Love, soft as an easy chair?

Why is there a Korean Comfort Woman Memorial in New Jersey?

Wait, What exactly does the statue commemorate?

Is this like?
"These young women were abused and wronged and we will forever remember them to try and make up for it."

Or because it's NJ, is it more like
"YEAAAAHHHHH!!!! ASIAN HOOKERS RULE! YEAAAHHH! LETS GO TANNING!"

Because if it's the latter, I can see someone taking issue with it.

SharkTrager: Why is there a Korean Comfort Woman Memorial in New Jersey?

Central Jersey has a large Korean population.

fluffy2097: Wait, What exactly does the statue commemorate?

Is this like?
"These young women were abused and wronged and we will forever remember them to try and make up for it."

Or because it's NJ, is it more like
"YEAAAAHHHHH!!!! ASIAN HOOKERS RULE! YEAAAHHH! LETS GO TANNING!"

Because if it's the latter, I can see someone taking issue with it.

If it were the latter it would be the Koreans taking issue with it.

PonceAlyosha: SharkTrager: Why is there a Korean Comfort Woman Memorial in New Jersey?

Central Jersey has a large Korean population.

Northern NJ too. Palisades is hardly central. Nearly every business on the West side of the Hudson has English/Korean signage. It's like Quebec, except the Korean-Americans aren't douchey about it.

There are many admirable things about the Japanese. Their bigotry is not one of those things. Take a neo-Nazi skinhead, crossbreed him with a Daughters of the Confederacy bimbo from Mobile, Alabama , and give the result slightly slanted eyes and you would barely come close to Japanese attitudes regarding other "races".

foo monkey: Northern NJ too. Palisades is hardly central. Nearly every business on the West side of the Hudson has English/Korean signage. It's like Quebec, except the Korean-Americans aren't douchey about it.

I like bilingual signage.

It's OK to say "No", but I hope we're not indignant. If we're indignant, it won't leave us room for complaining if, somewhere in Iraq, they build a memorial to the 100,000 or more Iraqi civilians we killed between 2003-2011, thanks to the brilliant (Bush administration) decision to go to war there without a reason other than to make our nation hated by the world and trillions in debt.

cynicalbastard: There are many admirable things about the Japanese. Their bigotry is not one of those things. Take a neo-Nazi skinhead, crossbreed him with a Daughters of the Confederacy bimbo from Mobile, Alabama , and give the result slightly slanted eyes and you would barely come close to Japanese attitudes regarding other "races".

Pretty much. The Japanese are cool in a lot of respects, but their racial tolerance isn't one of them.

Also class tolerance. Ever hear of burukumin?

If you look at some other stories from the local area, it would seem that the Japanese folks thought that the memorial was over the top and exaggerated the horrible things that happened. One article even suggested that the position of the Japanese officials was that women "served the soldiers willingly." (www.northjersey.com search "comfort women" I couldn't get a direct link to work)

Pennsauken, NJ has a memorial dedicated to all the people who died in 9/11 despite not having any people remotely involved in the tragedy. They took years and a lot of money to decide where to put a Vietnam Vets memorial but that 9/11 one was up in no time.

cynicalbastard: There are many admirable things about the Japanese. Their bigotry is not one of those things. Take a neo-Nazi skinhead, crossbreed him with a Daughters of the Confederacy bimbo from Mobile, Alabama , and give the result slightly slanted eyes and you would barely come close to Japanese attitudes regarding other "races".

For a culture that is supposedly all about shame they are very shameless about their ongoing bigotry as well as denying or covering up the atrocities they did in WWII. And the sad fact is, there are many people out there who have bough the Japanese PR WWII campaign and think that the Japanese were just helpless victims and there were nothing more than kittens with guns trying to defend themselves and taking orders from big, bad Germany.

From the comments section of the article...
"But any Japanese who has a problem with this plaque should have his head bounced off it until he thanks the makers of it for pointing out the truth of history."

THIS

History lessons courtesy of Joe Pesci!

fark these people, and their revisionist history.

The attitudes between Japan and Germany when dealing with their role in the atrocities of World War II are a start contrast. While Germans admitted responsibility, and took a role in acknowledging and trying to prevent further atrocity, (Go ahead. Go into Germany and say the holocaust was warranted, or never really happened. I dare you to.) the majority of the Japanese involved in such heinous events as the Rape of Nanking, the Comfort Women, the Bataan Death March, Unit 731 and biological warfare experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, and even human vivisections of POWs went largely unpunished. There are a large and vocal group of Japanese politicians and scholars which seek to even justify, and minimize the impact Japan had in these events.

