Comfort women

Comfort women is a euphemism for women who were forced to work as sex slaves in military brothels in Japanese-occupied countries during World War II. In the Japanese language, ianfu (慰安婦, comfort women) is a term coined by Asahi Shinbun in the 1980s to refer to these wartime prostitutes. jūgun-ianfu (従軍慰安婦, "military comfort women"), those who served in Japanese military brothels during World War II in Japanese colonies and war zones, was also used, but is seen infrequently these days.

Brothels as part of Japanese military policy

Historical research into Japanese government records documents several reasons given for the establishment of military brothels. First, Japanese authorities hoped that by providing easily accessible prostitutes and sexual slaves, the morale and ultimately the military effectiveness of Japanese soldiers would be improved. Second, by institutionalizing brothels and placing them under official scrutiny, the government hoped to control the spread of STDs. Lastly, creating brothels in military bases directly on the front line removed the perceived need to grant leave to soldiers.

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In the early stages of the war, Japanese authorities recruited prostitutes through conventional means. Middlemen advertised for prostitutes in newspapers circulating in Japan and the Japanese colonies of Korea, Manchukuo, and mainland China. Many who answered the advertisements were already prostitutes and offered their services voluntarily. Others were sold by their families to the military due to economic hardship.

Related Topics:
Korea - Manchukuo - Mainland China

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However, these sources soon dried up, especially from Japan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs resisted further issuances of travel visas for Japanese prostitutes, feeling it tarnished the image of the Japanese Empire. The military turned to acquiring comfort women outside mainland Japan, especially from Korea and occupied China. Many women were tricked or defrauded into joining the military brothels. Others were kidnapped. