Memorializing Victims of a Shameful Past

Three years ago, the statue of a Korean girl sitting next to an empty chair was erected in the City of Glendale. It's a memorial to the so-called "comfort women" abducted for the use of Japanese soldiers during World War II. Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to erect a similar statue there. San Francisco would be the first major American city to have such a memorial. It was proposed by Supervisor Eric Mar. We asked the Japanese consuls in San Francisco and Los Angeles to join our program. We also invited organizations of Japanese Americans. They all declined.