Only the Japanese government would even think of doing this.

Gosling: cynicalbastard: There are many admirable things about the Japanese. Their bigotry is not one of those things. Take a neo-Nazi skinhead, crossbreed him with a Daughters of the Confederacy bimbo from Mobile, Alabama , and give the result slightly slanted eyes and you would barely come close to Japanese attitudes regarding other "races".

Pretty much. The Japanese are cool in a lot of respects, but their racial tolerance isn't one of them.

That's pretty much the gist of it. Unlike Germany, Japan has tried to sweep their actions in WWII under the rug (so no wonder the Korean and Chinese get pissed at them real easy). So until they pretty much admit to the things they did in WWII and do what the Germans did, it'll never be over.

Worse: the generation that took part in those atrocities is slowly dying out and the younger generation is starting to be aware of it.

Also class tolerance. Ever hear of burukumin?

No, but again I wouldn't be surprised. Ever since the Meiji Restoration there's being a separation of classes that's even survived WWII; look at the whole controversy surrounding the nuclear plant post-earthquake. A lot of back-scratching was done being politicians and officials to keep what was really happening at the plant quiet.

BronyMedic: fark these people, and their revisionist history.

The attitudes between Japan and Germany when dealing with their role in the atrocities of World War II are a start contrast. While Germans admitted responsibility, and took a role in acknowledging and trying to prevent further atrocity, (Go ahead. Go into Germany and say the holocaust was warranted, or never really happened. I dare you to.) the majority of the Japanese involved in such heinous events as the Rape of Nanking, the Comfort Women, the Bataan Death March, Unit 731 and biological warfare experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, and even human vivisections of POWs went largely unpunished. There are a large and vocal group of Japanese politicians and scholars which seek to even justify, and minimize the impact Japan had in these events.

Stark. The word you are looking for is stark. Are you even trying?

foo monkey: Northern NJ too. Palisades is hardly central. Nearly every business on the West side of the Hudson has English/Korean signage. It's like Quebec, except the Korean-Americans aren't douchey about it.

And the Korean-American population is getting bigger in NJ now that NYC's Korean-American population is moving elsewhere.

Gosling: Also class tolerance. Ever hear of burukumin?

You mean Burakumin.

I'm half-Japanese myself (my mother's side of the family is actually from a Burakumin ancestry) and Japan is still stuck in a 19th century Feudal society. We westerners keep thinking that Japan is a democratic country. Japan of today is very similar to the Victorian England without the religious burden.

Japanese official quoted as saying, "She needed comfort. So I gave my Korean girl a hug, in the tunnel of love."

Allen. The end.: Stark. The word you are looking for is stark. Are you even trying?

Behold. The miracles of posting on an iPhone.

krackpipe: It's OK to say "No", but I hope we're not indignant. If we're indignant, it won't leave us room for complaining if, somewhere in Iraq, they build a memorial to the 100,000 or more Iraqi civilians we killed between 2003-2011, thanks to the brilliant (Bush administration) decision to go to war there without a reason other than to make our nation hated by the world and trillions in debt.

Here's the thing, we wouldn't complain if they did. It has happened before. In Japan, they have a statue of Sadako Sasaki, a little girl who went through a horrible death as result of US bombing. As well as an entire memorial, Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. No American officials, as far as I have read, have objected to that statue.

jeffowl: If you look at some other stories from the local area, it would seem that the Japanese folks thought that the memorial was over the top and exaggerated the horrible things that happened. One article even suggested that the position of the Japanese officials was that women "served the soldiers willingly." (www.northjersey.com search "comfort women" I couldn't get a direct link to work)

And the Bataan Death March? That was line dancing.

This morning while I was reading FARK,
I saw a link about Palisades Park;
Protesting brothels that the Japanese built,
That's where the girls were.

You'll never know how lousy sex can feel,
When you're underneath the Nippon Army bootheel,
That's what the memorial said,
Down at Palisades Park.
Down at Palisades Park.

Old news...

...Futemna anyone?

MBooda: This morning while I was reading FARK,
I saw a link about Palisades Park;
Protesting brothels that the Japanese built,
That's where the girls were.

