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Japanese nationalism emerged through a collective denial of the historical past and colonial guilt, in relation particularly to Asian and East Asian countries. Raising the issue of “comfort women” confronts this denial by exploring the institutionalization of sexual slavery during the war in Asia and the Pacific when the Japanese government forced many women from Japanese colonies and territories under its control to become prostitutes. The article analyses the sexual aspect of colonial governmental practice in order to shed light on Japanese postcolonial nationalism.