Rape, by the Allies
The US forces under the command of General McArthur landed in Yokosuka
port, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on August 30, 1945. 315 cases of
rape by US soldiers were reported to the authorities on that day, in
Kanagawa Prefecture alone, The next day, on August 31st, there were
228 cases of rape. By September 10th, a total of 1326 cases of rape
by US soldiers were reported in Kanagawa Prefecture. There were also
numerous cases of homicide. Most such cases went unpunished.
Comfort Women for Allied Soldiers
Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on August
15, 1945. The Instrument of Surrender was signed aboard the USS carrier
Missouri on Sept.2 of the same year, officially marking the occupation
of Japan by the Allies (de facto USA) which continued for the next
seven years.
The US forces had already proved that there was dire necessity to
protect Japanese women from rape.
Only four days after Japan's surrender,on August 19th, the Japanese
government decided to set up comfort stations specifically for the
Allied soldiers. The government and private dealers contributed 50
million yen each for this purpose.
The first comfort station was set up in the Japanese restaurant "Komachi-en",with
93 comfort women, and the second in "Miharashi", with 74 comfort women,
in Omori Kaigan.
Initially, the organizers worried that they may not be able to recruit
enough comfort women, but they were swamped with applicants answering
their ads; there were numerous young women who had lost their husbands
in war, or all their family members from bombing, and were in dire
need of supporting themselves. Consequently, about 1,800 comfort women
were recruited in no time.
At the same time, the writer of this article remembers that when the
US soldiers landed in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, the local Japanese
put all women over the age of 14 in trucks and evacuated them to "safer"
locations, to protect them from potential violence and rape.
Income of Comfort Women
Mainichi Newspaper reported on May 12, 1992
that Japanese military post office savings records confirmed that
former Korean comfort woman Mun Okchu, who had been asking for return
of her money, had deposited money 12 times from 1943 to 1945, when
she was a comfort woman, with a balance of 26,145 yen.
Mun Okchu claims that she had been taken from Pusan to Rangoon together
with about one hundred to one hundred-fifty young women, to work
as a prostitute for Japanese soldiers, and had deposited the tips
she had received in the post office account.
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Salary
list of the Imperial Japanese Army (July, 1943)
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|
General
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6600
yen / year
|
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Lieutenant-General
|
5800
/ year
|
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Major-General
|
5000 / year
|
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Colonel
|
4440-3720
/ year
|
|
Lt.Colonel
|
3720-2640
/ year
|
|
Major
|
2640-2040 / year
|
|
Captain
|
1860-1470 / year
|
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First
Lieutenant
|
1130-1020
/ year
|
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Second
Lieutenant
|
850
/ year
|
|
Sergeant
Major
|
75-32 / month
|
|
Staff
Sergent
|
30-23
/ month
|
|
Sergent
|
20
/ month
|
|
Corporal
|
13.5
/ month
|
|
Private
|
10.5-6.0
/ month
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Testimony 1:
SHIGEMURA Minoru, former commander of the Japanese Imperial
Navy
On the earnings
of comfort women, Mr.Shigemura writes that many owed an average
of 4000 to 5000 yen loan (to brothel operators) at the beginning
of the contract period, which was about a year. They returned
this money, some as soon as three months,and on average 6 months.
Their average savings were from 5 to 6 thousand yen,to about 10,000
yen. There was one woman who had saved 30,000 yen, which amazed
everyone.
The Americans
attacked faster than had been originally expected, and some comfort
women died because of the bombing. Also, some whose contracts
ended were unable to return home for lack of ships, and got stuck
at the frontlines. With the end of the war, most of them were
led back to Japan.
Testimony 2:
SUMITA Tomokichi, former engineer belonging to the 6th Regiment,
6th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army
Mr.Sumita kept notes of interviews with
15 Korean, Chinese, and Russian comfort women he had met during
military duty in the Chinese continent and Manchuria beginning
in 1938. He was curious as to how they became comfort women,
and writes that their human dramas were all strikingly similar.
