Residents living around the Brookhaven park where a controversial “comfort women” memorial is set to be unveiled June 30 are telling the city to find another location or face legal action.
The Reserve at Brookleigh Community Association, representing 95 homeowners along Blair Circle, pays for Blackburn Park II’s maintenance, but had no input into the monument’s location, said board member Brad Sapir. Residents are concerned the statue affects the park’s use and brings a political controversy to the neighborhood, Sapir said.
“For them to just make this decision without speaking with us is extremely unfair and at this point we don’t know if it is legal,” said Sapir. “For the city to come in and plop this down in the center of the park really changes the environment and atmosphere around this park.”
Sapir said he and other residents are considering filing for a court injunction forcing the memorial’s relocation unless the city does so voluntarily.
The memorial, a statue of a girl sitting next to an empty chair, honors the sex-trafficking victims of the Japanese military during World War II. It is one of several identical statues created as part of a campaign that has generated controversy between the governments of Japan and South Korea. The Consulate-General of Japan in Atlanta is asking the city to reject the statue, and City Council members have received more than 200 emails from people opposed to the statue, most from people living in Japan.
Earlier this year, the Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta decided to reject an offer to host the memorial. The Brookhaven City Council voted May 23 to accept the memorial from the Atlanta Comfort Women Memorial Task Force.
City Manager Christian Sigman said at that council meeting that a location for the statue had not yet been determined.
However, Sapir said that on May 18 he noticed city parks employees building the concrete slab for the memorial in the middle of the park. When he asked what was being placed there, “The employee told me it was a secret,” Sapir said.
Sapir said he and other residents immediately began seeking a meeting with city officials and met with Sigman on June 16. Sapir said Sigman told him a City Council vote would be required to move the memorial.
The city does not have a formal policy for accepting public art or memorials, according to city spokesperson Burke Brennan. Brennan said the current plan remains to unveil the statue on June 30. The next City Council meeting is slated for June 29.
Brennan said the decision to locate the statue in the city-owned park on Blair Circle was a staff decision that included input from himself, Sigman and Parks and Recreation Director Brian Borden. He said the park was selected because it is an existing passive green space without any other possible development use and because it is located in a quiet residential area, “which is compatible with the theme and imagery of the memorial.”
In a June 14 email from Mayor John Ernst to Sapir, the mayor said the decision to locate the memorial in the park “was largely driven by the number of seniors living in the immediate area, the limited park amenities at Blackburn Park II, and relative flat topography of the park.”
“We did consider other city parks, but Backburn Park II was the clear choice,” Ernst wrote. “As to the location of the statue in the park proper, the statue and associated landscaping are generally in an area closest to the sidewalk entering the park from the senior apartments and on-street parking for seniors. The city’s parks, as with most parks, do a great job of providing amenities and programming for active adults and children, but too often seniors are not considered.”
Ernst added in the email that the city is willing to pay for the relocation of the memorial if a new location can be agreed upon by the Parks and Recreation Department.
The 3-acre park is known to the city as Blackburn Park II, but nearby residents call it Brookleigh Central Park. It is near, but not adjacent to, the larger and better known Blackburn Park on Ashford-Dunwoody Road.
Sapir said the Brookleigh Master Association – which includes the homeowners association along with representatives of other organizations in the mixed-use Brookleigh development — pays more than $20,000 a year for the park’s upkeep, while the city covers no maintenance costs
“It seems like the city had no idea it was not paying for the maintenance of the park,” Sapir said.
When Ashton Woods built the Reserve at Brookleigh as part of the 56-acre mixed-use development near the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Ashford-Dunwoody roads about five years ago, it included the park as part of the residential section. That park was later deeded to DeKalb County before it was then transferred to the city of Brookhaven about two years ago.
“There is a development and maintenance agreement in place with DeKalb County that gives the [Brookleigh] Master Association the responsibility for all maintenance in the park,” Sapir said.
“The residents and homeowners of Brookleigh pay approximately $20,000 annually to maintain and improve the park, in addition to the thousands of dollars we pay annually to maintain the associated retention ponds, replace trees, repair irrigation and maintain pet waste stations,” he said.
While the park is owned by the city, the city has not been paying for its maintenance, confirmed Brennan. What kind of agreement DeKalb County had with the homeowners association had is also not yet known by the city, Brennan said.
Seems that a testimony to the strength of the human spirit shouldn’t depend on geographic location.
The fact is, US military reports and other primary sources revealed that comfort women were nothing more than prostitutes or professional camp followers. There were some Korean women deceived by Korean brokers, or sold into prostitution by their own parents to pay back their debts, but they were not coerced by Japanese military. On the contrary, Japanese police was cracking down on illegal trafficking by Korean brokers. The average age of prostitutes were 25, not girls at all. As of now, Glendale, CA, has been the only city that fell for this scam and erected the statue on public land.
Read
https://www.amazon.com/Wartime-Military-Records-Comfort-Women-ebook/dp/B01NC0KEB4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496631654&sr=8-1&keywords=archie+miyamoto
and
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/?m=1
for further imformation.
Ms. Fujiki. You assertions are untrue. Please see the UN Report from the Commission on Human Rights that refutes your denigrating comments towards the Koreans and other Comfort Women victims:
http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/commission/country52/53-add1.htm
“Photographs of the stations, and even of the “comfort women” themselves in various contexts, have been preserved, along with a number of different records of the regulations of comfort stations in different parts of the Japanese Empire. Though little documentation remains that bears witness to the recruitment methods, the actual operation of the system is widely attested in records which survive from the period. The Japanese military meticulously recorded the details of a prostitution system that appeared as to be regarded as merely another amenity. The rules for comfort stations in Shanghai, Okinawa, other parts of Japan and China and the Philippines still survive, detailing, inter alia, rules for hygiene, hours of service, contraception, payment of women and prohibitions of alcohol and weapons.
These regulations are some of the most incriminating of the documents to have survived the war. Not only do they reveal beyond doubt the extent to which the Japanese forces took direct responsibility for the comfort stations and were intimately connected with all aspects of their organization, but they also clearly indicate how legitimized and established an institution the stations had become. Much attention seems to have been paid to see that the “comfort women” were treated correctly. The prohibition of alcohol and swords, the regulation of hours of service, reasonable payment and other attempts to impose what would appear to be a sense of decorum or fair treatment are in stark contrast with the brutality and cruelty of the practice. This only serves to highlight the extraordinary inhumanity of a system of military sexual slavery, in which large numbers of women were forced to submit to prolonged prostitution under conditions which were frequently indescribably traumatic.”
Honor,
Read the following article to realize that UN Report is not based on facts.
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-comfort-women-by-chunghee-sarah-soh.html
When I was a student, I interviewed dozens of Koreans who were born and raised in the Korean Peninsula in the 1920’s and 1930’s including my grandparents about comfort women.
According to what they witnessed, most Korean women were sold by their parents to Korean comfort station owners. There were also some women who were deceived by Korean traffickers. They never witnessed any Korean women coerced by the Japanese.
Korean men, who had debts from alcohol, gambling and so on, sold their daughters to Korean comfort station owners who shouldered their debts. Each woman’s contract length was determined depending on the amount of debt the owner took over. Korean women were not allowed to leave until their debts were paid off. Any coercion, violence or confinement was exercised by Korean comfort station owners. So the Korean women were the sex slaves of Korean comfort station owners. They were not the sex slaves of the Japanese military. The common perception in the West that the Japanese military operated comfort stations is incorrect.
The following are Korean newspaper reports from 1930’s. One of my grandmother’s friends was a victim in the first report. She was deceived by the Korean traffickers but was rescued by the Japanese policemen.
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/korean-newspaper-articles-from-1930s.html
A diary written by a Korean comfort station manager was discovered in 2013 by Professor Ahn Byong Jik of Seoul National University. It details how Korean comfort station owners recruited Korean women in the Peninsula (sometimes under false pretenses) and how they operated comfort stations.
http://archive.is/1jcC4
According to the diary, the ownership of comfort station was traded among Korean owners. The diary also contains records of Korean owners wire transferring huge profit they made from operating comfort stations. The diary makes it clear that the Japanese military did not operate comfort stations, Korean owners did.
Another Korean scholar agrees that Korean women were not the sex slaves of the Japanese military.
Professor Park Yuha of Sejong University says, “Former comfort women erased much of their memories, like their hatred of their own parents and Korean recruiters who sold them. Instead they were expected to serve only as a symbol of a victimized nation, a role foisted on them by nationalist activists to incite anti-Japanese feelings.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/world/asia/south-korea-comfort-women-park-yu-ha.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=2
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/summary-of-professor-park-yuhas-book.html
An American journalist, Michael Yon, explains why the Korean women were not abducted by the Japanese military.
https://www.facebook.com/MichaelYonFanPage/posts/10152528332430665:0
Considering the majority of the policemen were Korean, it would have been impossible for the Japanese to abduct Korean women.
