San Francisco mayor accepts comfort women statue

November 23, 2017

Silicon Valley- San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee on Wednesday authorized the U.S. city's acceptance of a statue symbolizing comfort women who were forced into prostitution for Japanese troops mainly during World War II.

Following the move, San Francisco is set to become the owner of the statue, built by a group of Chinese Americans and other people.

Osaka Mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura recently said he would move to unwind the western Japan city's sister-city relationship with San Francisco that has lasted six decades, if Lee accepts the statue.

The statue, depicting three women holding hands, was erected in September on a private plot of land. The land was donated to the city in October.

The memorial is believed to be a third comfort women statue in a publicly held place in the United States, following the ones in Glendale, California, and Brookhaven, Georgia.

On Nov. 14, the San Francisco council passed a motion to accept the donation of the statue and maintenance costs.

In response, Yoshimura sent a letter to Lee, warning that Osaka would request an end to the sister-city relationship if San Francisco becomes the owner of the statue.

The Japanese government also asked Lee to veto the motion.

Yoshimura said the inscription on the statue includes descriptions that are one-sided and not well-grounded. Jiji Press