Korean and Chinese comfort women had been all sold into prostitution
to Korean or Chinese dealers. The following is a typical account.
He writes that he happened to visit a
restaurant in Hankow in December of 1938, where he was greeted
by a woman about 30 years old whom he had assumed to be a Japanese,
since she seemed to speak the language well. However, she told
him that she was a Korean, whereupon he asked her if she knew
anything about "comfort stations", since he was curious.
This lady told him that she was from north Korea,near the Russian
border. The area is poor, and there was no way for many families
to subsist but by selling their daughters at about age 17 or
18 to Korean dealers. There was a wide network of such dealers,
called "Zegen".
This lady told him she was sold by her parents at age 18 for
a total of 380 yen (300 yen, plus 80 yen to cover her father's
debt), to a Korean dealer. She was taken with 15 other women
to Shanghai three days later, to work at comfort stations operated
by Koreans. When the first Shanghai incident broke out in February
1932, the Japanese military became a good customer.
Later, the lady married a Korean from Hankow,who happened to
visit Shanghai. She had been in Hankow since February of 1938,
and had come to know many Chinese.
After the onset of the Sino-Japanese war, she heard that the
activities of Zegen, to buy and send young women to become prosititues
for the Japanese army, increased.
The lady told him that there was also a Chinese secret organization,
"Honpan", which also gathered women with methods similar to
Zegen. She said that at the comfort stations, each woman had
to entertain 25 to 30 men per day, without rest, and very poor
food. Many contracted venereal diseases, and there were cases
of suicide. There were more women from north Korea than south,
probably because there is less work in the severe climate.
To confirm this story, Mr.Sumita visited
a comfort station for the first time in January 1939. A comfort
woman who called herself "Yaeko" told him she was from north
Korea, and was sold four years ago for 370 yen (250 yen plus
120 yen family debt) to Zegen. She was now 22, and the operator
of the comfort station was a Korean couple who were both 42.
She said that she had received no health check-ups.
Mr.Sumita notes that around this time, the general rate for
non-commissioned officers for one hour was two yen. He had paid
the money, but when her story was over, he told her he had a
stomach ache and left the room. Mr.Sumita writes that he never
had a sexual relationship with a comfort woman for fear of contracting
VD.
He was stationed in Changan, Hupei Province from August 1939
to Feb.1940.
Here, he interviewd two more Korean comfort women, whose stories
were similar. They had also been taken away from their homes
by Zegen. Later, in 1941, he was sent to Manchuria. About once
or twice a month, he was sent to Halpin on military business,
where there were Russian, Chinese, and Korean comfort women.
The rate was three yen for Chinese and Korean women, and five
for Russian. One Russian comfort woman told him that she applied
to become a comfort woman to help her family, and swore that
none of the Russian women had been sold by fellow Russians.
Mr.Sumita writes all those he interviewd were consistent in
telling him that Zegen in Korea and Honpan in China were involved
in gathering comfort women.
Testimony 3:
UNO Takeichi, former Special Agent in Hsuchou, China
Mr.Uno was sent to Hsuchou in 1941.
There were Chinese comfort women, and also groups of Korean
comfort women led by Gezen which followed the movement of
the Japanese troops.
One latter group came to the Special Agency headquarters at
the beginning of each month, to send their earnings back home.
Mr.Uno remembers that there were 36 such ladies, whose ages
were from 18 to 28. Their monthly earnings varied from about
1500 yen to 3000 yen, and remembers the amazed comment of
Major Eda, the head of the Special Agency there, when he first
encountered the scene, that they were earning several times
more than him. (A major earned about 4000 yen per YEAR) The
going rate for time with a comfort woman was two to five yen,
depending upon the service.
Mr.Uno remembers that when he asked them why they became comfort
women, the most common reasons were the death of their father,
poverty, or to save a family member from illness. None of
the 36 ladies said they had been forced into prostitution
by the Japanese army or police, but said they had been enticed
by the sweet-talk of Zegen.
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