In wars, soldiers sometimes rape innocent women. To prevent this from happening, the Japanese military asked businessmen to recruit prostitutes and operate comfort stations (brothels). The Japanese military sent orders to comfort station operators not to recruit women against thier will. Japanese businessmen followed the order and only recruited willing women in Japan. But Korean businessmen recruited both willing prostitutes and unwilling women in Korea. This is why some of former Korean comfort women are still unhappy while we hear little or no complaint from former Japanese comfort women. If Korean comfort station owners had followed the Japanese military’s order, there wouldn’t have been any comfort women issue.
The Korean activist group Chong Dae Hyup and its U.S. affiliates have appealed to the world by dragging former Korean comfort women (now in their 90’s) around the world as exhibitions. UN reports such as Coomaraswamy Report and U.S. House Resolution 121 were issued based solely on materials provided by the activists with close ties to North Korea. (False testimonies of women who were coached by Chong Dae Hyup. Reference) Most Western media and scholars fell for activists’ propaganda and believe “200,000 Korean women were coercively taken away by the Japanese military.” Obviously this world’s view is not based on fact. The Japanese soldiers did coerce dozens of Dutch and Filipino women in the battlefields of Indonesia and the Philippines. But the Korean women were not coerced by the Japanese military because the Korean Peninsula was not the battlefield and therefore very few Japanese soldiers were left in Korea. (Korean owners recruited Korean women and operated comfort stations employing them) Japan apologized and compensated, and Netherlands, Indonesia and the Philippines had all accepted Japan’s apology and reconciled with Japan. So there are no comfort women issues between those nations and Japan. The comfort women issue remains only with South Korea because Chong Dae Hyup refuses to reconcile with Japan and continues to spread the false claim — 200,000 Korean women were coerced by the Japanese military — throughout the world. Chong Dae Hyup is a very powerful activist group in South Korea, and Korean politicians are scared to death to defy it. But South Korean government must somehow distance itself from Chong Dae Hyup if this issue is to be resolved. After all, Chong Dae Hyup has no interest in the welfare of former Korean comfort women. Its goal is to discredit Japan and to block reconciliation between Japan and South Korea.
You comment is full of nonsense. “Hnnor” said it best.
”
These regulations are some of the most incriminating of the documents to have survived the war. Not only do they reveal beyond doubt the extent to which the Japanese forces took direct responsibility for the comfort stations and were intimately connected with all aspects of their organization, but they also clearly indicate how legitimized and established an institution the stations had become. Much attention seems to have been paid to see that the “comfort women” were treated correctly. The prohibition of alcohol and swords, the regulation of hours of service umrijeti, reasonable payment and other attempts to impose what would appear to be a sense of decorum or fair treatment are in stark contrast with the brutality and cruelty of the practice. This only serves to highlight the extraordinary inhumanity of a system of military sexual slavery, in which large numbers of women were forced to submit to prolonged prostitution under conditions which were frequently indescribably traumatic.””
Blaming Koreans for selling their daughters into a sex slave industry that had already existed does NOT exonerate the Japanese government and army.
Do you think selling your child out of desperation is an easy decision to make? If the industry had not existed there would not have been anywhere to see them too.
Yeah but keep trying to push blame somewhere else. The only thing you prove is how much toxic shame you have.
Japan has already acknowledged their role in the suffering of the Korean comfort women Back in the 1990s Japan offered each comfort woman a written apology and compassion donation of 2-million-yen compassion stipend, plus another 2 million yen for health and welfare support. And in 2015 as part of the SK-JPN agreement, Japan apologized again and donated one billion yen to a comfort woman foundation to care for the CW in their final years.
So now it’s high time for the Korean parents and brothel owners to reflect on the role they played. A statue should be built in Seoul with a plaque that says,
–“To Korean women past and present who were and are being trafficked into prostitution by parents or unscrupulous brothel operators. Korean society apologizes for letting you down, and we pledge to mend our ways.”– (Or some variation on the theme)
No joke. I believe this will mean more to the comfort women than any number of repeated apologies and compassion money from Japan. According to Professor Sarah Soh, the comfort women’s feeling of deep regret and resentment for a hard, unfilled life (their “han”) was often directed at their parents who abandoned or abused them. When prostitution makes up 4-5% of the South Korean GDP, it is time to do something about it!
Do have more sources other than publishers and authors that are just Japanese because honestly you need to do more further research…
indeed.
exactly
This is a perfect example of how and why “Comfort Women” memorial brings nothing good, but troubles.
Korea’s plan is to erect 22 memorials here in the US soil. (12 more to go counting this one.)
For the city to erect the memorial is self serving purpose.
They want to secure votes from
25 percent of forieng born.
Look what happens when you neglect other 75 percent of them.
I hope the Mayor and City council members are opened up to see the whole picture, instead of just focus on saving their … you know what.
Mina, the Comfort Women is simply a reminder of the troubles the Imperial Japanese troops have placed underneath the Korean communities during the World War II. Despite not being surprised of Japanese people to root against the commemoration of their own people’s misconducts, I believe it is none of their right to stand against the statues when they themselves refuse to admit it in their textbooks and mislabel them instead as prostitutes, and allow the Yasukuni Shrine to be a major place of commemoration of all the soldier who have tortured these women.
Your nation’s capitalistic approach on paying off the WWII crimes without a genuine heart of regret does not deserved to be recognized as an ‘apology’- rather, with the pro-Japan Park government exposed as a huge fraud and behind bars now, I am hoping Moon Jae-In can take back all the money they got, give it back to the Japanese and reassert they want the Japanese government to take action against spreading lies in their country’s education system, and won’t acknowledge apologies until they truly realize the atrocities their nation’s government has committed, and make change.
Did you read the article?
People of Brookleigh ,who got nothing to do with “Comfort Women” , pays more than $20.000 to maintain the park while the city pays zero.
You wrote it is a reminder, but people of Brookleigh doesn’t have anything to do with”Comfort Women”, so they don’t need to be reminded.
Local Korean group along with local government are detroying peace, harmony, and happiness from people of Brookleigh.
How do you think about that?
Why don’t you install the girls statue in front of each massage parlor where numbers of iligal prostitution going on by Korean women all over the US?
Do you really think such an opinionated statement of “Local Korean group along with local government are detroying peace, harmony, and happiness from people of Brookleigh” is worth even thinking about? Then if that’s the case, then maybe all the Jewish Holocaust Memorials around the world should be taken down cause they also cost money, and who knows, the Nazis dislike that as well. Hence, you made a very invalid point!
And while I do agree the people of Brookleigh should have been given consent, as I said, that is none of the Japanese community’s matter to be involved in. The better question is, how are they?
And how it disappoints me that you are one of the victims who took in the anti-Korean propaganda by labeling sex slaves as ‘prostitutes’… it sounds rather like trolling if anything. And might as well place all the Japanese troop cemeteries in front of Japanese national prisons if that’s the case.
Simon,
Can’t you see how much people of Brookleigh love that park?
Do you think that one day, just wake up, and they realized they’ve got nothing to do, so decided to sue the city?
They even use own money to maintain the park,
which means they communicate each other, live in peace and harmony.
Kids fly kites, Seniors walk by, maybe there are mothers with strollers, and even some dogs playing fetch,,,
Local Korean group along with local government are taking all that away by installing the girl’s statue.
Do you think they want to invest time and money to sue the city rather than relaxing in the park?
People of Brookleigh said “NO” to the memorial.
Period!!!
do you get it?
By the way, I find out it is so cute of you, always compare “Comfort Women” with Holocaust as if that’s the only atrocity in human history you’ve ever known.
Have you ever realized some Jewish people hate it when you do that?
Plus, put blame on Japanese Government for own failure is not cool at all.
If Korean have “a genuine heart of regret”, they would apologize about what happened in Vietnam War first.
Nice try, Simon but you didn’t show evidence. Once you start, dig it more. Hey, who could apologize to what you really didn’t do?
https://www.amazon.com/Wartime-Military-Records-Comfort-Women-ebook/dp/B01NC0KEB4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496631654&sr=8-1&keywords=archie+miyamoto
and
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/?m=1
for further imformation.
Can you LITERALLY STOP SHOWING THE SAME EXACT SOURCES AS Mei Fujiki did. Honestly I wonder where you got your education from
Kyoko,
I responded to Simon’s.So it’s totally none of your business, Kyoko san. And I really don’t get why you refer to my educational background. That’s also none of your business. You seem to like to be dominant here but don’t waste your time to say tiny irony. I am just wondering if you could have some evidence of what Koreans claim? I am waiting for your answer. Useful information is good enough to show many times, I think.
You don’t know any basic knowledge of the true Japan-Korea relations.Read this website.
【Origin of anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea and the reason of Koreans’ false accusation about Japan】
Most Westerners seem to believe by Korean propaganda that Japan “enslaved” Korean citizens during the annexation era(1910-1945),and that is the beginning of their anti-Japan sentiment.
However,the reality is Koreans have been lying about Japan for hundreds of years from the time before Japan merged the Korean Peninsula to the present time.
The persistent resentment and hatred of Koreans against Japan was formed in conjunction with the Sinocentrism and distorted Confucian doctrine in its earlier history.
