Japan's Comfort Women

by Yuki Tanaka

Japan's Comfort Women tells the harrowing story of the "comfort women" who were forced to enter prostitution to serve the Japanese Imperial army, often living in appalling conditions of sexual slavery. Using a wide range of primary sources, the author for the first time links military controlled prostitution with enforced prostitution. He uncovers new and controversial information about the role of the US' occupation forces in military controlled prostitution, as well as the subsequent "cover-up" of the existence of such a policy. This groundbreaking book asks why US occupation forces did little to help the women, and argues that military authorities organised prostitution to prevent the widespread incidence of GI rape of Japanese women, and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Genres: History, Japan, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Japanese History, Japanese Literature

236 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 2001

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was reading this book as the five male Catholic Conservative Republicans on the Supreme Court delivered their pronouncement in the Hobby Lobby case. The attitude toward women shown by these patriarchs is not dissimilar to the beliefs of the designers of the 'comfort women' system, i.e. women are just commodities. The main reasons for the 'comfort women' system were to control VD among the military, fear of spying by local prostitutes, and to attempt to prevent rape of the general civilian population (inasmuch as rape incited hatred among the local populations). Girls and young women were obtained by deceit and kidnapping or were sold by parents, poverty stricken areas being prime recruiting grounds.
The Allies were not choir boys when they landed in Japan to begin occupation of the fallen enemy. Even before they landed, the Japanese government decided to set up 'comfort stations' for the incoming forces thinking prostituting a few thousand women would prevent the rape of innocent women, it didn't work.
Prostitution operates under fraudulent conception it is a commercial transaction. No one at the time (and quite likely now) considered the woman's real feelings, how she got into the position she was in, or if she was being treated fairly by her 'owner.'
Yuki Tanaka's book, though dealing with specific examples, can be generalized to a much greater expanse of time and space.

[Kevin Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a scholastic review of primary sources which detail the very graphic and offensive process of nationalized prostitution by the Japanese.

It all started with Japan's brutal invasion of Korea. While occupying Korea the Japanese military would use Korean women as official prostitutes. Women were kidnapped from their homes and forced into sexual service. The Japanese felt this would protect the "pure" Japanese women from the soldiers.

The process would not stop there. As the World War ended and the United States occupied Japan, the Comfort Women system went into full force to support the GI's that were now occupying Japan.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in the brutality of war, women's studies, or anyone who has idealized the United States and its military. It is a clear warning to keep watchful eye on policy and politics in times of war.

[Lucy Lai-Tuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an uncompromising read, that illustrates the depths, the depravities and the sheer cruelty that one human being can extend to another.
The Japanese revisionist say that none of this happened. How many times have we heard the far right Eurocentric revisionist lay the same claims with regard to the Death Camps of Nazi Germany.
What happened to these women across the occupied and colonised countries of South east and East Asia one cannot even begin to really comprehend. The fact we as a global community still don't really know all the facts leave me personally with more questions. Why did the West and the Allies not seek justice for these women in the same aggressive manner that they did when investigating and putting on trial members of the Nazi regime?
This is a book that everyone should read as dark and as dreadful as it's tales are.
Only by knowing the full extent of this shameful almost forgotten treatment of women during WWII can we ensure that this type of abuse and torture during times of conflict does not continue

[Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a book that you will likely have to put down every now and then, to take a breather to process your anger and disgust. Descriptions are not graphic to be sensationalist, but only so much as to relay the horror of the conditions these women endured.
The sentiment behind the actions of the Japanese militarymen and politicians who created this system are not reserved solely to Japanese men or Japanese culture. If you want to see their thinking reflected in other countries and cultures, only look to anti-choice politicians, figures like Harvey Weinstein, or frat clubs and football players who commit gang-rape and date-rape. They might manifest their misogyny in different ways and on different scales, but at the core is the thinking of women only as sexual commodities, not as individuals with unique thought and feeling or deserving of dignity.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a profoundly disturbing book about the phenomenon of comfort women - women forced into sexual service by the Japanese military in WWII - and the similar exploitation of Japanese women by occupying forces in the post-war era. I have some reservations about the book in terms of the research and the rather easy conclusions the author often jumps too, but still it is an important work on a troubling historical episode that has ongoing parallels in contemporary conflicts.

[Anya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book also includes the Japanese's women side of story, which I appreciate, and since the author is also a Japanese I think the book offered a different perspective indeed from other books witten about the comfort women system. Very well researched I think, and the author did try to be as objective as possible.

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for my research paper and more people need to learn about the comfort women!

[Chi Pham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book bears the style of Japanese scholarly research: lots of historical facts/evidence, interesting tales, with no clear argument. The significant portion of historical analysis lies in the epilogue, the last part of the book, so an impatient reader might lose out important points that the author really wants to demonstrate. Well, to me this book is fine enough, and since the subtitle says it all, there is no need to comment more about the content.

If you will not read this book (stop right here if you will read it), the one really interesting point that you need to know: paradoxically or not, the Japanese sex industry plays an important role in financing the Meiji transformation and the post-war economic miracle. A point which honestly has nothing much to do with Comfort Women. So this book really needs a better title.

[Kait · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was very informative about sexual slavery in East Asia during World War II. One pitfall of the book was Tanaka tries to use documents to support all his claims. With many documents still sealed it limits what data is available to use. It felt like it was repetitive at parts but overall well done.

[Alice Jennings]

The main thing I remember it that this book is an excellent source for providing endless accounts of rape during and after the war.
Well written but not for the faint of heart. Made me cry a bit the stories are so horrible