Asian Studies
Overview
Comfort women were women who were trafficked into sexual slavery by the Japanese Military beginning in 1932 and continuing until after the end of WWII in 1945. These women, who often were taken against their will, lived in “comfort stations” throughout the Pacific Ring. The Japanese reasoning was that these comfort stations would help to alleviate the stressors of war by providing sex to their troops. However, when this atrocious act is looked back upon with hindsight, the crimes against humanity are clear, and these women were all victimized by institutionalized sexual slavery.
Key Terms
Comfort Women - women who provided sexual services to Japanese Imperial Army troops during Japan’s militaristic period that ended with World War II and who generally lived under conditions of sexual slavery.
Lanjo - “Comfort stations” or military brothels, places where soldiers would go for the Comfort Women’s “services.”
General Okamura Yasuji - Japanese military general who ordered the transport of “comfort women” to his troops throughout the South Pacific, up to 1945.
Karayuki-san: “women travelers” - Japanese women who were trafficked into sex slavery throughout Asia, and as far as the West Coast of the United States.
Nanjing Massacre - “The Rape of Nanking”, as between 20,000 and 80,000 women were sexually assaulted. Nanking, then the capital of Nationalist China, was left in ruins, and it would take decades for the city and its citizens to recover from the savage attack.
Three All Policy - During WW1 a group of Japanese Military men were ordered by General Okamura to “kill all, burn all, loot all” as retaliation against the Chinese which gave way for the taking of more Asian women to fill the Lanjo.
Print Sources
The comfort women : historical, political, legal and moral perspectives by Call Number: D810.C698 K863 2016Publication Date: 2016This book focuses on Comfort Women post-war. The book discusses Japan’s actions and responsibility toward the Comfort Women. This book proves credible because it focuses on the legal side of the Comfort Women system by examining the legal structures that allowed the system to take place. The book also uses primary sources to examine how the Comfort Women system is still relevant today.
The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945 by Call Number: JV5260 .J36 1984Publication Date: 1984-03-21These essays, by thirteen specialists from Japan and the United States, provide a comprehensive view of the Japanese empire from its establishment in 1895 to its liquidation in 1945. They offer a variety of perspectives on subjects previously neglected by historians: the origin and evolution of the formal empire (which comprised Taiwan, Korea, Karafuto. the Kwantung Leased Territory, and the South Seas Mandated Islands), the institutions and policies by which it was governed, and the economic dynamics that impelled it. Seeking neither to justify the empire nor to condemn it, the contributors place it in the framework of Japanese history and in the context of colonialism as a global phenomenon. Contributors are Ching-chih Chen. Edward I-te Chen, Bruce Cumings, Peter Duus, Lewis H. Gann, Samuel Pao-San Ho, Marius B. Jansen, Mizoguchi Toshiyuki, Ramon H. Myers, Mark R. Peattie, Michael E. Robinson, E. Patricia Tsurumi. Yamada Saburō, Yamamoto Yūzoō.
Comfort woman : a Filipina's story of prostitution and slavery under the Japanese military by Call Number: D810.C698 H47 1999Publication Date: 1999-03-18In April 1943, fifteen-year-old Maria Rosa Henson was taken by Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines and forced into prostitution as a -comfort woman.- In this simply told yet powerfully moving autobiography, Rosa recalls her childhood as the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy landowner, her work for Huk guerrillas, her wartime ordeal, and her marriage to a rebel leader who left her to raise their children alone. Her triumph against all odds is embodied by her decision to go public with the secret she had held close for fifty years.
The comfort women : Japan's brutal regime of enforced prostitution in the Second World War by Call Number: D810.C698 H53 1995Publication Date: 1995-08-01In George Hick’s book, The Comfort Women, he discusses Japan’s brutal regime against Korea through prostitution of their women during the second war. This book is prominent because it is the only recorded account of comfort women in english. The author discusses comfort women history as it has been buried and denied. He includes simple descriptions of the historical facts facing comfort women which makes it a secondary source. This book is relative to our topic because it mainly focuses on the women from Korea that were forced into prostitution in the comfort stations. The author of this book is biased towards Korea and is avoidant of the fact that Korean brokers helped the Japanese soldiers gather women to operate the brothels in Japan.