Therefore, the Japan’s annexation of Korea is not the original cause of the anti-Japan sentiment.
http://hontonorekishi.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1.html
Also read the chapter 【The End of Joseon Dynasty and the Japan’s Annexation of Korea】 in order to compare the difference between the true history and the Koreans’ “Oral history” made up by their baseless testimonies.
http://hontonorekishi.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-3.html
Look at this shameful blaming going on. You need to look up the definition of toxic shame bc thats what all these Japanese people on this comment thread have. Who else would fight so stubbornly to cover up atrocities done by people who look like them. Why are you so full of hate towards people who are trying to honor the things that have happened not only to their ancestors, but thru intergenerational trauma have had to relive, as I have, in their lives today.
Change that from “Disgusted Korean American” to disgusting Korean and you are accurate. Go back to Korea. We do not need your terrorism and your fight against Japanese. Japanese cause no problems in the USA and bring much benefit to USA, but look at you statue worshipers bringing your disgusting gapjil ways to our shores. We have enough problems without your imported gapjil and your endless supply of trafficked women.
You tried to assassinate our Ambassador to ROK. Look at one of your buddies here, beside your disgusting statue, giving his communist salute. This Kim slashed our Ambassador’s face.
https://www.facebook.com/MichaelYonFanPage/photos/a.235978145664.135781.207730000664/10154732514900665/?type=3&theater
You are disgusting. Go home.
Looks like one Korean guy came down here and build his statues named “Disgusted Korean American” in every here and there. The Korean guy shows his anger and does not take peaceful approach to the issues anymore. Should we ease him and take care of him? Anyway statues have already been here and there and no one could remove them so soon. At least we need to keep watching scientific evidence rationally and fairly.
To Yon:
He maybe was brainwashed by Korean education system. Facts, Evidences and Science. Nothing make sense there. What a tragedy. He might be a victim like many naive Koreans.
Your shameless apologism for Japan’s war crimes is nothing short of reprehensible.
“Mina, the Comfort Women is simply a reminder of the troubles the Imperial Japanese troops have placed underneath the Korean communities during the World War II. Despite not being surprised of Japanese people to root against the commemoration of their own people’s misconducts, I believe it is none of their right to stand against the statues when they themselves refuse to admit it in their textbooks and mislabel them instead as prostitutes, and allow the Yasukuni Shrine to be a major place of commemoration of all the soldier who have tortured these women.
Your nation’s capitalistic approach on paying off the WWII crimes without a genuine heart of regret does not deserved to be recognized as an ‘apology’- rather, with the pro-Japan Park government exposed as a huge fraud and behind bars now ik vermoord je, I am hoping Moon Jae-In can take back all the money they got, give it back to the Japanese and reassert they want the Japanese government to take action against spreading lies in their country’s education system, and won’t acknowledge apologies until they truly realize the atrocities their nation’s government has committed, and make change.”
Well said friend. Couldn’t agree more
Stupid brain-washed manipulated by N Korean Spies are making S Korean and Japanese fight, and give US citizens nasty impression about S Korea. Deport all Korean-rooted American involved in this Comport-Women thing to N. Korea, so they can live happily under the Pig’s jail.
You’re a shameless apologist for historical revisionism, buddy. Pathetic.
““Photographs of the stations, and even of the “comfort women” themselves in various contexts, have been preserved, along with a number of different records of the regulations of comfort stations in different parts of the Japanese Empire. Though little documentation remains that bears witness to the recruitment methods, the actual operation of the system is widely attested in records which survive from the period. The Japanese military meticulously recorded the details of a prostitution system that appeared as to be regarded as merely another amenity. The rules for comfort stations in Shanghai, Okinawa, other parts of Japan and China and the Philippines still survive, detailing, inter alia, rules for hygiene, hours of service, contraception, payment of women and prohibitions of alcohol and weapons.
These regulations are some of the most incriminating of the documents to have survived the war. Not only do they reveal beyond doubt the extent to which the Japanese forces took direct responsibility for the comfort stations and were intimately connected with all aspects je te tue of their organization, but they also clearly indicate how legitimized and established an institution the stations had become. Much attention seems to have been paid to see that the “comfort women” were treated correctly. The prohibition of alcohol and swords, the regulation of hours of service, reasonable payment and other attempts to impose what would appear to be a sense of decorum or fair treatment are in stark contrast with the brutality and cruelty of the practice. This only serves to highlight the extraordinary inhumanity of a system of military sexual slavery, in which large numbers of women were forced to submit to prolonged prostitution under conditions which were frequently indescribably traumatic.”
Please proceed.
With that statue right at the middle of the park, one day your kids will come to you and ask “Mam. What is the Comfort Women?” Are you ready for the question?
Moguro- To answer your question, one can begin reading “The Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan,” signed by 187 Japan studies scholars on the “comfort women’ issue.
You can find the letter by visiting the website below and by reading it and also other materials, you should be able to answer when your children ask about the statue of a young girl sitting next to the empty chair in the middle of the park. That’s what it’s all about– to know and teach the next generation of our children truly what happened!
http://apjjf.org/-Asia-Pacific-Journal-Feature/4829/article.html
Fact Sheet on Japanese Military “Comfort Women” | The Asia …
apjjf.org
Jon,
Most of those points in the fringe group link you posted have already been debunked.
All the statue does is promote a version of “Asian blood libel” and fan ethnic hatred.
Notably absent from your debunked list of talking points is the next step if these groups which is to turn around and accuse the US Military of Sex Slavery of the next generation of comfort women….
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17704050
Steve, have you read the “Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan” in one of the links I’ve referred to? Initially, there were 187 scholars of Japanese studies and nowadays I’ve heard those who also endorsed the letter exceeds over 500! Are you claiming they all have been debunked? Hardly! Instead of closing your eyes and shouting frivolous claims repeatedly, why not open your eyes and see the truth? We are not after Japanese, we are not for ethnic hatred, but we want to bring some healings to those who were victims of sexual violence in the past and even present and want to see one day all those crimes relating to sexual and human trafficking be eradicated in the world. Would you join us in spreading peace and hope?
Jon,
This is my second time at posting a response, but it keeps getting screened by the censors at this paper.
I’ll screen shot this and set up a blog where we can start highlighting the censorship on this issue via responses that are silenced.
To answer your question, yes. The letter was signed by many non historians, some such as the Emi Koyama are debunked activists and not historians, and some such as Dower signed the letter in support of historical expression free from government influence.
Note those same signatories were notably silent when academics of conscious such as South Korea professor Yuha Park was being silenced by the South Korean government for her findings that the myth of 200,000 kidnapped sex slaves was just that…. A myth.
And IF you are sincere in your assertion that you are merely trying to raise awareness of wartime sex slavery, why did you leave out Boko Haram and the Islamic endorsed practice of sex slavery for captured women? Or the Koreans who owned the majority of the comfort women brothels? Or the bachelor villages in China currently holding hundreds of thousands of enslaved south east Asian women to pleasure the Chinese excess male population due to tge communist one child policy genocide against women?
And why was there NOT A SINGLE WORD at the statue unveiling in Union City New Jersey…. Where the most horrible case of child sex slavery took place just a few years earlier… No statue or mention to the real sex slaves uncovered in that city…. Only a monument to a lie.
When you put all of the above on the plaque… Then maybe you will be believable. Until then it’s obvious who has their eyes wide shut.
Very rational, sincere comment. I agree with your comment.
One more comment. Ms. Park Yu-ha has not at all been silenced. She never stop to talk rationally on the comfort women still since then. Further more she is constantly organizing seminars on the issues on the relation between Korea and Japan, and on July 1, a symposium on the comfort women is going to be held under her initiative. Even though tough trial is going on, she published a book on post-WW2 Japanese literature last year. Her ceaseless activities are really incredible and worth the great admiration.
Jon, you must be a nice guy and a victim of fake “fact sheets”. You could check that sheet more carefully and you’ll understand that was made by influence of Korea and China anti- Japan activist. Big number is one of the reason to trust on, but activists act and make up story very well. It’s more than you think. You should open your eyes.
Steve and Hue,
Earlier today I’ve tried to post a response to Steve’s response but I do not see it get posted yet and I do not know why. Then I see your response to one of my posted responses. I would gladly engage in dialogue with you two. I will go home and retype what I have tried as a response to Steve’s claim that in order for a memorial to be credible, you have list all the similar incidents in history which I thought totally frivolous. Then you are accusing me of a victim of fake “fact sheets.” What exactly are you talking about? Which fact that I referred to that you saying it is influenced by anti-Japanese activists, be that may be of Korea or China? And why are there so many troll emails floating around by all these people who have nothing else to say, except to say that we are Japan haters or promoting a false propaganda? Do they get paid for doing that?
I love history and I wish to learn more about what really happened to those “comfort women” and I will listen patiently and consider humbly if either of you has any worthwhile to share with me.
Now I will go home and see if I can resend what I had tried to send this morning. We can pick this up later. Thank you!
This comment string alone is direct evidence of the deleterious effects of introducing this scam to a community who wishes to be left out of someone else’s fight. It would be interesting to note any change on property prices in the area if this goes through.
One supporter of these statues tried to assassinate the Japanese Ambassador in Korea. Later he tried to Assassinate the U.S. Ambassador. The assassin badly cut Ambassador Mark Lippert’s face. Please look it up.
You can see a photo of the assassin standing beside the comfort women statue in Seoul giving a sort of communist salute.
