EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION
  • Home
    • About Us >
      • About Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School >
        • Student Art Exchange Program between Chiba and S.F.
        • ESJF Statement: “After ‘Lack of Freedom of Expression?’” Shut Down to Suppress Freedom of Expression
        • Letter to Aichi Prefectural Triennale Promotion Office
    • Contact Us >
      • Workshop and Lecture Request
    • Blog
    • ESJF in the News
  • Topics
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • 2000 Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
      • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement
      • Historic Lawsuits related to Japanese military sexual slavery before and during WWII >
        • Sung Sohn's Essay with commentaries and statement
      • Reports and Papers on Sexual Violence & Slavery
    • HISTORY and Issues Surrounding ASIAN DIASPORA in the United States
    • Medical Atrocities and Ethics
  • Educator Resources
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Primary Source Documents: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
        • Concerning the Recruitment of Women for Military Comfort Stations
        • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Report No. 49
        • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Bulletin No. 2
        • SEATIC Psychological Warfare Bulletin No. 182
        • G-3 Daily Dairy
        • C.B.I. Roundup
        • Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) No. 470
        • Research Report No. 120: Amenities in the Japanese Armed Forces
        • Photographs
        • San Francisco Local History >
          • Reflection and Chronology: Eric Mar
          • Reflection: Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
          • Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
      • Secondary Source Documents/ Further Resources: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
        • Secondary Resource References
        • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
        • International Joint Statement, October 6, 2018
        • International Joint Statement, March 1, 2019
        • International Joint Statement, August 14, 2019
        • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, January 8, 2021
      • Historical Background
      • Victims' Testimonies >
        • Korea
        • China
        • Philippines
        • Indonesia
        • Netherlands
        • Japan
      • 2017 CA H-SS Framework >
        • Basic questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System
      • Lesson Plans: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
        • ​Reality and trauma of military sexual slavery
        • Denial of legal and historical responsibility
        • ​Remembering and honoring "comfort women"
        • A Global plague
        • Collective activism
        • Contemporary movements towards justice
        • Sexual and medical violence against Blacks
      • Worksheets
      • Activity Sheets
      • Map of Memorials in the United States
      • Peace Girl Statue
      • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
      • YouTube >
        • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
        • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
        • Animation Herstory
        • Justice for the victims of the Japanese military “comfort women” system
        • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
        • Meet Estelita Dy: A Filipino "Comfort Woman" Survivor
        • Wednesday Rally
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
        • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
    • HISTORY and Issues Surrounding ASIAN DIASPORA in the United States >
      • K-5
      • 6-8
      • 9-12
      • San Francisco Asian Art Museum
      • Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
    • Medical Atrocities and Ethics >
      • Asia >
        • Video Footage for Classroom
        • Primary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
        • Secondary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
        • Lesson Plans
      • United States >
        • Lesson Plans
      • Europe >
        • Lesson Plans
  • Our Publications
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Teacher Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
      • Student Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
    • Medical Atrocities and Ethics >
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • United States
  • Professional Development Events
  • Partners
  • Give

CHIBA KOREAN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL

Picture
Yun A Ku, 2016
Since 1972, Korean schools in Japan have been holding annual student art exhibitions with other Japanese schools. Despite long-existing ethnic discrimination in Japan, these art exhibitions have provided meaningful opportunities for Korean descendants living in Japan and native Japanese citizens to increase mutual respect and understanding. Students’ entries that receive awards from the judges get to be in the exhibition.
 
The Chiba Elementary and Middle School was built by Korean forced laborers who had been taken to Chiba and nearby places in Japan. Upon being liberated, they wanted to make sure that their children learned the Korean language, history, and culture in Japan. The school opened on September 13th, 1946.
 
In December 2016, the 45th Student Art Exhibition was held in Chiba. Mayor Toshihito Kumagai, who attended the exhibition, spotted two pieces of artwork by high school students of Korean ancestry. Student Yun-Soo Jo’s artwork expressed her opposition to the 2015 “comfort women” agreement between the Republic of Korea and Japan, while student Ae-Hyang Kang’s piece expressed sympathy for the victims and survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery. Because these two pieces of student artwork expressed objection to the Japanese government’s position regarding “comfort women” issues, Mayor Kumagai announced on April 27, 2017 his decision to cut the funding of 500,000 JYP (around 4,757 USD in 2017) to Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School, which had organized the exhibition with that fund. ESJF raised a fund of 5,000 USD to make up for the lost funding in summer 2017.

Due to lack of funding from the city and government, Korean schools in Japan experience enormous financial hardships. In fact, a team of three to four unmarried teachers usually share a small room so that they can survive on the insufficient salaries that Korean schools can afford to pay. Regardless of financial hardship and discriminations, teachers, students, and parents are united to pursue education in Korean, incorporating important values such as justice, pride, and empathy.
Picture
​​Here are photos of student artwork and the accompanying narratives

​
Title:
 What Requires Reparations (배상해야 하는 것) 
Artist: Yon-Su Jo (조연수, 11th grade)
Award: Gold
​
“Women under twenty years of age were taken by imperialistic colonialists as military sex slaves. The women and girls became the subject of sexual violence and were treated like toys. Their dignity as Koreans and as women was trampled. They are lonely victims whose voices don’t carry much weight, even seventy years after the war has ended. On December 28, 2015, without consulting the survivors, the Japanese government gave one billion JPY to the Republic of Korea under the condition that Korea remove the Peace Girl statue installed in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

The deal made by the two countries was supposedly “final and irreversible,” indicating the Japanese colonial crimes committed toward Korea could no longer be discussed.
​
This decision made me burst with fury. We should never forget the problems associated with Japanese military sexual slavery and should squarely face the fact that Korea was subjected to a slavery system by the Japanese imperialists. The Japanese government must apologize officially and make legal reparations to these survivors. We are responsible for creating and maintaining the society where the dignity of every single person is respected.” 

