My purpose in writing you today is threefold.

First, and most importantly, I would like to thank you for signing the letter protesting NHK's program, "Wartime Sexual Violence" ("Senji seiboryoku"), which aired on January 30, 2001. The letter was sent to NHK with over 360 signatures on March 15. The letter had great symbolic value in making NHK aware that its actions are being watched globally. In addition, an article citing the letter appeared in the mass circulation daily newspaper, the __Asahi__ on March 27.

Second, I would like to ask for your permission to include your name in the list of signatories to the letter that will be made public through __Sekai__, a leading journal in Japan that is published by Iwanami. __Sekai__ has been very supportive of our efforts and has expressed a desire to put the list of signatories on their website. If you DO NOT wish to have your name posted on the website, please let me know by May 25, 2001. There is no need to respond if you wish to have your name listed.

Third, in the remainder of this email I would like to report on NHK's response (or more precisely non-response) to the letter and fill you in on current efforts to continue our protest.

I received a reply from Mr. Tamio Yoshioka, head of NHK's Culture Section, in the form of a letter dated March 27. In this letter Mr. Yoshioka apologized for any shortcomings that I might have found in the program, but denied any outside influence on the program's production. He also stated that he saw no reason to respond to any of the signatories to the letter of protest. His reasoning was that none of you had been directly involved in the making of the program.

I wrote back to Mr. Yoshioka on April 8, explaining that those who had signed the letter would like clarification about the decisions that were made during the production process. However, I received no response. Therefore, I made a telephone call to NHK on April 27 and spoke directly with Yoshioka. He reiterated what he had said in the letter and asserted that his non-response should be interpreted as a response. Unfortunately, you should expect no communication from Mr. Yoshioka or any other NHK representative.

Four commentators for the series which included "Wartime Sexual Violence" (Tetsuya Takahashi, Aiko Utsumi, Satoshi Ukai, and I) will continue to negotiate with NHK. We are also currently considering the possibility of initiating legal action against NHK on the grounds that NHK violated its agreement with us about the program's content and that it defamed of the characters of the commentators through willful abuse of editorial discretion and misappropriation of our statements.

There is currently another mass signature campaign that is being led by over one hundred scholars, critics and other citizens in Japan. The immediate aim is to send a letter of "Inquiry with Demands" to NHK. The "Inquiry with Demands" will be submitted to NHK on June 12 (tentative date) and will be followed by a public symposium on this issue. Because NHK's programming is made possible by individual viewers' contributions in Japan, it will be obliged to reply to these signatories in a responsible manner.

I am currently assisting the managing office of this campaign. If you can read Korean or Japanese please log onto:

http://www.jca.apc.org/~itagaki/nhk/index.html

At this site you can obtain information regarding the campaign. You will also find a number of articles on the program and its censorship that have appeared in Korean and Japanese newspapers, magazines, journals and other print media. For those of you who can read Korean or Japanese, the deadline for signing the petition in Japan is Thursday, May 24 (East Asia Time).

Thank you again for your support. Although NHK has refused to respond to you directly, you can be assured that your voice has been heard loud and clear and that it has had an empowering effect on those who continue to seek responsible public discussion about Japansese responsibilities for imperialism, colonialism, violation of women's rights, and other war atrocities.

Sincerely,
Lisa Yoneyama