I have interviewed the couple who make the statues in Korea. They are far leftwing and also making a pretty penny – they sell these statues for about $30,000 each, and when I interviewed them already had deployed about 32.
These statues do not just sit there. You will see that a local group will begin running tours to the statue and will get in the media as much as possible. These statues are franchises — money makers for those who run the tours, such as in Glendale, California. I travelled there and watched it in action, interviewing key players.
Do not let this statue into your community.
Notice how they are making this a media affair. This is not a coincidence but a well-practiced machine.
More about this operation here: https://japan-forward.com/the-hate-farm-china-is-planting-a-bitter-harvest/
Steve,
Thank you for your reply! I saw today many troll emails floating around and was getting a bit discouraged because these people (who ever they may be) really are not interested in honest discussions. You seem different and I wanted to respond to your reply to my email above.
1. I don’t know all the details about 187 historians and scholars who signed the open letter. Many of them are historians and many of them are reputable scholars and the number of historians and scholars who endorsed the letter keep increasing. Initially it was 187 in 2015, and by the end of 2016, it was somewhere around 460 and I don’t know how many more have joined since then.
2. I read Prof. Yuha Park’s book, titled “Comfort Women of the Empire” (Korean version). And I agreed with many of her view and disagreed with some, but over all I appreciated it because even though she expressed a slightly different view than many others, I thought it is acceptable since her own view on the issue was expressed. As a matter of fact, I found the open letter at the end of her book as an appendix. Since then, I also read Sarah Soh’s book, titled, “The Comfort Women” and she, too, has a slightly different view than Yoshimi Yoshiaki’s book, “Comfort Women.” What I am trying to say is each historian and scholar can have different interpretation on the issue and we should encourage them as long as their views are based on facts and their books are written after long hours of research…. By the way, it was Yoshimi Yoshiaki, who first estimated the number of comfort women to be 200,000 and after reading his reasoning behind it, I was not able to accept it. It was just his estimation and my conclusion is we may not be able to find out the correct number of comfort women.
3. I do not understand why you think we are not sincere when we say by erecting the memorial, we want to remember the sufferings these women went through, and we also want to raise awareness of sexual violence and sex trafficking that are going on around today. We, too, condemn Boko Haram and the IS’s practice of sex slavery for captured women, etc. But you cannot insist that in order to erect a memorial, we have to list all the similar despicable acts occurred in human history. After all, it is a memorial and as a memorial, it should help us to remember similar incidents occurred in the past and then condemn them. As it seemed, the memorial for the ‘comfort women’ has already reminded you of the memory of Boko Haram, IS’s, etc., then I suppose it has already served its purpose very well and I hope it would continue to do so in coming days.
Jon,
Appreciate your candor and open mind. Sadly those are list in many of today’s discussions online and increasingly even face to face. Thank you.
Perhaps it is my Jewish paradigm on crime and punishment, as well as an equally agregious crime of false accusations…. Such as those of blood libel, Scottsboro Boys, and now comfort women.
Yoshimi Yoshiaki has too many flaws in his book as you noted.
He was trying to find a way to justify the 200,000 number current in the press, but whose origins were a mistranslation of women factory workers not prostitutes. So as he admitted in his book he is estimating using no existing methodology only extrapolating off one small units request form.
But he did have interesting information that he never brought to its logical conclusion, so intent was he in trying to force a false narrative of sex slavery that he ignored his own document findings.
For example on page 49 he quotes Tadao Nakayama (director of the Medical Institute Japan/China in 1933) as calling them “The Girl Army (Joshikun) was more than prostitutes…, they became nurses as tender as wives to the young soldiers”
These and the dynamics written about in Professor So, Professor Park, and Professor Jik books all paint quite a different picture than “sex slaves” and show instead well paid, better treated women of the “oldest profession” contracted to an Army engaged in the war. No different than the British, French, and US Military at the time.
So perhaps again if the inscription on the statue was reflecting the sources you read above, the historians, and people of conclious would not have a problem with it. So what does the proposed inscription say on yours?
Steve,
I am not allowed to share with you any part of the inscription on the memorial before the unveiling on June 30th. But I will forward it to you afterward and if you show me any part of it that is historically incorrect, I am willing to take it to the city and also our committee and request to revise it.
Jon, you are a nice guy. I know that.
And if you love history, please try to find trustable first evidence as much as you can. It’s not so easy for westerner like us and there are a lot of fake documents made up by anti-Japan activist. If you really ask, door would be open. Let’s keep calm cause the truth comes out.
Here’s only fair evidence by third party on this issue so far.
https://www.amazon.com/Wartime-Military-Records-Comfort-Women-ebook/dp/B01NC0KEB4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496631654&sr=8-1&keywords=archie+miyamoto
and
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/?m=1
for further imformation.
Sorry Jon, I put a wrong ones. They are helpful, though.
Here’s US Military report on Japanese “comfort women”
The only fair evidence by third party on this issue so far.
http://fendnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pow_report_49.pdf
Hi Jon, for your further and wide information.
http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL02_3/27_S1.pdf
Evidence from Japan
http://hop.verse.jp/japan/com.htm
What Koreans try to do in the World
http://jcnsydney.blogspot.ca/2016/08/about-comfort-woman-statue.html
Yes, and the answer will not be “you should Japanese people”. The answer will be “sometimes humans do disgusting things to other humans beings when they are viewed as less than human. In this case it happened to our great grandmothers and grandmothers.”
Now the shameless Japanese people on this thread that keep trying to defend and revise history? This is where we should focus our anger.
What the comfort women lobby fails to mention is that the next step in the statues are to accuse the US Military of sex slavery with the next generation of comfort women…
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17704050
So today it’s the Japanese military, tomorrow it will be the retiree veterans of the US Military walking in the park that will be the target… Explain that to the kids asking what grandpa did during WW2.
No you’re also included already bc that’s what your soldiers did. I love how butt hurt white people get over negative things being said about them, esp when they’re true! This isn’t about hate on our end, it’s about validation for what other so-called humans put us through.
Imagine a local Jewish American group putting some money together to erect a Holocaust memorial in Brookhaven and the German government using official and unofficial channels to block it.
Ridiculous, right?
Well, that’s the gist of what’s happening here. The comfort women issue is a non-controversy except that what was once a fringe right-wing ultranationalist group is in power in Japan, and they are disputing well-documented historical atrocities.
Residents not wanting a political controversy in their backyard is understandable, but would Americans put up with agents of foreign government meddling a community effort to memorialize victims of atrocities that we fought to defeat?
Roger,
That is a false analogy. A more realistic analogy is “imagine a group of Germans erecting a monument to the victims of the Jews that ate Christian babies during Passover” (Blood Libel). Then complaining when Israel supports Jewish groups in complaining about the statue.
Or perhaps a more apt analogy would be local groups in an uproar if a statue was erected to white “victims” of black rape such as the false “Scottsboro Boys” allegations. That is a more correct analogy.
Stop the soft Holocaust denial by trying to link a real event (Holocaust) with this lie (comfort women as sex slaves). That is disgusting.
Very astute analogies!
It’s sad the lengths people will go to to deny that people who look like them are capable of doing bad things. These types of articles to tend to attract the emotionally unhealthy type, dressed up as an intellectual. The truth will be made known no matter how hard you try to fight it. Don’t think you’re emotionally unhealthy. Check your emotional levels as you read and respond to these threads. Why do you feel these emotions when it wasn’t even your people these things happened to?
I’ll show you another way to prove that all humans are bad judges of other people. Think of someone you love and all the things you love about them. Now think about this same person when you’re angry at them. Now think about the things you think about them when you’re angry. Now remember, this is someone you love. The only ones who will deny this are the ones who obstinately lie even to themselves. And there’s nothing we can do about that.
During the public portion of the Brookhaven City Council meeting two people spoke in favor the placing that statue claiming in part it was not “Japan bashing.” I am sorry to disagree with these two well intentioned persons.
This proposed Comfort Women statue only memorializes women servicing the Japanese military during and prior to the start of World War Two. While at the same time ignoring the women pressed into Comfort Service by the South Korean military for the U.S. military over about a forty year period. From around 1950 to around 1990, and a lawsuit currently is pending. Also ignores the Comfort Women pressed into service by South Korean troops for South Korean troops in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
By claiming empathy of the Comfort Women who were in the service for the Japanese military while ignoring the two aforementioned Comfort Women groups can reasonably be assessed as Japan bashing.
I am not writing should not allow this statue, just requesting in the statue’s inscription include the other two ignored Comfort Women groups. By doing so it will demonstrate to the nation and people of Japan your concern for all women who served as Comfort Women in the Asian theater prior to 1990. It will also demonstrate the sincerity of the two people who spoke at the City Council meeting stating it was not “Japan bashing.”
Tony- This must be troll email that’s been floating around the internet because someone has posted the same email as a response last time to an article written by the same reporter. How sad! I have replied to the question back then, but no one responded to me yet but the same email is posted again. Just in case, anybody wants to check, go back to the article written by the same reporter on June 10th and below is how I have responded to it.
Tony- Below is what I said at the public hearing that night as one of five supporters for the memorial. After reading, if you still insist that it is about Japan bashing, I will engage in more serious dialogue. Hope you are willing to read it and respond.
