True repentance is hard to come by. To refute the claims by Asian pacifists and NGO movements worldwide, and to pre-empt the presentation of HR121 a House of Representatives resolution calling on Tokyo to "formally acknowledge, apologise, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" over the coercion of women into sex slavery during World War II, a group of Japanese lawmakers took to the trouble and sponsored a full-page ad in the Washington Post last week, categorically denying that the Japanese government and the Imperial Army had a hand in conscripting "comfort women", an euphemism for military prostitutes.

In the ad, the high-ranking politicians insist that "there was no proof that so-called comfort women were forced into sex slavery, and comfort women were treated well."

The resolution is scheduled to be presented before the House at the end of this month. The interesting fact in this episode is that HR-121 was proposed by Mike Honda, a congressman of Japanese origin, who hopes to do his part to educate the Japanese nation "about this horrible crime".