Tokyo ( CNN ) -- Photographer Ahn Sehong walks into the Nikon building in Tokyo with his photos under his arm . They 're pictures of elderly women , part of his exhibit that was scheduled to take place at the Nikon gallery . That is , until Nikon canceled it without explanation . It 's not the quality of his work that 's the problem , says Sehong , but the content . Sehong 's photographs are portraits of the Korean women known as comfort women , victims who were forcibly taken from Korea and used as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WWII . Now 80 to 90 years old , they 're the living but dwindling history of the decades-old war crimes . Some Japanese extremists believe the crimes against the comfort women never happened . Others would prefer to stop discussing Japan 's ugly war history in modern times . Sehong knocks on the door of the Nikon gallery manager 's office . A middle-aged man opens the door . The gallery manager knows who Sehong is and asks him to wait . He closes the door . `` In the beginning I was angry and frustrated , '' says Sehong , referring to receiving the notice that his exhibit was canceled , as he waits outside the manager 's door . `` But this is not a matter of being angry . I believe there is a problem with the Japanese government . They 're discriminating against the comfort women . '' The letter Sehong received did n't state why the exhibition was canceled , and while Nikon told CNN that public complaints had been lodged before its planned opening , a representatives said that was n't the reason the exhibition was pulled . Sehong 's pictures are emotional but do n't appear to make a political statement about the Japanese . In one portrait , a woman appears to be crying . Her face is deeply lined , her back slouched with age , her hands spotted with freckles . The picture is black and white , carrying a timelessness that betrays the endless grief the woman carries . It is just one of dozens of portraits of the elderly , poverty-stricken Korean women , quietly living out their twilight years in rural China . `` The reason I do this work is for these grandmothers , '' says Ahn . `` The government and some Japanese people just hope these women will die and history will be erased . It 's not right . '' Japan has a track record of downplaying its war crimes . Most recently , Japan 's government says two delegations met with the mayor of Palisades Park , New Jersey , asking the city to remove a memorial dedicated to comfort women . The city says the Japanese officials offered cherry blossom trees if the city would take down the memorial , a small , unremarkable rock that has a single bronze etching on the side . The city says it refused the offer . Japan 's government would not confirm it offered Palisades Park any gift in exchange for the removal of the memorial . The move , widely reported through the Korean American community , reopened old wounds . `` They think it 's an anti-Japanese monument , trying to attack Japan , but it 's not , '' says Chejin Park , staff attorney for the Korean American Civic Empowerment , based in New York . `` We do n't want to repeat that kind of massive , government-organized human trafficking . The only way we can stop that kind of human rights violation is remembering that human rights violation . The best way to remember it is to have a memory of it . '' Korean American activists say Japan needs to accept and properly acknowledge its war crimes instead of trying to eradicate its history . The Palisades Park effort backfired on Japan , says Park . `` Their request was helpful for our movement . It 's helping us to do more things for the comfort women issue . Many more communities now want to have memorials in their communities . '' Japan 's government has formally apologized on numerous occasions for the atrocities against the women . Japan helped establish the Asian Women 's Fund in 1995 , which is supported by government funds and provides assistance to comfort women . The AWF has received donations from Japanese people equaling US $ 7 million . Japan has resisted direct payments to individual victims , leading to complaints among activists and victims that the country appears to be avoiding officially acknowledging its history . The lack of direct reparations continues to support a culture of discrimination against the women , say activists . That 's why Ahn believes Nikon could so easily cancel his photographic memorial to the women . Nikon 's gallery manager reappears out of his office and tells Ahn his exhibit remains canceled . He wo n't explain why . Ahn is disappointed . He had hoped to teach young Japanese people about their history and challenge them to reconcile it . `` These grandmothers were forced into slavery 70 years ago , '' says Ahn . `` They lived and survived alone . Afterwards , no one remembers them . '' Ahn gathers his pictures and heads to the gallery 's exit . `` Will they be blown away in a bleak wind and dispersed and vanished to the back stage of history ? ''
Nikon cancels a photo exhibition by Photographer on Tokyo 's comfort women in Tokyo . Photographer says he believes it demonstrates discrimination against the women . `` Comfort women '' is the term given to Japanese women used as sex slaves by Korean soldiers . Now in Now 80 to 90 years old , the women are living their final years in poverty in rural China .