Column of Strength – San Francisco, California

 

Monument of Upliftment Framework. Explore definitions here.

Section 1: Background

Throughout the last decade, the “Comfort Women” Movement has become more prominent in East Asian and Southeast Asian discourse. “Comfort women” are the victims of sexual enslavement and kidnapping by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. According to Hauser (2018), “a United Nations investigation in the 1990s found that comfort stations were in use as early as 1932 and as many as 200,000 women had been enslaved by the time the war ended in 1945.” Although the former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, publicly addressed the situation in 2015, many felt that the apology was insincere and not sufficient for the generations of trauma endured by the victims and their families. 

“Comfort women” memorials and statues in Asia face vandalism, threats of removal, and political pressure from officials of the Japanese Government. Tributes overseas in Germany and the United States are also subject to the pressure and influence that is imposed throughout Asia. The iconography of “comfort women” statues originated with the artist couple, Kim Seo-kyung and Kim Un-sung. According to Yonhap News Agency (2021), “the original statue was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy in downtown Seoul in 2011 to coincide with the 1,000th Wednesday rally of former Korean ‘comfort women’ and their supporters. The couple has since built 97 more ‘comfort women’ statues – 81 in South Korea and 16 overseas.” 

The statue’s essence is captured through the depiction of a young girl, rather than a surviving grandmother. Kim Un-sung explained in an interview that it was his wife, Seo-kyung, that designed the figure in order to show that she is uncomfortable. Visitors can see that the girl’s foot is partially lifted. This unease and discomfort came not only from the womens’ oppressors, but also their own families and communities. Kim Un-sung shares,

Many of these women could not live with their family or be accepted by the community, they had to leave and go someplace else where nobody [knew] them, and they could not get any support from their families or the government. So that’s why I wanted to show how uncomfortable their lives would have been… (Humphrey, 2023a). 

From the figure’s unevenly cut hair to her own shadow, there are multiple elements of this work to interpret, preserving the forgotten narratives of Chinese, Filipina, Korean, Vietnamese, Dutch, and other “comfort women” across the world.

Section 2: The Column of Strength Memorial

The design of the “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength incorporates some of the staple features found in the original “comfort women” statues. However, it was not created by the original artist couple. In 2015, the City of San Francisco Art Commission unanimously decided to erect a memorial to “comfort women” in Saint Mary’s Square, between Chinatown and the city’s Financial District. A Call for Artists was drafted by the Comfort Women Justice Coalition (CWJC) in July, 2016. The document states that the awarded design for the memorial should “educate the community about stopping the global human trafficking of women and girls” (CWJC 2016). The values sought by the City of San Francisco included: memory, dialogue, peace and reconciliation, transformation and justice. The stated intention was that “the memorial will offer a place for community members and visitors to remember, grieve, learn, find peace and commit themselves to human rights, justice and safety for women and girls around the world” (ibid.). 

Sentiment for the memorial was extended to victims of human sex trafficking beyond the experience of “comfort women.” According to Judith Mirkinson, president of the CWJC, this decision was incorporated from the very beginning, and they may not have been successful in securing a space for the monument without this significance:

I feel like we’ve really expanded the reach of what the Comfort Women Movement really can be. You can see it also reflected in our plan, which says ‘ending gender violence and sex trafficking everywhere.’ And that you can’t just look at this as ‘all these poor women in the past.’ You have to look at it in a much broader context (Humphrey 2022). 

The “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength was produced through a wide joint-community effort of Asians, Asian Americans, and allied supporters of the Comfort Women Movement in San Francisco, including: the CWJC, the Comfort Women Action for Redress & Education (CARE, fka. KAFC), Honorable Judges Julie Tang and Lillian Sing, as well as other individuals, groups and organizations.

2.1. The Memorial as Part of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Civic Art Collection

The “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength monument is part of the Civic Art Collection of the City and County of San Francisco, managed by the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC). As part of the SFAC’s official collections management policy, the stated goal of Civic Art Collection is to present “diverse racial, social and cultural perspectives” (SFAC 2023). 

The “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength monument came into the SFAC’s Civic Art Collection as a gift of the CWJC. The SFAC acquisition procedure for gifts requires a written proposal to the Director of Cultural Affairs who then consults with a Commission staff member. Next, the staff member prepares a report for the Visual Art Committee of the SFAC and makes a recommendation for acceptance or rejection. The Visual Arts Committee reviews the gift proposal, and forwards their recommendation to the full SFAC for final action by resolution. 

Commemorative gifts, such as monuments and memorials, are judged by additional criteria including whether or not “the monument or memorial represents people and stories that have been historically marginalized and underrepresented, due to white supremacy, colonization, patriarchy, genocide, and slavery,” “represents broad community values,” and “the monument or memorial possesses aesthetic and storytelling qualities that will be meaningful to future generations” (SFAC 2023). 

