Comfort Women: Were They Prostitutes or Sex Slaves?

4 thoughts on “Comfort Women: Were They Prostitutes or Sex Slaves?”

1. American Lt. Col Archie Miyamoto (Ret.) should be lauded for his efforts to illuminate the history of comfort women. An accurate understanding is essential for justice. His article reveals that the topic of comfort women is complex. To further clarify the history, a broad overview highlighting key points is presented below.

   First, it is important to understand the socioeconomic conditions at the time. During the first half of the last century, poverty was widespread in much of Asia, including Korea and Japan. Many families, especially farm families and those in rural areas, struggled to survive and were in debt, forcing families to make sacrifices unimaginable today. Hunger was commonplace. This stark economic reality, along with the patriarchal nature of Asian societies, created an environment where some young women desperately desired an opportunity for a different life. This backdrop provides the context needed to understand the events.

   For Korean comfort women, the vast majority had been "sold" to brokers by their impoverished families or joined of their own accord – though many may have been misled about the nature of the job by the brokers (recruiters/agents) who were typically civilians. Unscrupulous brokers took the women to brothels, instead of the stated job. These comfort women were paid (and/or their families had been paid) and could go home when their contractual obligations were met, but they were at the mercy of the civilian brothel operator. Korean comfort women often worked at brothels owned and operated by Korean civilians. The working and living conditions varied, depending on the brothel, and some brothel operators were abusive, as were some soldiers.

   For these women, a reasonably accurate description is: Indentured prostitutes, working under contracts in civilian-owned brothels accompanying military units, who could go home after fulfilling the contract, who had been sold by their parents or joined on their own, but who may have been recruited by civilian brokers under deceptive practices.

   Although little mentioned, a large fraction of comfort women were from Japan. Prostitution was legal in Japanese territories during that time. Korea and Taiwan were a part of Imperial Japan then, and Koreans and Taiwanese were Japanese citizens.

   In addition to the women recruited from Imperial Japan (Japan, Korea, and Taiwan), another group of women often classified under the umbrella label of comfort women were women that worked at brothels in lands Japan occupied during the war (e.g., China, Indonesia, Philippines). The Japanese military issued licenses to local owners for the establishment of brothel businesses that catered to the military. These businesses were staffed by women who were generally recruited by the civilian operators (not the military).

   The Japanese military regulated these businesses for the safety and welfare of both the soldiers and women. For example, these regulations stipulated that the women be paid, often at least half the amount that soldiers paid to visit.

   A small fraction of women were forcibly recruited. Their circumstances varied. Newspapers of that time period reported that Korean women were abducted by civilian (often Korean) traffickers and sent to brothels. In addition, there were incidents where some Japanese soldiers in the field coerced women, but this was not authorized by Tokyo; this occurred in territories occupied during the war, such as Indonesia and the Philippines. The possibility that some uniformed personnel (e.g., corrupt police) conducted illegal activities cannot be ruled out. The women forced by rogue soldiers should be considered differently and separately from most comfort women. The women forcibly recruited in Indonesia were released after about two months by the Japanese military, when their situation was discovered by a higher ranking officer. The violating personnel were brought to justice after the war. Unfortunately, most activists wrongly lump all comfort women into this "forced by the military" category.

   As a policy, the Imperial Japanese military did not abduct women. Many Korean parents sold the services of their children, placing them under a contract of servitude (i.e., they were "indentured"). The women could return home after fulfilling the contract. Parents and women may have been deceived by civilian brokers (many of whom were Korean) – not by the military. These conditions differ from "slavery" as understood by most Americans; thus, the term slavery creates misunderstanding.

   With certainty, many comfort women suffered as a result of being "sold" by their parents and/or being deceived by the civilian brokers. One can only imagine how traumatic it would be to be sold by one's OWN parents and placed under a contract of servitude because of poverty, or deceived by unethical brokers who promised a good job.

   An unfortunate and serious consequence of this misunderstood history is that it harms girls and women of today by not shedding light on some underlying causes of this tragedy: socioeconomic inequality (i.e., patriarchal social structures and poverty). Blaming only the Japanese military hides these underlying causes. To prevent today's disadvantaged girls and women from experiencing such a tragedy, the comfort women story MUST be told accurately.

