Auckland Local Board Rejects Japanese “Comfort Women” Statue Proposal at Barry’s Point Reserve

Auckland officials rejected a proposal to install a “comfort women” statue on public land in the city, a decision framed by the Japanese government as a diplomatic risk and by campaigners as a blow to survivor commemoration.

“A plan to install a statue in an Auckland park to honour tens of thousands of women coerced into sexual slavery before and during WWII has been halted by a local board”

1News

The plan involved a bronze statue depicting “a girl seated next to an empty chair,” intended to honour women forced into sexual slavery in Japanese wartime military brothels.

1News

The proposal was to be sited in the Korean Cultural Garden at Barry’s Point Reserve in Auckland’s Takapuna, according to 1News and the BBC.

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board voted 4-2 to deny landowner approval, with board chair Trish Deans and deputy chair Scott MacArthur among those voting to reject the application, as described by 1News and the Rangitoto Observer.

The BBC quoted Auckland Council’s Land and Property Advisory head Kim O’Neill saying council staff suggested rejection “based on the results of the public consultation and feedback received, which demonstrated a lack of community support for the proposal”.

The Rangitoto Observer reported that the board based its decision on the majority views of submitters and said “Council’s policy is not to support installations of memorials within reserves and to leave our parks as open spaces for the everyday enjoyment of the public.”

In parallel, Global Times reported that local officials decided on Tuesday not to allow the installation of the statue on public land and quoted Rebekah Jaung saying she felt “extremely disappointed” with the decision.

The rejection followed a sequence of approvals, suspensions, and consultation steps described across outlets, with the Japanese government’s objections appearing as a central pressure point.

The BBC said the Japanese embassy warned that installation in a public garden in Auckland “could have a significant impact” on diplomatic relations between the two countries, and it noted that New Zealand’s government confirmed Japan had “made formal representations” while local government and communities made decisions on statues and monuments.

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The Japan Wire by Kyodo News reported that the local board for Devonport-Takapuna initially approved the request to install the statue in June 2025, then suspended the approval in September last year and undertook a public consultation in January after the board became aware of “the historical context and sensitivity associated with the statue.”

The Rangitoto Observer described the application as made in mid-2025 and said it was “progressing, until the board and council staff became aware of sensitivities around it and learned of plans – initially not detailed – to add a plaque.”

In the Global Times account, Wellington’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Japanese government had made “formal representations” over the issue, and it said the local board subsequently voted to reject the proposal.

The consultation produced 672 submissions, and multiple outlets tied the vote to the consultation results: 1News said there were 672 submissions with 57% opposed and 43% in favour, while the Rangitoto Observer reported “drew 672 submissions” and said “57 per cent of individuals and 15 of 20 organisations were against” the application.

The BBC also described the statue’s design as “a girl seated next to an empty chair,” and it said the statue was given to New Zealand by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, a non-government group advocating against military sexual slavery.

The decision triggered sharply different reactions from local officials, Japanese diplomatic representatives, and the campaign group seeking the memorial.

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The BBC quoted Japan’s Ambassador to New Zealand Makoto Osawa writing in a letter to the Auckland Council: “I am concerned that it will cause division and conflict within New Zealand's wonderful multi-ethnic and multicultural society and between Japanese and Korean communities peacefully co-existing in New Zealand.”

The Guardian reported that a submission included a letter from Osawa claiming it could “cause division and conflict within New Zealand’s wonderful multi-ethnic and multicultural society and between Japanese and Korean communities”.

In contrast, the campaign group Aotearoa New Zealand Statue of Peace said the rejection was “unfortunate” and described it as “a loss for our local community and for upholding survivor voices,” according to the BBC.

Global Times quoted Rebekah Jaung saying, “We are extremely disappointed by the decision to decline the proposal,” and it added that she said, “We remain committed to standing with survivors of gender-based and conflict-related violence, and to continuing this work in whatever form we can,” in her comments to the outlet.

The Rangitoto Observer captured the local board’s internal split, with chair Trish Deans saying the board would not support memorial installations in reserves and with George Wood and Gavin Busch voting against the motion to reject the memorial.

In the 1News account, Busch argued the board shouldn’t base its decision purely on negative feedback, saying, “On balance, there were a lot of people that supported this going in, and we're saying that a lot of people didn't support it,” while Deans responded that the vote was about whether Takapuna park was the right location, not about the validity of the history represented.

While the core outcome was consistent—Auckland officials rejected the statue proposal—outlets diverged in how they framed the underlying dispute and the meaning of the consultation results.

The BBC emphasized the role of Japan’s protest and diplomatic concerns, stating that “Plans to erect a statue” were rejected “after Japan's protest,” and it highlighted Osawa’s letter warning of “significant impact” on diplomatic relations.

Global Times

The Guardian similarly foregrounded Tokyo’s objections, describing the rejection as occurring “after Tokyo suggested it could harm diplomatic relations,” and it quoted Deans saying, “This was a difficult decision, and one we did not make lightly,” as she referenced staff advice and community feedback.

By contrast, the Rangitoto Observer stressed local governance and reserve policy, reporting that the board voted 4-2 and that Deans said “Council’s policy is not to support installations of memorials within reserves and to leave our parks as open spaces for the everyday enjoyment of the public.”

The 1News report also tied the vote to consultation results, saying the motion was based on results showing “a lack of community support for the proposal,” and it described the board’s reasoning as location-focused rather than content-focused.

The Global Times account, however, framed the rejection as pressure from Japan and a silencing of survivor voices, quoting Jaung saying, “We are concerned that this silencing of survivor voices, led by the Japanese government and upheld by the local board, will cause harm to other survivors.”

The outlets also differed in how they described the consultation breakdown: 1News said 57% opposed and 43% in favour, while the Rangitoto Observer said “57 per cent of individuals and 15 of 20 organisations were against” and also reported that “just 16 per cent were from the DTLB area and 11 per cent from neighbouring Kaipātiki.”

The rejection left the campaign group and local board pointing in different directions about what comes next, while diplomatic and community tensions remained part of the story.

“A statue of a seated girl symbolizing "comfort women," who were forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels, stands in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, December 28, 2025”

Global Times

The BBC reported that the Aotearoa New Zealand Statue of Peace group said it was “unfortunate” that authorities rejected it and that it was “a loss for our local community and for upholding survivor voices,” adding that the group said it was “steadfast in our commitment to stand with survivors of gender-based and conflict-related violence, and carrying on the legacy of the grandmothers,” in a Facebook post.

Japan Wire by Kyodo News

Global Times similarly quoted Jaung saying the committee would remain committed to standing with survivors and continuing “this work in whatever form we can,” and it described her as “extremely disappointed” while also “heartened and deeply grateful for the support shown by our community throughout this campaign.”

The Rangitoto Observer said the board declined to add the 1.2m-tall statue and instead left in place a “white stone war memorial” already on the land, describing the memorial’s construction costs and its unveiling in July 2023.

In the Guardian’s account, Deans said the board recognised the significance of the history the statue represents and acknowledged survivors’ stories, while the Guardian also noted that Japan had called for removal of similar peace statues overseas.

The BBC noted that the statue was designed to face the Japanese Embassy in South Korea’s Seoul and that similar statues have been erected elsewhere, with the first going up in Seoul in 2011.

The 1News report added that Japanese Ambassador Makoto Osawa was among those strongly opposed, and it quoted him warning the statue would “needlessly stir up” the comfort women issue and could have a “significant impact” on bilateral relations, while it also quoted Free Speech Union chief executive Jillaine Heather saying, “Once a foreign government’s discomfort becomes a factor a local body has to manage, the public square shrinks.”