Politics & Government

Fairfax County to Unveil Controversial 'Comfort Women' Memorial

Women were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese military during World War II. Some in Japan deny the number of women involved and say many were willing participants.

More than 50 reporters — many of them from Asian news outlets — are expected to converge Friday afternoon on the Fairfax County Government Center for the dedication of a garden that is little-known but could soon become controversial.

Dubbed the Memorial Peace Garden, the land is a memorial to the thousands of "comfort women," some of them girls, who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, according to the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues, Inc., the group that is behind the creation of the park.

"Comfort women" is the phrase used for, what some say, were up to 200,000 women from various, mainly Asian, countries forced into sex slavery for the Japanese military, according to the group.

The memorial garden is one of several such memorials to be erected in the United States. The Memorial Peace Garden is located on the back lawn of the Fairfax County Government Center, adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial. A similar memorial, in Glendale, Calif., has been defaced and the city faced legal action by disgruntled citizens, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Delegations from Japan have visited Glendale and Palisades Park, N.J., where another memorial is located.

Some conservatives in Japan deny the number of women involved in the camps and say that the majority were willing participants, according to news reports, including this story by the Voice of America. 

A survivor of the camps, Il-Chun Kang of Korea, will speak in her native language at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in Fairfax. Another one of the speakers will be Grace Wolf, a council member for the nearby town of Herndon.

"Japan and Korea don't see eye to eye on the issue," said Wolf.  Some Japanese, mainly conservatives are "like Holocaust deniers or climate change deniers." 

"What is relevant to me is that Fairfax County residents wanted this," she said. "They expressed concern to their government, and it's a good way to launch talks today about human trafficking."

Remarks Friday will also be made by others who are trying to call attention to the decades-ago events, including U.S. Congressman Mike Honda, via video and Sen. Yonah Martin of Vancouver, Canada.

Fairfax County Board Chair Sharon Bulova is set to deliver a proclamation from the county in support of the memorial.



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