New Zealand ‘comfort women’ statue could jeopardise diplomatic relations, Japan says

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/10/new-zealand-comfort-women-statue-could-jeopardise-diplomatic-relations-japan-says

49 Comments

  1. if you see the background, on the purple board, there is korean written. so I would assume that this is successful diplomacy of korea to undermine Japan.

    Japan is busy nominating trump for noble prize when koreans are winning in NZ.

  2. Fickle-Maintenance-1 on

    Hmm far-right PM who wants to change pacifist constitution and talks about “making Japan great again”. I wonder which period of Japan she thought was great and they should return to.

  3. Agreeable_Mud_8338 on

    The Japanese need to understand they have their version of history and the rest of the world has their version …
    And Japan is on its own (for good reason)

  4. > the Japanese ambassador, Makoto Osawa, said “needlessly stirring up interest” in the issue could become a burden not only for Japan and South Korea’s cooperation

    I’d say needlessly downplaying it is also a burden on relations but what do I know.

  5. BippidiBoppetyBoob on

    The current Japanese PM is a member of the far right revisionist Nippon Kaigi. She is an awful woman.

  6. hey_its_drew on

    What’s funny is crap like this spotlights them in the worst lighting a lot more than acknowledging the history ever could, but Japan has a very strong determination to be proud of their elderly family member and ancestors, character horrors be damned. Really, many cultures do, and they could all use a healthy serving of shame.

  7. My question is, do today’s Japanese know why there was a period of US-occupied in Japan history, and what happened during that time, what caused that.

  8. AtomicCorndogs on

    What are they gonna do, start enslaving women again? They’ll bluster for a bit and then stop talking about it.

  9. rickdickmcfrick on

    Classic japan. Then they wonder and complain about chinese and koreans hating them.

  10. They are not sorry about “comfort women”, Nanjing Massacre or Unit 731 stuff. They are ready to repeat all of this and add on top of it if they have a chance.

  11. ManagementFragrant28 on

    Nuclear explosion monument? YES; victim statue? NO. Some people always hope others remember what they suffered, but not what they did.

  12. CharmingShoe on

    People acknowledging comfort women existed could jeopardise diplomatic relationships

  13. Effective_Space2277 on

    I used to live in Japan for almost a decade, and when this type of news comes out people would say it’s fake or those women were prostitutes.

    I wonder why Germany accepts what happened, but Japan fights like hell to refuse to do so.

  14. Japan really needs to get a grip on their history. Own your fuck ups and move forward together.

  15. Successful-Bad-763 on

    Why should the Allies give a fuck what the Axis have to say about the war?

    They won.

  16. Ok-Imagination-494 on

    The comfort woman statue has some interesting details (if indeed it is the same design as multiple versions worldwide)

    It is a statue of a girl but her shadow on the ground is of an elderly woman to symbolise the wait for justice.

    She has a butterfly on her shoulder representing the yearning for freedom and cut hair to represent her cutting of family ties.

    The statue normally has an empty chair inviting the viewer to sit with her and contemplate her experiences.

    And yes, Japanese embassies around the world hate this particular artwork and try and cancel it which creates a massive Streisand effect as people are then curious to learn more about the victims.

  17. As a kiwi there’s no lie on our end in this. It’s history.

    Why the fuck should we take into regard rapists who perpetuate victimhood? Just acknowledge it and move on with the rest of us in healing.

  18. As a Korean, fuck you dude. Stop claiming dokkdo as your island while you’re at it.

  19. Is it not better to apologize and move on, rather than harping on the rights or wrongs that their ancestor did during WWII?

    For future world wars, it is mandatory and compulsory for the defeated nation to study and pass the history exam that is written by the victor.

  20. InterestingAge2032 on

    Will, we only import anime and tentacles porn. Most of our exports are to china. So go ahead i guess

  21. They succefully blocked a similiar temporary display here in Berlin. They threatened freaking city districts. 

  22. Wtf is with that country and not fessing up to past guilts? Do they see that as a weakness in their culture? Is it a political/government enforced thing or is it culturally/socially enforced? Do they even teach the kids abt all of their past atrocities?

    Asking bc I just don’t get it…

  23. PanicAtTheMiniso on

    Same thing happened [in the Philippines. ](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3121702/comfort-women-statue-missing-philippines-japans-wartime-legacy).

    My grandmother used to tell stories of how babies were thrown in the air as sport and the Japanese soldiers would spear them as they fell.

    I think my grandmother was still lucky she had miscarriages during the Japanese occupation because I cannot imagine having to muffle your child’s cries only to end up suffocating them because you have to keep the whole family hidden.

  24. No-Screen1369 on

    After watching Johnny Somali get attacked in South Korea for disrespecting these statues, I had to look up their history.

    Oh my god.. I can see why Japan goes into pure denial mode. What a horrible part of history.

  25. darthy_parker on

    This would be an interesting list: what is a country’s “unnamable atrocity” it refuses to come to terms with and reacts in this way when it comes up?

    Japan: comfort women, rape of Nanking
    Turkey: Armenian genocide
    Germany: well, they do name it and own up to it…
    Belgium: the Belgian Congo
    Israel: the Nakba

    What else? Not current stuff, things that are historically over and being ignored or denied today.

  26. thenewapelles on

    Japan is unfortunately extremely supremacist and refuses to recognize any of their war crimes.

  27. Sorry-Climate-7982 on

    Perhaps those relations deserve damaging given the complete lack of apologies to all victims and countries.

  28. I don’t think anyone has ever explained the Streisand effect to the Japanese government.

  29. ThoughtsandThinkers on

    Japan’s unwillingness to acknowledge the atrocities it committed against many Asian countries reflects poorly on it and continues to cause major divisions in Asia

    Acknowledging a past harm is the first step towards easing the impact on others. Refusing to do so, including teaching their own children in school, perpetuates anger and fear in others that something similar could happen again

    It should bring no shame to the Japanese people today but rather reflect well on them

  30. “Up to 200,000 women and girls from the Republic of Korea, China, the Netherlands, Timor-Leste, Indonesia and the Philippines were reportedly subjected to trafficking, rape and sexual slavery, as well as to arbitrary deprivation of liberty and, in certain cases, to enforced disappearance, in the ‘comfort women’ system established by Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. “*The denial of atrocities by high-level officials and the harassment of victims, survivor-led organizations, academics and journalists, seriously undermine efforts towards accountability and redress,*” said UN experts.” – [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights](https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/justice-truth-and-reparations-long-overdue-survivors-so-called-comfort-women)

  31. BlahBlahBlackCheap on

    Every country commits war atrocities. They ought to just admit it, publicly state their regret on the record, and let people put up the memorials. and try not to have another war?