SS: Relations between NZ and Japan could be under threat should the Korean Cultural Garden in Auckland go ahead with plans to install a bronze statue offered to New Zealand by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, which seeks to commemorate wartime sexual violence survivors. This is what the statue is supposed to look like.
The Japanese government has admitted women and girls suffered during wartime but denied they were taken against their will for sexual slavery. The public submission of the Japanese Ambassador to New Zealand, Makoto Osawa, said similar statue installations have been used as a “symbol of criticism” against Japan elsewhere around the world. Osawa warned the $75,000 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) funding given in 2015 for the development of the Korean garden could “give the impression that the New Zealand government is also supporting the installation.”
Loud-Chemistry-5056 on
My opinion is that this is a prime example of the Streisand effect. Osawa has criticised the statue as it “needlessly stirring up interest in the comfort women issue”. If anything, trying to pressure the NZ government into blocking the statue has sparked considerably more interest in the issue.
I’ve never heard of the Korean Gardens and I live in Auckland. I don’t think that a significant portion of the city’s population has either. This would’ve largely gone unnoticed had the embassy not gotten involved.
Al_787 on
Every country has certain bs that absolutely cannot be tolerated, for Japan this is it. There’s no covering the sky in 2026, you cannot police speech and expressions in other countries, especially when it’s humane and accurate.
Erdkarte on
What an unhinged thing for Japan to complain about.
4 Comments
SS: Relations between NZ and Japan could be under threat should the Korean Cultural Garden in Auckland go ahead with plans to install a bronze statue offered to New Zealand by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, which seeks to commemorate wartime sexual violence survivors. This is what the statue is supposed to look like.
https://preview.redd.it/4hvsmhfcsgug1.png?width=764&format=png&auto=webp&s=a96d38760901b3e19e10e4d34aecf210fd40175c
The Japanese government has admitted women and girls suffered during wartime but denied they were taken against their will for sexual slavery. The public submission of the Japanese Ambassador to New Zealand, Makoto Osawa, said similar statue installations have been used as a “symbol of criticism” against Japan elsewhere around the world. Osawa warned the $75,000 Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) funding given in 2015 for the development of the Korean garden could “give the impression that the New Zealand government is also supporting the installation.”
My opinion is that this is a prime example of the Streisand effect. Osawa has criticised the statue as it “needlessly stirring up interest in the comfort women issue”. If anything, trying to pressure the NZ government into blocking the statue has sparked considerably more interest in the issue.
I’ve never heard of the Korean Gardens and I live in Auckland. I don’t think that a significant portion of the city’s population has either. This would’ve largely gone unnoticed had the embassy not gotten involved.
Every country has certain bs that absolutely cannot be tolerated, for Japan this is it. There’s no covering the sky in 2026, you cannot police speech and expressions in other countries, especially when it’s humane and accurate.
What an unhinged thing for Japan to complain about.