Sep. 24, 2015 - 04:10PM JST
SAN FRANCISCO —
San Francisco’s city assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution urging the city to erect a statue in memory of “comfort women” who were procured for wartime Japanese military brothels.
The resolution stated that an estimated 200,000 Asian and other women were forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II.
In the face of strong opposition from Japanese-Americans, the original wording of the resolution was amended to include general criticism of current human trafficking, so as not to single out Japan.
In August, Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka, sent a letter to the assembly expressing concern that such a statue could negatively affect its relationship with Osaka, a sister city of San Francisco, as well as diplomatic ties between Japan and the United States.
“It’s true that women’s human rights were abused during World War II, but it’s not fair to say only Japan did something special,” Hashimoto said at a press conference in July before sending the letter.
