橋下徹、慰安婦問題の発言・Toru Hashimoto's statement about "comfort women"

今週、橋下徹大阪市長は日本に誰にでも聞いた、とても論争の発言を言ってしまった。[1] [2] [3]　僕は慰安婦問題をあまり知らなくて、研究を少しだけしたが、まだ意見をまだ作っていないんだ。女性は娼婦にならせられたのか？強姦されたのか？娼婦にならせられたことも、ならせられなかった証拠がありそうだ。

とにかく、今、慰安婦問題の詳細に興味がない。今の興味はなぜ橋本はその発言をしたんだろうか。で、なぜ今その発言をしたんだろうか。なぜその議論の的になっている発言をするために記者会見を開いたのだろうか？議論の的になると知っていたんじゃないか。タイミングと理由に気になっている、僕は。「GaijinPot」という英語の掲示板では他の人も橋本の発言についてのスレで、それらの質問をしたんだ。どれでも英語のサイトでも、反応はすごくネガティブで、韓国と中国のメディアも同じだそうだ。橋本はその反応を期待するはずだろう。

誰かは橋本の理由を推測してくれない？僕はさっぱり分からないけど、ちょっと臆測がある。けど、まず、日本人の意見に興味がある。

英語・English

This week, Osaka Mayor Hashimoto has made a series of very controversial statements that I'm sure most Japanese are aware of.[1] [2] [3] I know almost nothing about comfort women and have only done a little bit of research on the matter, so I haven't formed an opinion yet. Were women forced to become prostitutes? Were they raped? There is some information that suggests that they were forced (many supposedly died from sexual injuries and diseases), while other information suggests that they weren't (the Japanese government released a study in 2007).

In any case, I'm not as interested in the details of the comfort women issue. I'm more interested in why Hashimoto said what he did, and why he is saying it now. Why did he hold a press conference to make statements he knew would be highly controversial? That's a question that someone on the GaijinPot thread about Hashimoto's statement asked. Any English language comments I have seen on the issue have been very negative, and I've heard that it is similar in South Korean and Chinese media. Hashimoto must have known that his remarks would have that effect.

Anybody have any opinions on why Hashimoto made his comments?