   In this comment, a highly-abridged overview of comfort women was presented, with many historical details omitted. Those desiring a more-detailed history should read Lt. Col. Miyamoto's book, as well as the book by Korean-born Professor C. Sarah Soh. Professor Ikuhiko Hata's book also provides insights. Books by Korean professors Yuha Park and Younghoon Lee (available in Korean and Japanese) further corroborate what is written in this comment.

   In closing, let us hear the voices of former Korean comfort women (from Prof. Soh's book):
   - Sun-ok Kim recalled: "My father entreated me and said, '...It’s your misfortune to have someone like me as a father...' Within a fortnight after my return home from Sinuiju, I was sold for a fourth time and sent off..." (p. 11).
   - Kun-ja Kim’s original testimonial, "published in 1999, revealed that her foster father 'sold' her." In 2003, Kim reportedly said that she "hated the father more than the Japanese military." (p. 101).
   - Yong-Su Yi[Lee] originally stated, "Without letting my mother know, I simply left home by following my friend." (pp. 99-100).

   From a former Korean comfort woman (recorded by Prof. Park):
   - Chun-hee Bae stated: "Japanese people didn't do things that some people are saying. Natural for Abe to be upset. Koreans were part of human trafficking, not Japanese government.""It's wrong that others are spreading false information to US, Germany, and other countries."

   Log in to Reply

2. I don't doubt your statement isn't true, but it isn't one hundred percent right, either. Many survivors have testmonied that they didn't go to those camps on their will. The survivors are important in the case, you shouldn't ignore them. Many of them were deceived into thinking they were working in a factory, or a job. Many were kidnapped or forced to go. Some of them were in situations where they couldn't refuse, and the Japanese knew that.

   The book Military Comfort Women by Yoshimi Yoshiaki states that the women, sex slaves or not, suffered severely from their experience in comfort camps. He states, "One woman was diagnosed with gonorrhea when she went to a doctor in 1950; another woman had to have stitches in her vagina when she was liberated; another woman had a hysterectomy; and another womn was rendered unable to have childrn...Former comfort women also suffered severe TPSD. Kikumaru, a apanese former comfort woman, committed suicide by gas asphyxiation in her apartment in Ichikawa city in Chiba Prefecture on April 26, 1972." Which proves the fact many women suffered from their experience.

   And in Paragraph Two of Article Eighty-Six of the Army Penal Code, it states (as you said in the article), "On the battlefield or territory occupied by the Imperial Army, anyone looting of property of local populace will be punished by imprisonment of over one year. In the process of foregoing, anyone who rapes a woman/girl will be punished by indefinite prison term of seven years or more."

   On first glance, it seems like a heavy penalty, but it only addressed rape when it was committed along with the crime of looting.

   The book states, "Okamura recounts he following incidents that took place in August 1938. The Chief of Staff of the Hata Detachments. SInce even the wife and daughter of the village headman who had been contracted to build an airfield had been gang-raped, the work was not progressing. WHen commanding officer Okamura, angered by this news, ordered that the offenders be arrested, the captain of the military police replied that the victims didn't personally file a complaint against anyone, so it couldn't legall be considered rape. The captain "calmly stated his opinion that since no one has filed suit the case has been dropped...

   But Yoshiaki also states, "There were also many instances in whihc soldiers who committed rapes killed the women they had assulted out of fear of being prosecuted."

   It proves that the Japanese raped women, in comfort stations or not. It also proves that there was a hole in the law, and it didn't keep the Japanese from raping women. The book also states that many officials turned a blind eye to the rapes frequently because it embarrassed them to put in a report.

   And by saying they were paid, many thought it was a work that didn't include sexual activity. In the book, it states, "...Japanese couple bought twenty-two unmarried Korean women in 1942. They paid the girl's parentsbetween 300 and 1000 yen...they were sold ranged from seventeen to twenty-nine with the twelve girls under the age of twenty-one. It seems that they were not told that their work would entail sexual services. U.S. Army Sergeant Alex Yorichi made the following remakrs during the first interrogation of the prisoners.

   "'The nature of this "service" was unspecified but it was assumed to be work connected with visiting the wounded in hospitals, rolling bandages, and generally making the soldiers happy..."

   And the treatment of comfort women were different in different stations. Some were invited to parties and movies while others were tortured to death. During WW2, Korea WAS a part of Japan, but they took underage girls and deceived them, as clearly you can see from the above.