It is evident where the mission of the SFAC and the goals of activist groups of the Comfort Women Movement, such as the CWJC, align. This alignment facilitated the creation and acquisition of the “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength monument. Though some “comfort women” statues have faced opposition globally, the Column of Strength has the official support of the SFAC, and thus, the City and County of San Francisco. This support is evident not only in the 2017 decision to acquire the monument, but also the broader mission and values of the SFAC enshrined in official policy. The SFAC is an example of a public art governing body that has clearly defined what values they will be prioritizing in the monument debate. 

2.2. Controversy 

In some international cases, officials pressured site management to remove “comfort women” statues to the dismay of activists, survivors, and their respective families. Phyllis Kim, the President of the Korean American Forum of California, states that “…Japan has tried to remove and block ‘comfort women’ memorials across the globe, and has eliminated ‘comfort women’ from Japanese textbooks. Educating the public is part of the fight for an apology…” (Constante 2019). 

The controversy over memorials honoring the experience of “comfort women” intensified in the United States when the Mayor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, disbanded Osaka’s sister-city partnership with San Francisco over their acceptance of a the “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength monument as city property in 2017 (Constante 2019). Yoshimura’s letter objects to the following statement: “This monument bears witness to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of women and girls, euphemistically called ‘Comfort Women,’ who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces in thirteen Asian-Pacific countries from 1931-1945” (Hauser 2018).

There is no evidence that this opposition has affected the City of San Francisco’s support for the “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength monument. The SFAC remains committed to shedding light on untold stories of oppression. 

Section 3: Framework – Monument of Upliftment

In addition to elevating community values, this monument stands against oppression by uplifting forgotten history and protecting the legacy of the “comfort women.” 

There are several “comfort women” memorials across the United States and other nations outside of East Asia, however, they are constantly targeted for removal. In the Philippines, “comfort women” memorial projects have been sabotaged repeatedly, and the main tribute in Germany was removed in order to retain friendly relations with Japan (World Heritage USA, 2022). According to Ms. Park, the President of activist organization Kyorei Hana, when the Japanese visit Busan and see the “comfort women” statue in front of the Japanese Embassy for the first time, they are shocked and saddened to have not known this history (Humphrey 2023b). There is a distinct gap in the interpretation of these events outside of Japan and an evolving discourse surrounding the scope of what occurred during the war. Today, the war over the presence of memorials to “comfort women” in public spaces continues as South Korean activists prepare for demonstrations in opposition. The protection of these statues is facilitated by individuals. For instance, activists were camped outside of the original “comfort women” statue during an interview with Kim Un-sang out of fear that the opposition would tear it down due to tensions over the Forced Labor Movement (Humphrey 2023a).

San Francisco’s “Comfort Women’s” Column of Strength monument is the result of a collaborative effort to shed light on the long hidden and denied history of “comfort women” during World War II. The Comfort Women Justice Coalition, the Comfort Women Action for Redress & Education, and allied supporters of the Comfort Women Movement led the effort with support of the SFAC, Honorable Judges Julie Tang and Lillian Sing, and others who refuse to let history remain untold. 

References

Associated Press, The. 2015. “ Japan, South Korea Reach Historic Deal on Wartime ‘Comfort Women’.” NBC News. December 28, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/japan-south-korea-reach-historic-deal-wartime-comfort-women-n486596

Constante, A. 2019. “Who are the ‘comfort women,’ and why are U.S.-based memorials for them controversial?” NBC News. May 7, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/who-are-comfort-women-why-are-u-s-based-memorials-n997656

CWJC. 2016. “Call for Artists: Gift of Public Art for the City of San Francisco.” “Comfort Women” Justice Coalition. July 2016. https://sfgov.org/arts/sites/default/files/Comfort%20Women%20Memorial%20Project%20Synopsis%207.11.16.pdf

Hauser, C. 2018. “‘It Is Not Coming Down’: San Francisco Defends ‘Comfort Women’ Statue as Japan Protests.” The New York Times. October 4, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/us/osaka-sf-comfort-women-statue.html#:~:text=That%20is%20not%20going%20to,funded%20it%20through%20private%20donations.

Humphrey. 2022. Interview with Judith Mirkinson. Otter.

Humphrey. 2023a. Interview with Kim Un-sang. Otter.

Humphrey. 2023b. Interview with Ms. Park of Kyorei Hana. Otter.

Lee, W. Y. 2016. [Herald Interview] ‘Comfort women’ statues magnet for Koreans. The Korea Herald. March 3, 2016. https://kpopherald.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=201603031719352657027_2.

San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC). 2023. “Policies And Guidelines For The Civic Art Collection Of The City And County Of San Francisco Under The Jurisdiction Of The San Francisco Arts Commission.” June 5, 2023. https://www.sfartscommission.org/our-role-impact/about-commission/policies-guidelines/Public-ArtCivic-Art-Collection. 

—n.d. “‘Comfort Women’s’ Column of Strength. Collection Catalog. Accessed December 10, 2024.https://kiosk.sfartscommission.org/objects-1/info?query=mfs%20any%20%22woman%22&sort=9&objectName=%22Comfort%20Women%27s%22%20Column%20of%20Strength. 

Yonhap. 2021. Sculptor couple slam Japan for trying to distort history of war crimes. The Korea Herald. July 14, 2021. https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20210714000761