You'll never know how lousy sex can feel,
When you're underneath the Nippon Army bootheel,
That's what the memorial said,
Down at Palisades Park.
Down at Palisades Park.


Sonny Sixkiller approves.

mekki: krackpipe: It's OK to say "No", but I hope we're not indignant. If we're indignant, it won't leave us room for complaining if, somewhere in Iraq, they build a memorial to the 100,000 or more Iraqi civilians we killed between 2003-2011, thanks to the brilliant (Bush administration) decision to go to war there without a reason other than to make our nation hated by the world and trillions in debt.

Here's the thing, we wouldn't complain if they did. It has happened before. In Japan, they have a statue of Sadako Sasaki, a little girl who went through a horrible death as result of US bombing. As well as an entire memorial, Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. No American officials, as far as I have read, have objected to that statue.

I've been to the (US) National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, and there's an entire wall of pictures from Hiroshima. It's not shied away from at all, and it's not presented in a "rah-rah go US" way either. It's definitely presented as a tough, sad decision that not everyone agrees was the right one.

mekki: krackpipe: It's OK to say "No", but I hope we're not indignant. If we're indignant, it won't leave us room for complaining if, somewhere in Iraq, they build a memorial to the 100,000 or more Iraqi civilians we killed between 2003-2011, thanks to the brilliant (Bush administration) decision to go to war there without a reason other than to make our nation hated by the world and trillions in debt.

Here's the thing, we wouldn't complain if they did. It has happened before. In Japan, they have a statue of Sadako Sasaki, a little girl who went through a horrible death as result of US bombing.

Which I find laughable and sad at the same time. They never want to realize that it was their leaders that led to the deaths of innocent people like her, never want to admit what the Germans had to in order to move forward.

As well as an entire memorial, Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. No American officials, as far as I have read, have objected to that statue.

I think no one sane would ever object to that.

Since they tore down the roller coaster in Palisades Park years ago, what else are they going to ride?

SweetHomeNowhere: You mean Burakumin.

My mistake; sorry about that.

MBooda: This morning while I was reading FARK,
I saw a link about Palisades Park;
Protesting brothels that the Japanese built,
That's where the girls were.

You'll never know how lousy sex can feel,
When you're underneath the Nippon Army bootheel,
That's what the memorial said,
Down at Palisades Park.
Down at Palisades Park.

Thanks, pal. Now that will be playing in my head all day.

Rwa2play: mekki: As well as an entire memorial, Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims. No American officials, as far as I have read, have objected to that statue.

I think no one sane would ever object to that.


Heh, you don't know the Japs then. If the situation was reversed, they would whine and insist that it is an inaccurate and unfair characterisation.

Only in New Jersey would there be a monument to Korean sex slaves.
picture of said monument?

The best response might have been, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Then I'd ask them if they'd like to forget about Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with the 'comfort women'.

fireclown: Only the Japanese government would even think of doing this.

I think it's more because there's a pervasive attitude in Japan; after all, they've had a whole bunch of Prime Ministers over the last decade or so, because they keep resigning in disgrace over scandals or bad economies. I don't follow it closely but I know I've seen at least 3.So 'the government' over there keeps changing, but the culture continues to deny how far they went in WWII...

Guess so. I've lived one town away for 9 years & this is the first time I've ever heard of it.

/Way to go, Streisand-San.

Their problem plobrem with it is that raping wasn't committed by Japanese soldiers. As their government have tried for years to explain, the real culprits were dorlfins.

BronyMedic: Allen. The end.: Stark. The word you are looking for is stark. Are you even trying?

Behold. The miracles of posting on an iPhone.

Ah, gotcha. My bad.

BronyMedic: fark these people, and their revisionist history.

The attitudes between Japan and Germany when dealing with their role in the atrocities of World War II are a start contrast. While Germans admitted responsibility, and took a role in acknowledging and trying to prevent further atrocity, (Go ahead. Go into Germany and say the holocaust was warranted, or never really happened. I dare you to.) the majority of the Japanese involved in such heinous events as the Rape of Nanking, the Comfort Women, the Bataan Death March, Unit 731 and biological warfare experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, and even human vivisections of POWs went largely unpunished. There are a large and vocal group of Japanese politicians and scholars which seek to even justify, and minimize the impact Japan had in these events.

