The Taiwanese Roots of East Asia’s War Redress Movement: An Alternate Genealogy

Abstract

Conventional wisdom pinpoints the origins of East Asia’s World War II redress movement in 1990, with the emergence of the “comfort women” issue and subsequent transnational litigation. This Article challenges that narrative by excavating a series of lawsuits, filed by Taiwanese citizens in Japanese courts from the 1970s. It offers the first English-language account of the activists, scholars, lawyers, and plaintiffs to use civil litigation strategically for war redress, a practice that spread to the rest of the region. By examining newsletters, testimony, judicial opinions, and scholarly accounts, this Article fills a gap in current discussions of war redress, transitional justice, and transnational human rights litigation. Specifically, it traces the process of “micro-mobilization” at the grassroots level. While some criticize Japanese civil society groups as weak and diffuse, this Article shows how small groups of self-appointed “committees” can effectively challenge state policy and change the legal landscape, even on politically charged topics such as war redress. After tracing the formation of the transnational activists that filed, archived, and propagandized the Taiwan lawsuits in the 1970s, this Article critically assesses the Taiwanese jurisprudence. It then links the sociological and legal developments of the 1970s to the war redress movement unfolding in the present moment.