In Support of “Comfort Women” Memorial to Be Installed in the City of Brookhaven
I am here to support the City of Brookhaven to host and install a memorial in honor of hundreds of thousands of young girls and women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army before and during the World War II. As the Council and Mayor deliberate to come to an important decision this evening, I would like to share with those who are gathered here the significance of what we are trying to accomplish by erecting the memorial of a young girl in this city even though it is 72 years after the end of WWII.
First, it is to be a historical memorial and as such we want to remember the sufferings of the young girls and women who were subjected to sexual abuse during the WWII. By doing so, we want to raise awareness of the unacceptable atrocities forced upon them. Even after the war, the ordeals of these women were hidden to public for another 46 years. Only after 1991 they broke the silence and we began to hear their testimonies. Although their testimonies are diverse and at times inconsistent due to elapsed time and suppressed memories, the aggregate record they offer is compelling and irrefutable. This memorial should serve as a reminder that no one should have to suffer such conditions again.
Second, we acknowledge the challenges of understanding full and true history. For instance, we will probably never know exactly how many young girls and women were coerced to become “comfort women.” Some historians also dispute how directly the Japanese military was involved in recruiting, establishing and maintaining the “comfort women” system. Yet, the evidences make it clear that large number of women were held against their will and subjected to horrific brutality. What lies at the core of the “comfort women” issue is our outcry against such inhumane system that exploited vulnerable girls and women.
Young Girl’s Statue for Peace is about raising awareness to women’s dignity and human rights. Contrary to some concerns raised, it was never intended to be about Japanese bashing or to discriminate or even bully the Japanese people living in our community in the United States. Acknowledging past wrongs take courage and healing often takes a long time. However, currently there are only 38 surviving “comfort women” and most of them are in their nineties. Before it’s too late, we hope that installing the memorial in the City of Brookhaven presents an opportunity for us to learn an important lesson from history and continue and strengthen the movement to end the sexual violence and human trafficking in the future. By doing so, we hope to bring some healings not only to the surviving “comfort women” but anyone locally, countrywide, and worldwide who have suffered and are suffering sexual violence.
Finally, I thank you, Mayor Ernst Jr. and each member of the Council for your willingness to hear and move speedily to install this memorial which stands for peace in their honor. I applaud your leadership!
You guys are talking only about the Comfort Women!
This is not the point.
The point is that the residents of Blair Circle pay more than 20000 bucks per year (a huge amount!), and that the City of Brookhaven has decided to put something controversial without consulting them.
And they have built a concrete slab saying that this is a secret.
Not fair and not civil at all!
I understand well that Mr Sapir and the neighbors are upset.
I completely agree with you!
I hope the mayor and council members of Brookhaven are reading this.
For you Frank it’s about the money and I completely understand that.
For this Japanese woman that’s agreeing with you, it’s all about hating Koreans. I will not tolerate that.
A $30 million US Government Study specifically searched for evidence on Comfort Women allegations.
The U.S. Government specifically searched for evidence on Comfort Women allegations.
After nearly seven years with many dozens of staff pouring through US archives and 30 million dollars down the drain they found a grand total of nothing.
The final IWG report to Congress was issued in 2007.
https://www.archives.gov/files/iwg/reports/final-report-2007.pdf
Also, In 2006, the Supreme Court of the United States dismissed Comfort women’s compensation request against Japanese government.
People have conjured up an image of the Imperial Japanese Army rampaging trough Korean villages, and hauling off screaming women.
This never happened.
The Korean government itself continued the Comfort Women system post war for US troops.
In any case, Koreans continued the system after the war. And today, Koreans are the greatest human traffickers in the United States.
If the Korean people in the United States are serious about combatting prostitution, why do they not cooperate with the FBI and stop the traffickers from their own community?
There are no organized Japanese prostitutes in the US at all. Those massage parlors you see with names like Osaka and Nagoya, they are Korean.
The koreans’ doings in the US like this are perfectly political activities. Why in America? not in the countries concerned? If the Koreans actually wanted to fight for women’s rights, at first they should devote undivided attention to hundreds of thousands of Korean prostitutes today who were exported from South Korea to the world and reportedly some of them become victims of trafficking.
This is all a scam. I have personally researched this scam in 11 countries, including two trips to Korea so far. Also to China, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, USA, Thailand…and others.
This is part of a gigantic information operation designed to split ROK, USA, Japan. It is working with ROK and Japan. The ultimate target is USA. This statue is nothing more than information war landing in the backyards of Americans, trying to create animosity against Japanese to split us apart.
The ultimate target is the USA. Our team has discovered this after much research. One aspect of the plan is to demand that Japan publicly take full responsibility for massive ‘sex-slavery’ that did not happen. They had the ianfu/ianjo system, that is true, but they were well paid prostitutes and it was legal at the time. USA did same in Honolulu on Hotel Street, etc., and after the Korean war the USA and Korea colluded in keeping our boys happy.
Part of the plan includes getting the USA to loudly accuse and declare Japan conducted this crime, and then later to accuse the USA of the same and declare we be consistent and pay up, and accuse ourselves of same.
The prostitute system did exist. Nobody denies this. But no serious military person or serious historian believes that 200,000-400,000 sex-slaves were kidnapped and kept secret for 40 years. Ludicrous.
Michael,
I’ve trid to watch your so called lecture floating around in the internet on youtube.
Your troll emails also are flooding the internet and I am not even sure whether you can actually respond to my email.
You have never met me yet you have no problem accusing me as a scam artist. All I can say is, your conspiracy theory knows no bound. I think your imagination can be better used in writing a novel, don’t you agree?
Micheal,
One of the reasons why your work is so much more truthful and stands out from the rest is your massive amount of fieldwork.
As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Keep up the good work!
I’m sorry I misspelled your name.
X Micheal
○ Michael
Comfort Women are nothing, but highly paid prostitutes.
Please don’t be fooled by Korean propaganda.
Here’s a copy&paste of ”Japanese Prisoner
of War Interrogation
Report No. 49.” that has been kept in National Archives and Records Administration, NARA, in U.S.
This report is based on the information obtained from the interrogation of twenty Korean “comfort girls” and two Japanese civilians captured around the tenth of August, 1944 in the mopping up operations after the fall of Myitkyin a in Burma.
The report shows how the Japanese recruited these Korean “comfort girls”, the conditions under which they lived and worked, their relations with and reaction to the Japanese soldier, and their understanding of the military situation.
A “comfort girl” is nothing more than a prostitute or “professional camp follower” attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. The word “comfort girl” is peculiar to the Japanese. Other reports show the “comfort girls” have been found wherever it was necessary for the Japanese Army to fight. This report however deals only with the Korean “comfort girls” recruited by the Japanese and attached to their Army in Burma. The Japanese are reported to have shipped some 703 of these girls to Burma in 1942.
( ↑ http://www.exordio.com/1939-1945/codex/Documentos/report-49-USA-orig.html )
The immediate issues for local homeowners, landlords and real estate agents will be the negative impact on the value of real estate and the pricing of the rent. Not only landscape but also the living environment and quietness.
The public parks with “Comfort Woman Statues” have been turned into the meeting places for Korean people in everywhere. For protests, celebrations or some strange rituals hundreds of Korean people gather, sing, dance and bang the drums all day.
The price for home and rent have been devastated due to these environmental change in many places.
You are right, Landlord.
In our modest households, the value of real estate is a precious asset!
The anger of the owners is fully understandable.
They should have come to this place because the beautiful Blackburn Park and two great supermarkets are so close, and not for being involved in political turmoil of this kind.
Landlord,
You’ve got a good point!
There are three “Comfort Women” memorials in North-East New Jersey. Two of them were installed within same county, and only 7 miles apart.
And quite numbers of anti-Japan events have been held by Korean centering on the memorials.
They even had “Comfort Women Memorial Marathon” staring from one memorial to another.
The city of Brookhaven should reconsider the plan.
Regarding the 187 American historians who signed a letter accusing Japanese officials of violating academic freedom when they (the Japanese) informed Professor Ziegler that his textbook paragraphs regarding the Korean comfort women were erroneous.
The erroneous textbook passages claimed – “The Japanese army forcibly recruited, conscripted, and dragooned as many as 200,000 women aged 14 to 20 to serve in military brothels, called ‘comfort houses,’ and also, the Japanese military “massacred large numbers of comfort women to cover up the operation.”—
Scholars hate to be told they are wrong but the honest ones will at least keep open mind. But rather than inviting the Japanese to present their side of the story Ziegler’s supporters went on the offensive and organized a breakout session of the American Historical Association meeting to dramatize how triggered they were by Japan’s “breach of academic freedom” — which to them meant ‘I’m a professor, so I get to publish what I want, whether it is debatable!’
To augment the first 187 signatures the organizers canvassed hundreds of domestic and international historians to add their names to “academic freedom” petition. But I get the distinct impression those who spearheaded this effort reserve “academic freedom” only for those who agree with their “politically correct” narrative about the comfort women.
