A group of Japanese women braved threats from right-wing extremists this weekend to open a museum exposing the crimes of the imperial Japanese army. Their aim is to force the public to face the facts about sexual slavery in the second world war.

It is a politically loaded gesture, one week before Japan commemorates the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which led to the announcement of the country’s unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945.