A non-governmental archive about "comfort women," a euphemism used to describe women forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese army during World War II, opened in Tokyo on Monday.

The archive, the first of its kind in Japan, displays photos of 140 "comfort women" along with information on the trials of the war criminals involved and testimonies of survivors from nine countries.

The documents also include plans, reports and maps about the use of "comfort women" owned by the wartime Japanese emperor, army and government as well as many publications on the issue.

The preparation of the archives began at the end of 2002 with donations from 1,760 Japanese citizens.

Nishino Rumiko, chairwoman of Violence Against Women in War Network Japan and curator of the archives, said, "Japan should show deep remorse about its wartime crimes toward neighboring countries. The archives provide people with a true history of the Japanese army's wartime atrocities."

She added that she hoped the Japanese media would report on the issue and protests about it in other Asian countries in an accurate and timely way.

(Xinhua News Agency August 2, 2005)