... Although the Japanese government has already apologized to prisoners of war for their brutal treatment during the war, this is the first time that a Japanese company has done so. "As far as I know, this is a piece of history," Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an associate dean at the center, was quoted by the AP as saying. "It's the first time a major Japanese company has ever made such a gesture. We hope this will spur other companies to join in and do the same." According to the AP: "Some 12,000 American prisoners were shipped to Japan and forced to work at more than 50 sites to support imperial Japan's war effort, and about 10% died, according to Kinue Tokudome, director of the US-Japan Dialogue on POWs, who has spearheaded the lobbying effort for companies to apologize." ... nd women into protitution. In an [opinion piece] written last year, Mindy Kotler, the director of Asia Policy Point, a non-profit research center, wrote: "Mr. Abe's administration denies that imperial Japan ran a system of human trafficking and coerced prostitution, implying that comfort women were simply camp-following prostitutes."