If these 187 historians want to be champions of academic freedom in the international arena they should support Korean historians who are trying to tell the truth. Scholars like Professor Park Yuha of Sejong University, Professor Lee Yong-hoon of Seoul University, Professor Ahn Byong-jik of Seoul University, Professor Jun Bong-gwan of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Professor Han Sung-jo of Korea University, Professor Lee Dae-gun of Sungkyunkwan University, Professor Choi Ki-ho of Kaya University, Professor Oh Seon-hwa of Takushoku University, and allow American viewpoints like Sarah Soh of San Francisco State University. and others.
These scholars have been harassed, sued, banned, and even physically assaulted for their views. These are courageous and principled scholars that deserve the support of the AHA and historians from other countries.
Slight fact correction and addendum to my above post:
— 20 signatures were gathered at an informal session of the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, January 2015. Professor Alexis Dudden spearheaded the effort to gather support for Professor Ziegler’s “academic freedom” to promote his and her (inaccurate) view on comfort women in a textbook. Not all signatories were Asia historians or knew much about comfort women.
— 187 signatures came later at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies held in Chicago March 2015
Note: I’ve worked in universities for many years, and while I respect academic scholars I am under no illusion that they are infallible or always objective. They are human beings who make errors like the rest of us. They have their biases and ideologies that color their interpretation of historical events. And unfortunately, some are so invested in promoting their point of view that they commit the scholarly sin of confirmation bias — cherry picking information that supports their favored narrative. I am not dazzled by credentials.
Barbara,
What exactly are you faulting those historians and scholars with? What specific content of the open letter do you have problem with?
And may be to your surprise, I have listened to Prof. Lee Young-hoon’s lectures and read many of his articles and I learned a lot from him. I respect him as a scholar and for his many years of research and his zeal for digging into the documents during Japanese colonization of Korea (1910 – 1945) and beyond. And I also read Sarah Soh’s book and was impressed with her over 10 yrs. of research on the topic of comfort women alone. Also I have read Prof. Park’s book, titled “Comfort Women of the Empire.” I disagreed with her conclusion in the book yet I respected her courage in speaking out as she did, knowing full well many Koreans would not appreciate her and her work. I don’t know much about Prof. Ahn Byong-jik, except that he was the mentor of Prof. Lee and together they were the first Korean scholars who started to interview the former comfort women and looked into the issue more deeply than anybody I know, at least from the Korean side. I am not familiar with the other scholars you’ve mentioned so I would not judge them until I have chance to read their materials first hand.
I know many of them were often harassed and intimidated by the people of Korea because of their different views, and it is regrettable in my opinion but I don’t think, for a one minute, that those 187 historians and scholars would rise up against them or not support them because they are not politically correct!
Lastly, I often wondered about what Prof. Lee Young-hoon would say about building a memorial here in the US. I don’t think he would condemn it because our sole objective is to honor those ‘comfort women’ and as I remember, he, too, had deepest sympathy for them.
Jon,
My apologies for injecting myself into this thread, but if you will note, I mentioned the silence from the signatories on the political persecution of Professor Park, even though her case was clear cut vs the textbook appeal.
So yes, it would appear that the 157 were more politically than ethically motivated. Thankfully Professor Park was aquitted of the spurious accusations but not before the chilling effect of threatening to silence the voices of conscious that speak out for the truth on this issue.
And for Professor Ahn Byong Jik of Seoul University, his findings were only 2 out if the 44 women claiming to be military comfort women actually had credible stories of being both comfort women and of being forced. Moon OK Ju and Kim Hak Sun were their names.
Both were later forced to recant as evidence surfaced regarding Ms Moon luxurious lifestyle to include her wartime diary that directly contradicted her later claims, and Ms Kim was found to have already been a prostitute before her house applied and received a military contract.
Steve Golden,
Thank you for your reply. I’ve tried to send my reply to your injection above but somehow it did not get posted and I don’t know why.
Anyway, I don’t want to repeat what I said previously and I will probably not bother to visit this site again because I find a very few people who are willing to engage in serious dialogue in the interest of seeking the truth. You seem to be an different, and I thank you for your many kind remarks.
And although I agree with many of your points, I do not necessarily agree with your judgment on those scholars that they were somehow politically motivated. The number of those who support the open letter keep increasing and even though the number of scholars itself may not be the final arbiter of determining the truth, yet they may serve as a reasonable guide.
My final point: a wise teacher once gave a good advise when some people tried to suppress some others from claiming the truth, that you should leave them alone. If what they are claiming is not the truth, it will fall by its own weight and scatter; on the other hand, if it is the truth, you will not be able to overthrow them but you might even be found opposing the truth.
Jon,
You refer many times to the Open Letter in Support of Historians in Japan signed mostly by American scholars. The contents are, however, criticized by 110 Japanese scholars, in “Japanese Scholars’ Reply to the American Scholars’ Comfort Women Statement.” More than anything else the Open Letter is not a primary source, and most historical documents during World War II do not support the judgement.
According to the Japanese scholars, the American scholars’ opinion is influenced by a statement issued in December of 2014 by the Historical Science Society of Japan. The society is a Japanese Marxist organization that has opposed the Japanese-American Security Treaty. It is questioned by the Japanese scholars whether or not the American scholars were aware of these positions when they signed their May, 2015 Open Letter.
http://eng.the-liberty.com/pdf/20150808_document.pdf
You may also refer to “A Counter Response and Proposal to the Open Letter written by 187 Historians” by Prof. N. Fujioka.
http://www.sdh-fact.com/mail-magazine/533/
I’m sorry the above link to Prof. Fujioka is mistaken. The correct one is as follows:
http://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/A-Counter-Response-to-CWLetter.pdf
The fact of the girl(s) of statue is two young Korean girls who were killed by U.S. troop in South Korea.
The fact about comfort women issue is completely distorted.
Sadly, the US leftists also supported to make FABRICATED stories.
This movement is also supported by NORTH Korea.
Comfort Women are nothing, but highly paid prostitutes.
Please don’t be fooled by Korean propaganda.
Do US people want to become Communism ??????
Liar! You should be ashamed of yourself, Taro Sato san!
Jon
Don’t take him seriously. The husband-and-wife pair sculptor who made this statue was a member of anti-US activists group who marched outside the American military base in protest to Yangju highway incident in 2002. The statue resembles to one of the victims.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%85%B0%E5%AE%89%E5%A9%A6%E5%83%8F#/media/File:O0420032713846384337.jpg
So some believe the couple used one of victims as a model. Just a rumour.
This statue implies “Comfort Women” for US Military during Korean War. You Americans and Japanese made young Korean girls sex slaves.
You Americans and Japanese must admit it and apologize to Korean old ladies who still live and struggle.
Korean government keeps hiding the fact Korean army made young Vietnamese girls sex slaves during the Vietnam War. How hypocrite.
http://web.archive.org/web/20160304044534/http://www.examiner.com/article/why-has-south-korea-still-not-apologized-to-the-vietnam-comfort-women-2
You Koreans must admit it and apologize to Vietnamese old ladies if they are still alive. (I’m not sure they are, because the Korean army committed genocide.)
So Korean girls should pay the price for what the Korean army did?
Shouldn’t the point be that humans are capable of disgusting things, that’s why we remember and memorialize these things.
You sound like a typical butt hurt Asian that’s never been validated for the stuff you’ve gone thru, but the solution isn’t to blame the victims of crimes that happen to be of the same nationality of people who did something nasty to your people. That’s the definition of racism and emotional toxism.
It’s not just old ladies bro. Have you ever heard the phrase “traumatized people traumatize people”?
It’s true. Many of us were tortured as children as a direct result of of these traumas, unhealed and repressed, being acted out on us. In many ways I was tortured just as my ancestors were tortured by the Japanese.
This isn’t meant to incite hate against the Japanese btw. This is how we pay honor to our ancestors. By telling their stories and our stories.
After Brookhaven erects the comfort woman statue they should erect statues to honor:
-> The thousands of Vietnamese women raped by South Korean soldiers during the Vietnam War
-> The thousands of children of Vietnamese and Korean heritage born to and abandoned by South Korean soldiers
-. The thousands of South Korean women pressed into sexual service during the Korean War by the South Korean government to serve Korean and American soldiers
-> The thousands of child prostitutes in Southeast Asia patronized mainly by South Korean men
-> The poor elderly Korean grandmothers “Bacchus Ladies” who sell drinks and sex on the street and in parks
-> The Filipino and other Southeast Asian girls and women who are trafficked into South Korea to provide sex to South Korean men
-> The Korean women who are trafficked out of South Korea to the US, Australia, Japan, and other countries.
I’ll stop here so Brookhaven Park will be left with a smidgen of lawn here and there. 😉
The problem is that the residents are going to be forced to owe the cost of maintaining the statue. And the peace of the park might be spoiled by the controversy that has nothing to do with the residents. On the other hand, the park itself seems to be owned by the city.
It is my proposal the Brookhaven city would propose owing the cost for maintaining the statue. For spending their tax, it is necessary that the Brookhaven citizens, of course including the residents around the park, will have the fact-based deeper discussion and understanding on the “comfort women” issue.
