Building the San Francisco Memorial: Why the Issue of the ‘Comfort Women’ is Still Relevant Today?

Abstract

time occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of World War II; and WHEREAS, During the 15 years of invasion and occupation of Asian countries, unspeakable and well-documented war-crimes, including mass rape, wholesale massacres, heinous tor-ture, and other atrocities, were committed by the Japanese Imperial Army throughout the occupied countries and colonies; and WHEREAS, Of the few top Japanese military leaders who were investigated and convicted as war criminals in the postwar War Crime Tribunals in Tokyo, Nanjing, Manila, Yokohama, and Khabarovsk, many escaped prosecution; and ends: BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco during the 70 th anniversary of the end of World War II expresses its strong support of creating a public memorial in memory of those girls and women who suffered immeasurable pain and humiliation as sex slaves and as a sacred place for remembrance, re-flection, remorsefulness, and atonement for generations to come. ⁶