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This article explores the activities and experiences of a women's peace museum in Japan which especially tries to pass on the history of Japan's military sexual slavery, or the "comfort women" issue. The system of Japan's military sexual slavery had not been written as a part of history until courageous survivors testified and documentary evidence was unearthed in the 1990s. With few material exhibits of sexual violence, testimonies play a significant role in the exhibitions. Panels displaying the testimony of both survivors and former soldiers try to represent the person as a whole, situating sexual enslavement or crimes as part of their overall life, rather than extracting the harsh experience in an isolated way. The concrete and detailed activities of this privately run museum show the challenges faced by museums dealing with the dark history of their own country.

Twenty years ago, in December 2000, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (the IMTFE, also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal or the Tokyo Trial), was "reopened" in Tokyo to address unfinished business: the crime of holding women as sex slaves for the Japanese imperial army. The women's tribunal was at once the culmination and launch of a renewed effort by international civil society to address war crimes that fester to this day. Norma Field and Watanabe Mina reflect on that occasion and urge readers to view the documentary record of that historic event, Breaking the History of Silence, easily accessed online until December 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Approximately 17% of Japanese women have hemoglobin concentrations less than 12 g/dL. Therefore, anemia prevention and early intervention are crucial public health issues in Japan. This study aimed to identify the symptoms and characteristics of anemic individuals in the general adult population by comparing survey responses of individuals with anemia and without anemia visiting blood donation centers. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used self-administered questionnaires. Individuals who visited two Japanese Red Cross Society blood donation centers in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan were included. Hemoglobin levels were measured at blood donation, and the levels of 13 g/dL for men and 12 g/dL for women were defined as anemia. Results: Of the 857 individuals analyzed, 530 were men and 327 were women, of whom 19 (3.6%) and 12 (3.7%) had low hemoglobin levels, respectively. Logistic regression analysis was performed in men, and the results showed that "lightheadedness" (odds ratio [OR]=8.4) and "depressive symptoms" (OR=3.6) were significantly associated with hemoglobin levels. None of the evaluated items were significantly associated with hemoglobin levels in women. Conclusion: Among healthy Japanese men, those who exhibit lightheadedness and depressive symptoms have an increased risk of anemia. Lightheadedness and depressive symptoms may be indicative of undiagnosed anemia in men, which necessitates greater clinical attention., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (©2024 The Japanese Association of Rural Medicine.)

This study aimed to investigate the basic data on the effectiveness and safety of the system in healthy subjects using an immersive virtual reality (VR) exercise system specialized for therapeutic exercise therapy during dialysis or hospital use. A total of 15 healthy adult subjects performed four exercises, namely lifting and rowing exercises using VR and each movement exercise without VR (control). The simulator sickness questionnaire (SSQ) was administered pre- and post-operatively to assess for VR sickness. Blood pressure, heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exhaustion, Profile of Mood States 2nd Edition Japanese version, and muscle activity (iEMG) were measured using electromyography. The correlation between changes in mood states and HR or iEMG results was examined. The SSQ measured post-VR exercise was 11.2 (18.7-7.5) and 11.2 (7.5-29.9) points in the lifting and rowing VR, respectively. The HR in lifting (VR, 82.5 ± 12.7 vs control, 71.6 ± 10.6 bpm, P <0.05) and rowing (VR, 94.2 ± 13.1 vs control, 83.5 ± 12.0, P <0.05) with VR exercise was significantly higher than in control. No significant differences were observed between the other variables. There was a positive correlation between HR and negative mood in the lifting VR condition (r=0.64, P <0.05), but not in the control group. Contrastingly, there was a positive correlation between iEMG and negative mood in rowing control (r=0.56), but not VR. Safety was confirmed, with no VR sickness or discontinuation of the system. Exercise therapy using VR resulted in a higher exercise load. This VR system has the potential for additional effective intradialytic exercises and hospital use., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.