The comfort women : sexual violence and postcolonial memory in Korea and Japan by Call Number: D810.C698 S65 2008Publication Date: 2009-02-15In an era marked by atrocities perpetrated on a grand scale, the tragedy of the so-called comfort women--mostly Korean women forced into prostitution by the Japanese army--endures as one of the darkest events of World War II. These women have usually been labeled victims of a war crime, a simplistic view that makes it easy to pin blame on the policies of imperial Japan and therefore easier to consign the episode to a war-torn past. In this revelatory study, C. Sarah Soh provocatively disputes this master narrative.
Digital Sources
- The Consolation Unit: Comfort Women at RabaulThis source looks into the Australians perspective and knowledge regarding the Comfort Stations in the Australian territories. The author notes that there was not only a mix of Japanese and Korean women being forced to work within the brothels, but also a change in rates for “services” between the two and placing a lesser value on the Korean women. They note that the girls were also under the control of the Military Police. Yet the MP claimed no responsibility for the things that happened to the Comfort Women during this time. This source also gives insight into the ways the different women were seen, as shown when describing Titzy and Pearl.
- Obituary: Kim Bok-dong, the South Korea “Comfort Women”The obituary of Kim Bok-dong discusses how she was forced into becoming a Comfort Woman at the age of 14, as she was told that if she did not comply her family would be in danger. It explains that when she was first taken into the room, she was beaten, and along with a couple of other girls she tried to commit suicide rather than face the horrid future that was set before her. This led her to the decision to live in order for others to hear her story. The obituary also discusses how she became a nurse before returning to South Korea. The article mentions the creation of the Butterfly Fund and the ways she was able to use any money she gained to help others. Kim Bok-dong was a fighter from the beginning to the end, and this source clearly indicated her struggle and success.
- The Life in Comfort StationsThe Life in Comfort Stations is a source that talks specifically about the lives of women and how their day would go, including the hours. This article talks about the “pay” that the women would receive, or were supposed to be given along with how their hours went. The comfort women were not given holidays or breaks, but may have received one upon request. While stuck in the comfort stations, the women were still able to partake in simple activities like going outside, having picnics, and playing sports, which not many sources talk about. The article includes images of soldiers waiting outside the stations and a picture of some comfort women who have survived waiting outside of Lameng, Yunnan. This source is different from other documents because it records what comfort women did for “fun” while stuck in comfort stations and their reported pay.
- One comfort women for every 70 soldiersThis account is about how South Korea’s government brings up Japan’s involvement with the comfort women brothels. The Kono Statement acknowledges the Japanese officials' involvement in forcing young women to work in the comfort stations. The South Korean officials pull out documents that concern the comfort women and state how they assigned women to the Japanese soldiers during the war. This is a secondary source that reports the aftermath of the comfort women and how the South Korean government dealt with discussing it.
Archives
- First Filmed Evidence of "Comfort Women" Found in US ArchivesFirst filmed evidence becomes uncovered from this incident in 2017 over 50 years later. As well as an interview of a comfort woman who is still alive to this day. It shows a black and white footage shot in 1944 by an officer that depicted nervous women outside of a home, which is thought to have been their brothel. This footage originally wasn't available to the public til after a 2 year search through US archives in the US National Archives and Records Administration. This shows what cannot be denied, raw and persuasive evidence.
- Photograph of Three "Comfort Women"
US National Archives Three Korean “comfort women” captured by US troops during a mission in Burma, with members of the US army’s Myitkyina Task Force, August 14, 1944
Primary Sources
Hidden Horrors by Call Number: D805.I55 T3613 1996ISBN: 0813327172Publication Date: 1996-06-13This book documents for the first time previously hidden Japanese atrocities in World War II, including cannibalism; the slaughter and starvation of prisoners of war; the rape, enforced prostitution, and murder of noncombatants; and biological warfare experiments.The author describes how desperate Japanese soldiers consumed the flesh of their own comrades killed in fighting as well as that of Australians, Pakistanis, and Indians.
- Oral History of the Comfort WomenThis tells the story of Kim Tokchin and her past as a "Comfort Woman." She tells of the recruitment, the beginning processes, and of the rape she was forced to endure. The final paragraph conveys the mentality that the soldiers had, and explains how she was forced to service as many as 40 men a day.
- Interview with a Comfort WomanIn this interview, the former "Comfort Woman" describes how she was forced, threatened, and beaten in order to comply with the demands of the men. The video also explains the sanctuary where the former "Comfort Women" can find solace in a place that feels like home to them. Finally, it discusses the inadequacy of Japan's apology.
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