   Mun Ok-chi ("Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and pulled me, saying something in Japanese. That was a time when even hearing the word 'policeman' was a scary thing, so I was led off withou saying a word... I thought I was being taken to the military police.")'s testimony agrees to the fact that not all of them agreed to go. She was forced to go against her own will.

   In the book, it also states, "As a lincensed prostitution system had been introduced into Korea, there were cases of lincensed prostitues becoming comfort women. Amon the twenty women taken prisoner in Burma by the U.S. Army, the vast majority had no experience with prostitution, but there were a few who had been prostitues...We can't say that unlicensed prostitues never became comfort women, but this was probably rare because so many of them were afflicted with sexually transmitted diseases. For example, the Inchon branch of the Temporary Line of Communicaation Headquarters for the Korea Army, which was engaged in transportings troops from the Korea Army, which was engaged in transporting troops...reported that, "Since 'social diseases' are wide-spread in Korea, it is essential that {soldiers} be instructed never to have contact with unlicnesed Korea prostitutes." The Headquarters ordered all of the units in ther arracks to strictly forbid any contact with unofficial Korean prostitues."

   Log in to Reply

   1. Very predictably, this person starts out by using the term ‘testimony’ to describe the statements made by the former Korean comfort women. This point has been made frequently in recent years: a testimony is “a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official” according to the Merriam-Webster definition, and such standard must be applied when the party is seeking redress based on admission of guilt. If a nation is accused of any wrongdoing, there cannot be a lower standard where only statements advantageous to the accuser are cherry-picked from a set of many, often conflicting ones. Prof. C. Sarah Soh’s choosing the term ‘testimonial narrative’ remains to be the best to reference the various statements made by the women since the comfort women controversy began.

      Also very predictably, this person keeps referring to Prof. Yoshiaki Yoshimi’s work, but in order to reach any level of respectable objectivity and fairness, one must use efforts to integrate the findings by a scholar who advocates an opposing view of the issue. Yoshimi is a well-known fixture of the Japanese Left, so it is only reasonable to present what someone like Prof. Ikuhiko Hata or equivalent has researched on the comfort women subject matter – if we are to bring some balance and impartiality to the discussion.

      On that note, it’s amusing that this person brought up the name Mun Ok-chu who has possibly revealed the most interesting personal accounts of her experience at comfort stations in a book published in Japanese and Korean, and some of the details are given here: https://bit.ly/36u7XUq

      This person continues with comments such as the Japanese raped women in comfort stations or not, and that many comfort women suffered from their experience in addition to physical diseases that included STD. Unfortunately, Japan’s comfort women system did not prevent violence in occupied territories, and prostitution, sex work, or any other terminology to refer to that type of labor can result in physical and/or psychological anguish. But these facts along with the ‘testimonies’ do not even come close to substantiating the outrageous accusations made by the redress movement activists against the Japanese military. Lt. Col. Archie Miyamoto’s compilation work more than underscores the fact that the Allied Forces knew the truth about comfort women and concluded over 70 years ago that the system as something totally different from ‘rape centers’ where women were systematically violated and savaged, totally stripped of their humanity.

      Log in to Reply

      1. For the first thing, just because the testimonies of the women weren't the same does not mean that it is not valuable evidence that needs to be considered while solving this case. Whom else would you expect evidence from? Of course, I am not saying all the testimonies are perfectly truthful, because some were proven to be a lie. But to say that every women's testmony is unreliable based on the fact that some weren't is not being fair.

         To the second statement, the fact that Yoshimi Yoshiaki is a "well-known fixture of the Japanese Left" does not necessarily mean that the evidence he has provided is untrue. If you read the book, "Comfort Women" by Yoshiaki, you can see that he makes his statements based on the documents he has found. In his book, he provides statements from diaries, documents and et cetera. But of course, I will look into the people you have stated, thank you for the suggestions!

         The website you provided contained excerpts from Mun Oku-Chu's diary. It showed how successful she became by being a comfort women. I was just stating that she had been one of the many women that had been taken against their will. As I read her diary, I was glad that at least some of the women were treated well. As I said, just because she was treated well does not mean that the others were, too. Many women have stated that they were not paid for their jobs. Many were beaten and tortured and murdered.

         The fact they were paid does not make them prostitues. Those women have stated that many were taken against their will and raped by force. Does that sound like a prostitute to you?

         Log in to Reply