Glendale's 'comfort women' memorial still stirs controversy
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A monument remembering Asian women and girls who were held as sex slaves by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II -- commonly known as comfort women -- was officially unveiled during a ceremony at Central Park in Glendale on July 30. (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times
/ July
30, 2013)
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By Brittany Levine
November 5, 2013,
9:21 a.m.
Glendale Mayor Dave Weaver said a memorial to "comfort women" -- sex slaves taken by the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II -- is continuing to cause controversy and damaging its relationship with its sister city, Higashiosaka.
Weaver, the lone dissenter in a vote to approve the memorial at a public park, wrote a letter to the mayor of the Japanese sister city expressing regret for the vote,
the Glendale News-Press reported.
Some council members said the letter was improper. Weaver was responding to a missive from the mayor of Higashiosaka, Yoshikazu Noda, admonishing Glendale for installing the 1,110-pound bronze statue of a young woman in traditional Korean dress sitting next to an empty chair.
"His opinion doesn't coincide with the rest of the council. In fact, it directly conflicts with it," said Councilman Zareh Sinanyan.
Councilwoman Laura Friedman said while everyone is entitled to their opinion, when the council votes, it makes a decision as a group.
"We don't always have to agree, but we all have to respect the final decision, and that includes the mayor," she said.
In the letter, Weaver states that he regrets the statue was installed and the "deep divide" it created between Glendale and Higashiosaka. After Glendale installed it in Central Park on July 30, officials from the Japanese city considered ending the 50-year cultural exchange relationship with Glendale for several reasons, one of which was the statue.
"I hope that this critical wound can heal itself in time," Weaver said in the letter.
The statue has been a point of controversy for months. Glendale installed it following a request by the Korean-American Sister City Assn., despite a barrage of emails from Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans protesting the roughly $30,000 replica of a memorial that sits outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.
While advocates for former comfort women say Japan hasn't sufficiently apologized to the estimated 200,000 Korean, Chinese, Filipino and other women coerced into prostitution, opponents disagree. They say an apology issued by a former Japanese prime minister in the 1990s should have been enough.
Other Japanese nationals and Japanese Americans believe the women acted willingly, although many former comfort women have publicly shared disturbing stories of their servitude, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims on its website that some women based in war areas were "deprived of their freedom and had to endure misery."
The Glendale statue is the first one honoring comfort women on the West Coast.
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Follow Brittany Levine on Google+ and on Twitter: @brittanylevine.
Levine writes for Times Community News.
Copyright © 2013,
Los Angeles Times
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Comments (18)
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bluesky75
at 3:09 AM November 06, 2013
Since this statue issue came in light, I've learned a few things.
There was an "open public debate" to decide the installation, where tens of Japanese protested with all sorts of evidence and logic, while only half dozen of Koreans attending and expressed their "appreciation" for the City's efforts. I sensed first smell here.
The present City Manager is Scott Ochoa. Where did he come from? If you're a local, check the Council record of 26 Oct 2011, when a few (3?) names were recommended as the candidates for City Manager. Well, his name was not included, yet the Mayor made an announcement with this guy's name! The previous Mayor was Ara Najarian.
During Ara Najarian's term, the number of Korean sister cities got doubled & since Scott Ochoa became the City Manager, it tripled. Also search Zareh Sinanyan, who is deeply involved with Korean lobbying as well. Once you check out the trio, you'd smell money money money.
During my business career, I personally saw the locals in Asian countries, celebrating something with Japanese flags and songs. It took me many years to understand what it meant. Although Japan lost the war, Japan is their hero who freed them from the evil western colonialism.
It's not "Asia" who is accusing Japan of evil doings but mere Korea and China. Don't be mislead.
kglaca
at 12:26 PM November 05, 2013
Did Glendale taxpayers pony up for this "replica?" Or was it by private donation? Will Glendale next put up a memorial to the natives oppressed by the (choose one): Aztecs, Spanish, Mexicans, Americans, Republicans, Democrats, Tea Party or Americans driven to distraction by Psy dancing "Gangnam Style?" Let's stick to American history folks and not make our public spaces part of private political agendas
Garcia24
at 11:31 AM November 05, 2013
I don't get why their called 'comfort women'."...... Sounds so lame.
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