Japanese officials ask New Jersey town to REMOVE memorial to Korean sex slaves captured by Japan in World War II by UK Mail

Japanese officials ask New Jersey town to REMOVE memorial to Korean sex slaves captured by Japan in World War II
By EMILY ANNE EPSTEIN
PUBLISHED: 20:13 GMT, 20 May 2012 | UPDATED: 15:03 GMT, 21 May 2012

Last month, Japanese officials visited Palisades Park, a suburban enclave across the Hudson River from New York City, with a curious request: they wanted the town to remove a small plaque in front of the public library.
In 2010, Palisades Park installed a memorial to the thousands of Korean women and girls that were enslaved by the Japanese during World War II.
The town says that it is the first such dedication to the so-called 'Comfort Women' and refused the Japanese officials' request, igniting a decades long quest to raise awareness of the victims' plight.
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In Memory: In 2010, Palisades Park installed a memorial to the thousands of Korean women and girls that were enslaved by the Japanese during World War II

Controversial: The text of the plaque has offended Japanese officials
'They’re helping us, actually,' said Chejin Park, a lawyer at the Korean American Voters’ Council, to the New York Times. 'We can increase the awareness of this issue.'
The plaque is the first of its kind in the country to commemorate the abuses Korean women suffered in the Japanese 'comfort stations' during World War II, according to Bergen News.

In Palisades Park, more than half of the 20,000 residents are of Korean descent, according to the Census Bureau.
'In memory of the more than 200,000 women and girls who were abducted by the armed forces of the government of imperial Japan,' the plaque reads.
'Known as "comfort women," they endured human rights violations that no peoples should leave unrecognized. Let us never forget the horrors of crimes against humanity.'

Victims: Wartime 'comfort women' after being rescued by U.S. troops in September 1945 after the Japanese surrender

Monumental: The consul general of Japan, Shigeyiki Hiroki, requested a meeting with Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo, who helped unveil the monument
After the war, many of the women were brutally slaughtered and their story was first told in 1991.
Two years after the memorial was installed, Japanese officials requested a meeting with Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo, who helped unveil the monument.
The two discussed 'niceties,' Mr Rotundo told the paper, before Mr Hiroki pulled out two documents and began to read aloud a formal acknowledgement and apology from the government of Japan to the surviving comfort women.
He then requested that the memorial be removed, Mr Rotundo said, and mentioned that the Japanese government would be willing to plant cherry trees and donate books to the library in its absence.

Lasting Power: Palisades Park refused the Japanese official's request to remove the monument
The offer was rejected.
Shortly afterwards, Japanese officials requested a second meeting with the mayor, but were not as formal.
'They said the comfort women were a lie, that they were set up by an outside agency, that they were women who were paid to come and take care of the troops.'
Palisades Park Mayor, James Rotundo
'They said the comfort women were a lie, that they were set up by an outside agency, that they were women who were paid to come and take care of the troops,' the Mr Rotundo told the New York Times.
'I said, "We’re not going to take it down, but thanks for coming."'
The Japanese counsel general's office refuted the idea that the Japanese government would offer a reward for the removal of the monument, but said the talks about comfort women were 'quite complicated.'
Korean American groups say that after the incident, they will seek to install more monuments to raise awareness about comfort women.