​​Yun-Soo Jo’s painting, entitled “What Requires Reparations,” was displayed at the 2019 Aichi Triennale, “Taming Y/Our Passion” 「情の時代」.  This was the fourth international art festival held every three years since 2010 in Aichi. Part of the 2019 Triennale was the exhibition titled “After ‘Lack of Freedom of Expression Exhibit?, 「表現の不自由展・その後」.”  It was shut down in three days instead of running it until October 14. One of the art displays was Peace Girl statue, which symbolizes victims of Japanese military sexual slavery. Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura who demanded the shutdown argued that “the exhibition could give the wrong impression that Japan accepts a South Korean claim that comfort women [Japanese military sex slaves] were forcibly taken by the Japanese military...”[1] 

[1] japantoday.com/category/national/mayor-rapped-for-demanding-halt-of-comfort-women-exhibition


​Title: The Force to Conceal the Truth and Another Fight (은폐하는 세력과 이에 대항하는 힘)
​Artist: Ae-Hyang Kang (강애향, 12th grade)
Award: Gold
Picture


​
“Numerous girls and women who wanted to survive had their rights forcefully taken. Presently, the living witnesses of history are dying, afflicted by the force of those who try to cover up the truth. Survivors, whose time ended when their youth was trampled, are leaving us one by one.” 
​

    Please send your support to Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School

    ESJF has been supporting this school since the summer of 2017. If you’d like to make a donation, please send us a check and indicate that your donation is for the Chiba School.

    ​Please make your check payable to Education for Social Justice Education Foundation and mail to

    Education for Social Justice Foundation 
    PO Box 225202                
    San Francisco, CA 94122

    Thank you for your support. Your help, no matter the capacity, makes a huge impact. ​
Submit
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • About Us >
      • About Chiba Korean Elementary Middle School >
        • Student Art Exchange Program between Chiba and S.F.
        • ESJF Statement: “After ‘Lack of Freedom of Expression?’” Shut Down to Suppress Freedom of Expression
        • Letter to Aichi Prefectural Triennale Promotion Office
    • Contact Us >
      • Workshop and Lecture Request
    • Blog
    • ESJF in the News
  • Topics
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • 2000 Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
      • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement
      • Historic Lawsuits related to Japanese military sexual slavery before and during WWII >
        • Sung Sohn's Essay with commentaries and statement
      • Reports and Papers on Sexual Violence & Slavery
    • HISTORY and Issues Surrounding ASIAN DIASPORA in the United States
    • Medical Atrocities and Ethics
  • Educator Resources
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Primary Source Documents: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
        • Concerning the Recruitment of Women for Military Comfort Stations
        • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Report No. 49
        • Psychological Warfare Interrogation Bulletin No. 2
        • SEATIC Psychological Warfare Bulletin No. 182
        • G-3 Daily Dairy
        • C.B.I. Roundup
        • Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) No. 470
        • Research Report No. 120: Amenities in the Japanese Armed Forces
        • Photographs
        • San Francisco Local History >
          • Reflection and Chronology: Eric Mar
          • Reflection: Steven Whyte & Ellen Wilson
          • Chronology: Teaching "Comfort Women" History from the 1990s to Present
      • Secondary Source Documents/ Further Resources: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
        • Secondary Resource References
        • International Joint Statement, January 7, 2018
        • International Joint Statement, October 6, 2018
        • International Joint Statement, March 1, 2019
        • International Joint Statement, August 14, 2019
        • ESJF Statement on the South Korea Court’s ruling, January 8, 2021
      • Historical Background
      • Victims' Testimonies >
        • Korea
        • China
        • Philippines
        • Indonesia
        • Netherlands
        • Japan
      • 2017 CA H-SS Framework >
        • Basic questions surrounding the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery System
      • Lesson Plans: "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
        • ​Reality and trauma of military sexual slavery
        • Denial of legal and historical responsibility
        • ​Remembering and honoring "comfort women"
        • A Global plague
        • Collective activism
        • Contemporary movements towards justice
        • Sexual and medical violence against Blacks
      • Worksheets
      • Activity Sheets
      • Map of Memorials in the United States
      • Peace Girl Statue
      • 2017 Special Task Force Report on 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement between S. Korea and Japan
      • YouTube >
        • First Video Footage of Korean "Comfort Women": July, 2017
        • First Video Footage of Mass Murdered "Comfort Women": Feb. 2018
        • Animation Herstory
        • Justice for the victims of the Japanese military “comfort women” system
        • Life as a "Comfort Woman": Story of Kim Bok-Dong
        • Meet Estelita Dy: A Filipino "Comfort Woman" Survivor
        • Wednesday Rally
        • 2015 "Comfort Women" Agreement and Victims' Reaction
        • 2018 International "Comfort Women" Day
    • HISTORY and Issues Surrounding ASIAN DIASPORA in the United States >
      • K-5
      • 6-8
      • 9-12
      • San Francisco Asian Art Museum
      • Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
    • Medical Atrocities and Ethics >
      • Asia >
        • Video Footage for Classroom
        • Primary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
        • Secondary Source Documents: Medical Atrocities and Ethics
        • Lesson Plans
      • United States >
        • Lesson Plans
      • Europe >
        • Lesson Plans
  • Our Publications
    • "Comfort Women" History and Issues >
      • Teacher Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
      • Student Resource Guide >
        • How to Order
    • Medical Atrocities and Ethics >
      • Asia
      • Europe
      • United States
  • Professional Development Events
  • Partners
  • Give