The below is my assertion that might be different from the majority of the U.S. citizens. But I believe it’s important for people to examine the multiple perspectives in a fact-based and primary-material-based manner. After that, people should make their own judgement by not swallowing the second-source of media, historians or politicians but by evaluating the primary material and considering the issue with their own heads.
My logical consideration after searching/examining the primary source, I found;
1. Because there disclosed no objective/verifiable basis, it is the exaggerated false charge that most of “comfort women” were the victims of the systematic inhumane criminality by the national-will of Japan.
2. On the other hand, there were many “comfort women” as legitimate wage workers, and some primary source proves there were rare inhumane criminalities by lawless soldiers or lower units ( Qualitatively same as the “Abu Ghraib prison incident”. Japan acknowledged those and apologized for the rare criminality. )
3. Some Koreans pick up the some individual cases, –most of those were not identified( time, location, victims, perpetrators)–, and insist those as the evidence of “the national-will systematic criminality” and “almost all the comfort women were the victims of the inhumane criminality”. But, just thinking in a logical manner, you’ll understand their idea is logically wrong.
4. In addition, the Koreans’ assertion has the fatal contradiction that none of killed/disappeared victims were identified. They insist “more than 200,000 girls and women were removed from their homes in Korea, …”, and “murder, massacre and suicide was usual and widely found”. But no one ever disclosed even one name of the killed/disappeared victims. People can easily confirm my assertion because none of the comments here doesn’t show that.
GBY
【Origin of anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea and the reason why Koreans’ false accusation about Japan】
Most Westerners seem to believe by Korean propaganda that Japan “enslaved” Korean citizens during the annexation era(1910-1945),and that is the beginning of their anti-Japan sentiment.
However,the reality is Koreans have been lying about Japan for hundreds of years from the time before Japan merged the Korean Peninsula to the present time.
The persistent resentment and hatred of Koreans against Japan was formed in conjunction with the Sinocentrism and distorted Confucian doctrine in its earlier history.
Therefore, the Japan’s annexation of Korea is not the original cause of the anti-Japan sentiment.
http://hontonorekishi.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-1.html
A Korean female professor reveals these facts.
She suffered by revealing this and her salary was suspended for months.I heard there are Korean supporters fortunately.
1 How those comfort women witnesses are confined and forced to make false testimony to U.N
2 The majority of comfort women were sold by their fathers,not coerced by Japanese military
3 The number 200.000 is false.
4 Japanese army ordered hiring only willing women,but Korean operators disobeyed.
You can see more proofs in the link on how much they earned,reruitment advertisement,and how Japanese police protected women from abduction.Comfort women received medical checkups regularly and had recreation time.So they were prostitutes.
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/2014/10/summary-of-professor-park-yuhas-book.html
Why do we have to put up with these political propaganda of Koreans in the US? North Korean must be behind these.
And China too.
I did a paper on this in College.
It looks to me like the UN report was in error. Primary sources just don’t support it.
This is at best politically correct gobbledygook but I take it as slander.
Don’t let thid proceed.
Let me step out of the fray for a moment to thank Dyana Bagby for writing this article dated June 19 and the one on June 10. I appreciate that you have generated and allowed for an open discussion about the comfort women issue, Kudos to Ms. Bagby and to the Repoter Newspaper and best wishes.
あまりに韓国の公式見解に寄り掛かったコメントが多いので、「捕虜尋問調書49号」の抜粋を、2000字という制限があるが、参考として投稿した。「朝鮮人慰安所管理人の日記」や文玉珠氏の手記など、様々な記録資料に触れたことなど彼らにはないと思われる。
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For the reference:
Following are the excerpts from the interrogation report made by the American army in Burma in 1944 in the National Archives, disclosed in 1973. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Japanese_Prisoner_of_War_Interrogation_Report_49
…The majority of the girls were ignorant and uneducated, although a few had been connected with “oldest profession on earth” before. The contract they signed bound them to Army regulations and to war for the “house master ” for a period of from six months to a year depending on the family debt for which they were advanced …
…They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places…They lived well because…they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles. They were able to buy cloth, shoes, cigarettes, and cosmetics to supplement the many gifts given to them by soldiers who had received “comfort bags” from home.
…While in Burma they amused themselves by participating in sports events with both officers and men, and attended picnics, entertainments, and social dinners. They had a phonograph and in the towns they were allowed to go shopping.
…Soldiers would come to the house, pay the price and get tickets of cardboard…The girls were allowed the prerogative of refusing a customer. This was often done if the person were too drunk.
…In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thus allowed to return to Korea.
…the health of these girls was good. They were well supplied with all types of contraceptives, and often soldiers would bring their own which had been supplied by the army. They were well trained in looking after both themselves and customers in the matter of hygiene. A regular Japanese Army doctor visited the houses once a week and any girl found diseased was given treatment, secluded, and eventually sent to a hospital.
I heard the anti-Japanese movement in California was one reason for why Toyota decided to move their headquarters from California to Plano Texas. This community shouldn’t be bothered with conflict from another country.
There is no Testimony that Japansese military did such a thing.The most important profetion for Korean women was the prostitution until 20 years ago. When the Asahi asked s poor parents said they sold their daughter as prostitution for Japanese military to buy a bottle of liqure because if their daughter go there she could be paid. That was the only thing as her parents do.
Transcripts of parliamentary hearings also suggest that at least some South Korean leaders viewed prostitution as something of a necessity. In one exchange in 1960, two lawmakers urged the government to train a supply of prostitutes to meet what one called the “natural needs” of allied soldiers and prevent them from spending their dollars in Japan instead of South Korea. The deputy home minister at the time, Lee Sung-woo, replied that the government had made some improvements in the “supply of prostitutes” and the “recreational system” for American troops.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/world/asia/08korea.html
North and South Korea are the same. It’s like family quarrel. They tell a fake story as they breathe. I feel South Korea blame Japan to send a message that we are the same people to North Korea, and to China to say we are the same victims.
Why are there so many Japanese nationalist trolls who despise Koreans and spam websites with their right wing views? I strongly support the statues because they represent freedom of speech, a foreign concept to Japan, apparently. The statues were all installed because of an agreement between two parties. They were not forced on anybody or on any city. The Japanese government is filled with extreme right wing historical revisionists – Abe, Inada, and Takashi Shinozuka, the Atlanta Japanese consul who called comfort women “paid prostitutes.” To take the statue down because of pressure from the Japanese government would be surrendering the right for people to exercise their freedom of speech. I applaud Brookhaven and mayor John Ernst for their decision to reject the Japanese nationalists’ hatred and attempts to stifle freedom of speech through threats.
As Many Koreans wishes for unification with North Korea, there are many North Korean supportersim on many countries in the world. They do will promote alliance destruction activities in Korea, the United States and Japan. It to aim reduce US allies. That’s why they make so many comfort women in the United States, And oppose THAAD deployment on S-Korea, participating in the Anti Okinawa of Japan US military base movement the . And these trends are also beneficial to China, so China supports them and uses it for Japan – US alliance destruction work.
Therefore, these problems never end even if Japan compensates anything.
Korean PoW’s testimony on “Comfort women” dated April 1945.
“18. All Korean prostitutes that PoW have seen in the Pacific were volunteers or had been sold by their parents into prostitution. This is proper in the Korean way of thinking but direct conscription of women by the Japanese would be an outrage that the old and young alike would not tolerate. Men would rise up in a rage, killing Japanese no matter what consequence they might suffer.”
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Composite_report_on_three_Korean_navy_civilians,_List_no.78
Correct link.
http://www.ibtimes.com/south-korea-thriving-sex-industry-powerful-wealthy-super-state-1222647
Former Korean Comfort Woman Mun Oku-chu’s Memoir
The following is an English transaltion of excerpts from a former Korean comfort woman Mun Oku-chu’s memoir: goo.gl/uOH0Ze
“Myself as a comfort woman for Tate Division deployed in Burma” by Mun Oku-chu
(In Mandalay, Burma)
Page 63
The soldiers and we had the same thoughts, that is, we must work hard for our emperor. The soldiers gave up their wives, children and their own lives. Knowing how they felt, I did my best to solace them by having conversation with them.
Page 68
I prayed for safety of Ichiro Yamada. After two or three of months, the troop unit to which Yamada belonged returned from the front. Yamada returned in good health. He immediately came to the comfort station. He said “I, private first class soldier Yamada, have just come back from the front.” Yamada gave a salute to me. We hugged in full of joy. Such a day was so special that the comfort station owner Matsumoto (a Korean from Daegu) closed business for the day. The comfort station was full of excitement, and we, comfort women, contributed 1 yen per woman to hold a big party for them.
Page 75
I saved a considerable amount of money from tips. So I asked a clerical staff whether or not I could have a saving account and put the money in the account. His reply was positive. I knew that all the soldiers put their earnings in the saving accounts in the field post office, so I decided to put my money in the saving account. I asked a soldier to make a personal seal and put 500 yen in the account. I got my savings passbook and found 500 yen written on the passbook. I became the owner of the savings passbook for the first time in my life. I worked in Daegu as a nanny and a street seller from the childhood but I remained poor no matter how hard I worked. I could not believe that I could have so much money in my saving account. A house in Daegu cost 1,000 yen at the time. I could let my mother have an easy life. I felt very happy and proud. The savings passbook became my treasure.
