Ama Museum — Peace and Women's Human Rights Museum

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阿嬤家―平和と女性人権館

Exterior facade of the Ama Museum (阿嬤家—和平與女性人權館) in Datong District, Taipei
阿嬤家—和平與女性人權館外觀(2016年7月攝) — Solomon203, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taiwan's only museum dedicated to the memory of Taiwanese comfort women (慰安婦) forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II. Established by the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation, the museum opened on December 10, 2016 — International Human Rights Day — and documents the stories of approximately 59 Taiwanese survivors through oral histories, personal artifacts, and audiovisual archives collected over decades of research since 1992.

Prefecture
Taipei
City
Datong District, Taipei
Region
Taiwan
Significance
Major
Today
Memorial Site
Access
Open To The Public
Location accuracy
Exact
Period
1937–1945

Images

Front entrance of the Ama Museum showing the museum signage
阿嬤家—和平與女性人權館正面入口 — Outlookxp, CC BY-SA 4.0
Ama Museum entrance on opening day, December 10, 2016, with ceremonial banners
2016年12月10日開館日的阿嬤家入口,懸掛儀式旗幟 — 美國之音 張永泰 (Voice of America), Public Domain
Ama Museum facade on a rainy day with parked scooters in front
雨天中的阿嬤家外觀(2017年10月攝) — Solomon203, CC BY-SA 4.0

History

The Ama Museum (阿嬤家—和平與女性人權館) is a museum in Datong District, Taipei, Taiwan, dedicated to preserving the memory and stories of Taiwanese "comfort women" — women who were coerced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II. "Ama" (阿嬤) means "grandmother" in Taiwanese Hokkien, a respectful reference to the advanced age of the survivors who came forward to share their experiences.

The Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) began investigating the stories of former Taiwanese comfort women in 1992, eventually documenting the experiences of approximately 59 survivors. Over decades of meticulous research, the foundation accumulated more than 5,042 items of comfort women-related audiovisual materials, books, and 730 personal artifacts. The idea to establish a dedicated museum originated in 2004, and after years of fundraising supported by public donations from Taiwan and abroad, the museum plaque was unveiled on March 8, 2016, International Women's Day, in a ceremony attended by then-President Ma Ying-jeou.

The museum formally opened on December 10, 2016, International Human Rights Day, in a renovated 90-year-old building of approximately 495 square meters. Its exhibitions presented the personal stories, photographs, and testimonies of the women alongside contextual information about the comfort women system that operated across Asia between 1932 and 1945, during which large numbers of women from Japan's colonies and occupied territories were forced into military brothels; estimates of the total vary widely among researchers.

Due to a combination of operating losses and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the original location closed on November 10, 2020. The museum was subsequently relocated; it began trial operation on October 27, 2021 and formally reopened on November 26, 2021 at its current address: 5th Floor, No. 32, Section 3, Chengde Road, Datong District, Taipei. The new space continues to host rotating exhibitions and educational programs focused on wartime sexual violence, gender equality, and women's human rights.

The Ama Museum stands as one of the few institutions in Asia specifically dedicated to comfort women survivors, alongside similar museums in South Korea and China. It serves not only as a memorial to the victims but also as an active center for human rights education, advocating for official recognition and redress while ensuring that the voices of the "grandmothers" are preserved for future generations.

Categories

Memorial (primary)

Related themes

Sources

  1. 阿嬤家-和平與女性人權館 - 維基百科Website
  2. Ama Museum - WikipediaWebsite
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