Not only this, but they actually teach in their schools that WWII was all our fault, "The War of American Aggression". They don't acknowledge ANY of their role in causing the war, much less their atrocities.

The list of Japanese atrocities in WWII is endless:
- the Rape of Nanking
- the Bataan Death March
- Unit 731 Biological Weapons Research

.... and many, many more.

Yet, the Japanese play the victim card for the dropping of the atomic bombs every year while denying all the crimes they committed in WWII.

BronyMedic:

the majority of the Japanese involved in such heinous events as the Rape of Nanking, the Comfort Women, the Bataan Death March, Unit 731 and biological warfare experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, and even human vivisections of POWs went largely unpunished.

There were no Simon Wiesethal types in Asia. The culture of ancestor worship runs too deep for the Japanese to ever treat their role in WW2 like the Germans

I hope they have tours and give out pamphlets when the F1 circus comes to the area in 2014 - that would torque the Japanese up to 11.

It has been a problem with Japanese culture since the war, and I don't know if it will ever get fixed. They just cannot face what they did for some reason. Shame maybe, I dunno. However it is the sort of thing they just feel the need to push aside and try to forget it ever happened, and as such get mad when they get reminded of it.

It is annoying because all that anyone (well ok, almost anyone) is asking is for them to acknowledge and remember. I don't see outcries for reparations or anything (which I wouldn't support) just for them to own up to what happened, and not to push it aside and forget.

It is worrying too since the whole "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it," thing is not without merit. Remembering what your country did, why it did it, and the kind of arguments that were used to support it can help you identify if someone is trying it again.

They really need to collectively man up, put on their big boy pantz, say "Yep, we did bad shiat during the war and here's what it was," teach it to their kids, and simply make it a part of their history.

Funniest 2012-05-20 11:36:16 AM BronyMedic: fark these people, and their revisionist history.

The attitudes between Japan and Germany when dealing with their role in the atrocities of World War II are a start contrast. While Germans admitted responsibility, and took a role in acknowledging and trying to prevent further atrocity, (Go ahead. Go into Germany and say the holocaust was warranted, or never really happened. I dare you to.) the majority of the Japanese involved in such heinous events as the Rape of Nanking, the Comfort Women, the Bataan Death March, Unit 731 and biological warfare experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, and even human vivisections of POWs went largely unpunished. There are a large and vocal group of Japanese politicians and scholars which seek to even justify, and minimize the impact Japan had in these events.
Not only this, but they actually teach in their schools that WWII was all our fault, "The War of American Aggression". They don't acknowledge ANY of their role in causing the war, much less their atrocities.
The US gov't likely played the biggest role by allowing the Emperor to stay in power. While the Jap emperor was not as guilty as Hitler, all he had to do was say "No", loudly, and all that aggression would have stopped. As a result of keeping him in power, and that the Japs leaders were not as well known as Hitlers crew, and you have the Jap bad guys still in power decades later.

You're a sap, Mr. Jap.

BronyMedic: fark these people, and their revisionist history.

The attitudes between Japan and Germany when dealing with their role in the atrocities of World War II are a start contrast. While Germans admitted responsibility, and took a role in acknowledging and trying to prevent further atrocity, (Go ahead. Go into Germany and say the holocaust was warranted, or never really happened. I dare you to.) the majority of the Japanese involved in such heinous events as the Rape of Nanking, the Comfort Women, the Bataan Death March, Unit 731 and biological warfare experiments on civilians and prisoners of war, and even human vivisections of POWs went largely unpunished. There are a large and vocal group of Japanese politicians and scholars which seek to even justify, and minimize the impact Japan had in these events.

The sad thing is it works. 90% of people don't even know about any of the farked up shiat they did in WWII

Gosling: cynicalbastard: There are many admirable things about the Japanese. Their bigotry is not one of those things. Take a neo-Nazi skinhead, crossbreed him with a Daughters of the Confederacy bimbo from Mobile, Alabama , and give the result slightly slanted eyes and you would barely come close to Japanese attitudes regarding other "races".

Pretty much. The Japanese are cool in a lot of respects, but their racial tolerance isn't one of them.

Also class tolerance. Ever hear of burukumin?

They sound like 'untouchables'. Lots of caste systems have them?

I'm not disagreeing that the culture (race?) is wierd, highly racist and classist, and was extremely xenophobic for a long time (is it still?).

But Japanese culture as a whole seems to come from an angle Americans can't understand readily.