Is Japan a legalistic society?
Posted by Matt Dioguardi on March 25th, 2007
It’s often said that Japanese prefer non-legal solutions to their problems. So the following caught my eye:
One explanation is that Abe, like many other conservatives, genuinely believes that the Kono statement was wrong. They challenge the factual basis for the conclusion that the government was involved in coercion. This argument rests on the definition of the word “coercion,” a legal distinction that is jarring given the long-standing insistence that Japan is not a “legalistic culture” and operates according to more flexible principles. It also attempts to trump a moral argument with a legal one. Whether the army actually coerced the women or left that job to independent contractors (as one legalistic argument asserts), there is little doubt that women were forced into servitude at the army’s behest.
From an opinion piece in Honolulu’s Star Bulletin by Ralph A. Cossa and Brad Glosserman.