Best comments

These women were abucted, imprisoned and systematically raped for the benefit of the Japanese troops - someone needs to remember them.
- Pipeman, Baccytown, 21/5/2012 6:37
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Proud to be a 3rd generation American of Japanese ancestry. Dad was part of the 442nd Infantry deployed to Europe during WW2. The nation of Japan is in severe denial of their crimes against humanity during their occupation of Asia and thePacific Islands. Let the truth be told.
- Dave, usa, 21/5/2012 11:08
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Girls as young as 12 were kidnapped for this hideous purpose.For for those that did survive the high death and suicide rate, many were never able to return home, abandoned by their own family due to the culture of shame.The brutality of war is heartbreaking for all parties involved .However NOONE has the right to deny an opportunity to educate the public and respectfully remember the lives, actions, and fate of men, women and children who experienced the horror of war first hand.
- jo bailey, Australia, 21/5/2012 11:24
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Disgusting! Shame to Shigeyiki Hiroki and the Japanese government!
- Monica, Seattle, WA, 21/5/2012 11:16
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Japan's legacy of cruelty can never be forgiven or forgotten.
- Jon, Worthing, England, 21/5/2012 17:23
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TheJapanese have spent the last 65 years trying to erase history and the horrific role they played in Asia. Even in their schools textbooks they attempt to blame the West for starring the war. But, they do so, ever so politely.
- Laurence of Pewsey, Pewsey, Wiltshire, 21/5/2012 16:59
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They raped those women and many of Chinese women. They can not get rid of history.
- lisa, US, 21/5/2012 15:24
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Go to japan these days and you will hear nothing about the war ? nothing , no data nothing like it never happened. In schools they don't teach about it ,at the Hiroshima war memorial, says what the bomb did to the Japanese but not why it was dropped i find that strange not to know what you did in History yet the world blames the British for things but Japan gets away with it ! Some of my Japanese friends don't know much about the war when they should how can you not learn from your history.
- Zool, Wigan, 21/5/2012 16:42
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Kudos to Paliisades Park for having the guts & decency to remember these almost forgotten victims of WWII The Japanese do not like to think about the atrocities they committed so it is up to others to ensure the world never forgets.
- KJ, Wellington, NZ, 21/5/2012 15:59
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This article should also include that the Japanese history books have done a total white wash of ALL war crimes! But what do you expect from a country that has a nuclear power-plant leaking into the ocean, and all they do is put a plastic sheet over the top of it?..
- Mat, uk/thailand, 21/5/2012 17:14
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newest comments
ere is an excerpt from a 1944 US Army report that was written well-before "comfort women" dispute was brought up by Koreans and when there was no biased idea against Japan on the issue. "A "comfort girl" is nothing more than a prostitute or "professional camp follower" attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. " Pak, these are the same knuckleheads who thought Geisha were prostitutes too. We know now they were wrong. The Japanese would love to rewrite history, it makes them feel better. But good people will not let that happen. Anytime a country commits war crimes it should be named and shamed, the U.S. included!
- laurie, Kansas USA, 22/5/2012 11:59
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Actually, many Japanese soldiers proposed to comfort women. Can a master propose to a slave to get married? Some of them actually married. Can a slave get married with a master? There were even a Japanese soldier who committed a suicide because a comfort woman declined to marry. Can a slave refuse an order from a master? Some Japanese solders conducted a violence to comfort women. The Japanese soldier were taken to courts and punished. Are there any government protection for slaves? Etc, etc. Do you know these stories? Without knowing these stories, are you harassing Japan and Japanese people?
- Pak, Japanese in the USA, 22/5/2012 11:48
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If 200,000 women were really abducted, what Korean men were doing? Why they did not protest/fight. There are no newspaper article back then to report Korean protest/fight for abduction. Korean girls were sold by parents for their debt. Some comfort women said they cannot forgive their parents rather than Japanese soldier. If my daughter or wife was abducted, I will be a guerrilla against governments. Also, if there were 200,000 Korean comfort women and they were forced sex 20 times a day as Korean insists, a Japanese soldier had to have a sex 1.3 times a day. They did not have even enough food. How can they be so energetic? Actually, there were so many Japanese, Korean, Chinese comfort women. How many times a day a Japanese soldier had to have a sex with them? Only Korean comfort women demands money so persistently. What are these telling? They were paid. Paid sex providers are called prostitutes not slaves.
- Pak, Japanese in the USA, 22/5/2012 11:39
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This article is biased. Emily Anne Epstein did not ask opinions from Japanese experts who are studying this issue for a long time. She just copied articles from other papers. Here is an excerpt from a 1944 US Army report that was written well-before "comfort women" dispute was brought up by Koreans and when there was no biased idea against Japan on the issue. "A "comfort girl" is nothing more than a prostitute or "professional camp follower" attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. " Source: http://www.exordio.com/1939-1945/codex/Documentos/report-49-USA-orig.html The report was originally found in National Archives and Records Administration Why don't you try to learn why the Japanese representatives do not accept the sex slave story? I think the representatives are very clever people whom you can talk with.
- Pak, Japanese in the USA, 22/5/2012 10:32
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I love Japan and the Japanese people. However, no one should be allowed to rewrite history as it suits them! We all (black, white, asian, european, gentile, jew, catholic, protestant, muslim or whatever) have skeletons in the closet that we are ashamed of, but we have to own up to and learn from our mistakes. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging the fact that our forebearers made mistakes. Let's not repeat them!
- kuroigirl68, San Diego, CA, 22/5/2012 9:57
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@ - rex, taiwan, 21/5/2012 23:56 ================ You really need to check your history. I'm surprised you only have 6 red arrows, your comments are just plain ignorant.
