CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A Harvard University professor has ignited an international uproar and faces mounting scrutiny for alleging that Korean women who were kept as sex slaves in wartime Japan had actually chosen to work as prostitutes. In a recent academic paper, J. Mark Ramseyer rejected a wide body of research finding that Japan’s […]
South Koreans grieve over death of ‘comfort women’ campaigner
January 31, 2019 by Leave a Comment
SEOUL — Many South Koreans gathered in Seoul on Jan. 30 to mourn the death of Kim Bok Dong, a human rights activist and a symbolic figure among those who were forced to work as “comfort women” in Japan’s wartime military brothels. Kim, who died Jan. 28 aged 92, had traveled to various places in […]
‘Comfort women’ exhibit opens in State Bldg. in S.F.
September 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
While the subject of so-called “comfort women” continues to cause controversy between Japan and its neighboring countries in Asia, a new photo exhibition recently opened at the California State Building designed to shed light on one of the darkest chapters of World War II — the sexual enslavement of women throughout Asia by the Japanese […]
Osaka-S.F. sister city relationship to end
December 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Following San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee’s formal acceptance Nov. 22 of the memorial dedicated to the so-called “comfort women,” located in the city’s Chinatown, Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura said at a Nov. 24 press conference that he would dissolve the two cities’ 60-year-old sister city relationship. The Japanese Imperial Army sexually enslaved women and girls […]
San Francisco ‘Comfort Women’ Memorial unveiled
September 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The “Comfort Women” Justice Coalition unveiled a monument Sept. 22 at the Saint Mary’s Square Annex in San Francisco’s Chinatown, capping off a two-year effort to install a memorial dedicated to Japan’s wartime sex slaves. Organizers estimated that more than 500 people attended the unveiling, including former Rep. Mike Honda, Consul General of the People’s […]
U.N. panel calls for revising Japan-S. Korea ‘comfort women’ deal
May 25, 2017 by Leave a Comment
GENEVA — The U.N. Committee against Torture called on Japan and South Korea to revise their 2015 deal to settle the long-standing row over women who were forced into wartime Japanese military brothels. The agreement should be modified to “ensure that the surviving victims of sexual slavery during World War II are provided with redress, […]
U.S. top court dismisses appeal over ‘comfort women’ statue in Calif
March 30, 2017 by 2 Comments
LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 27 rejected an appeal filed by Japanese Americans seeking removal of a statue in California symbolizing women who were forced to work in wartime Japanese brothels. The decision came despite the Japanese government’s opinion presented to the U.S. Supreme Court in February asking it to […]
Japan, S. Korea strike landmark deal on ‘comfort women’
January 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment
SEOUL — Japan and South Korea on Dec. 28 struck a landmark deal to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the protracted dispute over Korean women who were procured for Japan’s wartime military brothels. As part of the deal, Japan will contribute 1 billion yen ($8.4 million) from its state budget in a foundation South Korea will […]
Some Japanese in North America puzzled by ‘comfort women’ statue plan
November 5, 2015 by 3 Comments
San Francisco lawmakers voted in September to urge the establishment of a “comfort women” memorial, breaking ground by becoming the first major U.S. city to install a statue memorializing women, mostly from Asia, who were forced to provide sex for soldiers of the wartime Japanese military. While the decision by the city’s Board of […]
Reflections on Day of Remembrance: Supporting the SF ‘comfort women’ memorial & delving into our own history of sexual violence against women in times of war
Last year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution to create a “comfort women” memorial. The resolution garnered broad support from both within the Japanese American community as well as veterans, women’s and labor rights groups, students, educators, and scholars. However, there was also opposition from some members of the Japanese and […]