Page 98
Ichiro Yamada came to see me once a week and I was in a great mood on that day from the morning. But if he did not show up on his once a week holiday, I became so worried wondering if he was killed by the enemy that I could not work properly. He made me worry so much.
(In Rangoon, Burma)
Page 106~107
I was able to have more freedom in Rangoon than before. Of course, not completely free but I could go out once a week or twice a month with permission from the Korean owner. It was fun to go shopping by rickshaw. I can’t forget the experience of shopping in a market in Rangoon. There were lots of jewelry shops because many jewels were produced in Burma, and ruby and jade were not expensive. One of my friends collected many jewels. I thought I should have a jewel myself, so I went and bought a diamond.
Page 107
I often went to see Japanese movies and Kabuki plays in which players came from the mainland Japan. I enjoyed watching players change costumes many times and male players portray women’s roles. I became a popular woman in Rangoon. There were a lot more officers in Rangoon than near the frontlines, so I was invited to many parties. I sang songs at parties and received lots of tips.
(In Saigon, Vietnam)
Page 115~118
It was finally time to return home. I went to Saigon via Thailand. The ship was to depart from Saigon. Then Tsubame said “I had a nightmare in the morning about my mother vomiting blood. I am afraid that something unlucky will happen, so I will not return to Korea.” Hiroko, Kifa and Hifumi agreed with Tsubame saying “We will not go back to Korea, either.”
Page 120
When I went to a cabaret where Japanese military men hung out, navy pilots were there. Some of them asked me “Why are you still here?” I replied “I am still here because I don’t want to go home. I want to go back to Rangoon.”
Page 121
I put on a pair of high heels, a green coat and carried an alligator leather handbag. I swaggered about in a fashionable dress. No one could guess that I was a comfort woman. I felt so happy and proud.
(Back In Rangoon)
Page 123
A military man came on a bicycle and asked me “Hi Yoshiko, can you ride a bicycle?” I replied “No, I can’t.” He asked “Would you like to learn how to ride?” I learned with pleasure. I rode it smoothly through the town of Rangoon. I didn’t see any other women on bicycles. People on the street looked back at me. It was fun for me to go to the town of Rangoon. I talked with people in Burmese, Japanese and Korean. I had no difficulty communicating when I shopped.
Page 126
I killed a non-commissioned officer who was drunk and held the sword against me. I won acquittal as legitimate self-defense, and many military men were pleased with that court decision.
Page 137
I withdrew 5,000 yen from my saving account and sent it to my mother.
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/2014/10/former-korean-comfort-woman-mun-oku.html
– In an interview with Professor Chunghee Sarah Soh of San Francisco State University, a former Korean comfort woman Kim Sun-ok said that she was sold by her parents four times.
Yet she testified before UN Special Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy that she was abducted by the Japanese military.
– In an interview with Professor Park Yuha of Sejong University in South Korea, a former Korean comfort woman Bae Chun-hee said that she hated her father who sold her.
Yet she testified before UN Special Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy that she was abducted by the Japanese military.
– In 1993 a former Korean comfort woman Kim Gun-ja told Professor Ahn Byong Jik of Seoul University, “I was sold by my foster father.”
Yet she testified before UN Special Rapporteur Radhika Coomaraswamy that she was abducted by the Japanese military.
Quotes from “Comfort Women Articles by Scholars” http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.jp/?
The scholars are suffering from oppression of speech under the conventional wisdom about comfort women that dominates the Korean people.
YOUR SOURCES ARE IRRELEVANT. They are from blogs. Get sources that are actually written by scholars…
I regret to say the link seems to have been already renewed and become invalid.
As to the former Korean comfort woman Kim Sun-ok, her remark that she was sold by her parents four times has been confirmed to appear on page 11 of “Comfort Women” by Prof. C. Sarah Soh. Regarding the other 2 persons I’m not able to completely confirm the primary source at present. As to Bae Chun-hee, however, her story seems to appear in the Preface or introductory part of Prof. Park Yuha’s book “Comfort Women of the Empire (Japanese version) ”.
I will let you know when confirmed later.
Kyoko A,
The link is found to be still effective and NOT IRRELEVANT. Please see the article on April 29, 2016 of “The Comfort Women” by Prof. C. Sarah Soh. You can find the sources I cited.
Regarding the primary sources, I have already mentioned about Kim Sun-ok. And although I could not find Kim Gun-ja’s interview itself with Prof. Ahn Byong Jik, the fact that she told to have been sold by her foster father is written on page 67 of “Comfort Women” by Prof. C. Sarah Soh. Bae Chun-hee’ story will be soon confirmed to appear in the book “Comfort Women of the Empire (Japanese Edition)”. I am confident the scholarsinenglish blog is trust worthy.
I’ll be glad if you are satisfied.
Looks like one Korean guy came down and build his “Disgusted Korean American” statues in everywhere. Korean guy shows his anger and not peaceful anymore. Should we ease and take care of him? Anyway statues have already been here and no one could remove them. At least we need to keep watching scientific evidence.
America and Japan are tied together in a security alliance that was born at San-Francisco on September 8, 1951, on the day the Peace Treaty (SFPT) with Japan was signed.
That mutual agreement is updated regularly.
http://www.defensenews.com/story/breaking-news/2015/04/27/us-japan-new-military-agreement/26443297/
Ask yourself who would gain from throwing a wrench in that security alliance?
The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance | Council on Foreign Relations
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-japan-security-alliance
“2014/07/01 – The U.S.-Japan alliance has been the cornerstone of Washington’s security policy in East Asia, but rising threats from China, North Korea, and economic recovery raise questions about the future of the rapport. Backgrounder …”
Quit wallowing in the noxious silt left in our collective memory by racist, hate-fueling wartime propaganda. The days of Japan-bashing are over.
Labeling a commenter a “troll” or conspiracy theorist without considering the data and facts being presented is just a form of character assassination ― the “argument” of last resort of those who have little or no facts or data to back their claims.
Michael’s claims are not that off the mark when you consider the fact that core members of the Korean interest group pushing these statues (“Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery” aka “Chong Dae Hyup” [정대협、挺対協]) have been suspected of, or arrested for being North Korean spies.
Yun Mi-Hyang (Chairwoman) ― Interrogated for working with North Korea in 2013.
Kim Sam-Suk (Yun Mi-Hyang’s husband) ― Arrested as a North Korean spy in 1993.
Kim Eun-Ju (Kim Sam-Suk’s sister) ― Arrested as a North Korean spy in 1993.
Choi Gi-Yong (Kim Eun-Ju’s husband) ― Arrested as a North Korean spy in 2006.
Lee Seok-Gi (member) ― Arrested as a North Korean spy in 2013.
A rift between Japan and South Korea, and ultimately the US, is exactly what North Korea ― and guess who’s behind them ― wants.
The memorial should be about the poor Vietnamese girls raped by Korean soldiers during the Vietnam war – see
https://www.change.org/p/president-park-geun-hye-apologize-for-the-systemic-rape-of-vietnamese-women-during-the-vietnam-war
and
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/10/13/president-park-should-use-us-visit-to-publicly-apologize-for-south-koreas-sexual-violence-in-vietnam.html
– as well as the poor Korean girls sold by their parents.
Koreans are Korean, What do you expect?
They’ve been nagging and begging money for their life.
Japanes sign treaty and paid money in 1965. We solved it more than 50 years ago.
But Korean government didn’t give money to their citizen. That is their problem.
And Japanese stupid government give billion yen for shut Korean’s mouth in 2015.
They’ve got money but still trying to spread lies to whole world because they are Korean and want more money.
Some “survivor” claim like “I was abducted with Jeep,,,,”
Back in WWⅡ, Imperial Japanese Army didn’t own Jeep ma’am. Fail.
I share your somewhat desperate sentiment. We cannot help getting angry, as the statue has at last been installed. But remain calm and rational, please.
The advocates of installing this kind of statues will be happy finding your nickname. They would always label the people with different opinion as extreme rightists, denialists, history revisionists, intending to give an impression that we are minor in Japan. You know very well the fact is contrary. In this situation most ordinary people in Japan would share your sentiment. Japanese consuls worked hard. Ms. Bagby and the Reporter Newspaper have kindly given us an excellent chance to express our views. There remains a hope to know that the city may move the statue soon.
Comfort women are prostitutes, not sex slaves. It is not a problem even in Tokyo trials. The problem of comfort women is the problem of history forgery that began to occur in the 1990s. It is not a human rights issue.
Show me the proof that there were prostitutes. If you cared about writing your comment make sure to have proof.
Yoko
Here’s U.S Military Repot on “Comfort Women”. It result that
“Comfort girl is nothing more than prostitute. Now you should show us your proof that comfort women was sex slave.
http://fendnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pow_report_49.pdf
There is no evidence that comfort women are sexual slaves. The president of the Asahi newspaper reported that comfort women are sex slaves was pursued responsibility and recently resigned. The government of Japan denies the existence of sex slaves.
BRIEF FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/files/000231732.pdf
Sorry Kyoko! I Was wrong about your name because you don’t use your REAL NAME.
We are waiting!!!
Show the proof that Comfort women was sex slave.