- dags, Brisbane , Australia, 22/5/2012 9:47
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Many Koreans fought alongside Japanese forces in WW2. And many were POW camp guards arguably more brutal and sadistic than even their Japanese allies.
- dags, Brisbane , Australia, 22/5/2012 9:43
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Read up on Unit 731, it was a biological and chemical warfare research center in Manchukuo (The puppet state Japan setup in norther china). Then you'll start to understand just how horrific the Japs where in WW2
- Bob, USA, 22/5/2012 7:26
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Japan is the only former Axis power that has singularly refused to acknowledged what it did during the second world war be it in memorials to war criminals are misrepresenting facts in their school textbooks. They, the Japanese state, need to be reminded of their crimes every day until they apologise.
- JB, UK, 22/5/2012 7:13
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Sure thing. Remove the memorial when Japan removes Pearl Harbor. Your move, Tokyo.
- Max, USA, 22/5/2012 5:09
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worst comments
The Japanese government asked them to remove the memorial, because what they claim to be true is simply not the truth. In the historical point of view, Korean sex slaves did not exist, but prostitutes for soldiers. And their wages were VERY high. The advertisement seeking prostitutes for the army that appeared on newspaper in the wartime still remains. (The Koreans just ignore it and they never deny nor suspect against the authenticity because they know Japan's claim is correct.) And what's more, Japanese goverment has been financially supporting OFFSPRINGS of those Koreans who claim to be forcibly brought to Japan as a sex slave, since the end of the war. Has the United States ever supported financially those offsprings of African slaves? Japanese goverment is just crazy.
- university student, Nagoya, Japan, 21/5/2012 16:53
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What the Japanese did is terrible, thank goodness they have now stopped and apologized. First step to being human about one's mistakes, Wish I could say the same for western countries who profited from slavery and now have a new weapon RACISM.
- London Arbeiter!, London, 21/5/2012 19:52
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So, yeah, I'm sure it sucked being a Comfort Woman but why are we memorializing them in America? Wouldn't South Korea be a more appropriate place for a memorial? It's PC gone mad.
- Lisa, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, 21/5/2012 14:02
Click to rate Rating 146Report abuse
Russians and americans raped german girls & women too in WWII but will deny it.
- {-_-}, BiTTy!, 21/5/2012 19:30
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- pablo, Los Angeles, California, 21/5/2012 5:23 ------ I understood that all Japanese Americans were interned during the war therefore, how could they have been fighting alongside US troops?
- Farmer Giles, Truro, Cornwall, 21/5/2012 18:53
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This is the story about WW2 Japanese Americans and their unintentional Liberation Nazi Camp of Dachau - by the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion 442nd RCT April 29th 1945. Here is the story; "We weren't supposed to be there" said Oiye. Since they were spread out over such a wide area (30 KM) and Dachau was so big they simply ran into it. Japanese American soldiers shot the lock of the main gate of the outer perimeter fences. Then opened the barbed wire gates of the infamous crematorium the site were thousands of Jewish prisoners bodies were burned into ashes. The building had tall smoke stacks and large ovens with bodies smoldering still inside. Prisoners were often killed or died of the harsh slave labor conditions at Dachau". The moral of the story is that not all Japanese were insensitive "brutes" as wartime propaganda often suggested.
- pablo, Los Angeles, California, 21/5/2012 13:23
Click to rate Rating 32Report abuse
If 200,000 women were really abducted, what Korean men were doing? Why they did not protest/fight. There are no newspaper article back then to report Korean protest/fight for abduction. Korean girls were sold by parents for their debt. Some comfort women said they cannot forgive their parents rather than Japanese soldier. If my daughter or wife was abducted, I will be a guerrilla against governments. Also, if there were 200,000 Korean comfort women and they were forced sex 20 times a day as Korean insists, a Japanese soldier had to have a sex 1.3 times a day. They did not have even enough food. How can they be so energetic? Actually, there were so many Japanese, Korean, Chinese comfort women. How many times a day a Japanese soldier had to have a sex with them? Only Korean comfort women demands money so persistently. What are these telling? They were paid. Paid sex providers are called prostitutes not slaves.
- Pak, Japanese in the USA, 22/5/2012 11:39
Click to rate Rating 12Report abuse
This article is biased. Emily Anne Epstein did not ask opinions from Japanese experts who are studying this issue for a long time. She just copied articles from other papers. Here is an excerpt from a 1944 US Army report that was written well-before "comfort women" dispute was brought up by Koreans and when there was no biased idea against Japan on the issue. "A "comfort girl" is nothing more than a prostitute or "professional camp follower" attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. " Source: http://www.exordio.com/1939-1945/codex/Documentos/report-49-USA-orig.html The report was originally found in National Archives and Records Administration Why don't you try to learn why the Japanese representatives do not accept the sex slave story? I think the representatives are very clever people whom you can talk with.
- Pak, Japanese in the USA, 22/5/2012 10:32
Click to rate Rating 12Report abuse
Actually, many Japanese soldiers proposed to comfort women. Can a master propose to a slave to get married? Some of them actually married. Can a slave get married with a master? There were even a Japanese soldier who committed a suicide because a comfort woman declined to marry. Can a slave refuse an order from a master? Some Japanese solders conducted a violence to comfort women. The Japanese soldier were taken to courts and punished. Are there any government protection for slaves? Etc, etc. Do you know these stories? Without knowing these stories, are you harassing Japan and Japanese people?
- Pak, Japanese in the USA, 22/5/2012 11:48
Click to rate Rating 11Report abuse
The atomic bombings were the worst single-act atrocities in modern history. Japan had no airforce, no navy, no fuel and no food when the bombs were dropped. A naval blockade, as everybody privately knows, would have been enough. The bombs were dropped mainly because the Russians were about to steal the prize via an invasion from the north. The 'necessity' of these bombings is the biggest lie of the last century and a monument to the ease with which western public opinion is manipulated. But the Koreans are right to go on about the comfort women.
- rex, taiwan, 21/5/2012 22:56
Click to rate Rating 9Report abuse