of War and Peace.

After the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery was held in 2000, we began dreaming of a museum where all the Tribunal records and materials related to the so-called "comfort women" issue could be preserved and made available to future generations. The passion of the late Yayori Matsui, then chairperson of VAWW-NET Japan, was the driving force that led us to realize this dream. In June 2003, we established the NPO "Women's Fund for Peace and Human Rights" and launched our "Raise 100,000,000 Yen Campaign" for the museum with an initial support fund from Yayori's legacy.

The Women's Active Museum of War and Peace is a place where the reality of war crimes is recorded and kept for posterity. We come here to remember historical facts about "comfort women," and to listen to their stories. And we raise our voices and say, "Never Again, anywhere in the world."

More than a decade has passed since the women survivors of Japan's military sexual violence courageously began to speak out. Their stories have challenged us in many ways. They have taught us that war crimes are never rectified unless the State faces its crimes; that a genuine apology and promise to prevent recurrence from the State is an absolute necessity; that in order to overcome the past we need to keep the memory of past aggression alive, and pass it on to future generations.

Here in Japan, there are those who deny the fact of military sexual slavery, and try to evade responsibility for it. But however vigorously they may seek to deny them, historical facts can never be erased.

Please listen to the voices of the women survivors. Come and join us in asking why these things happened and are still happening, and in thinking about how we might work together to bring about a non-violent world where peace and equality are realities rather than dreams.

(source)

To learn more about this initiative click here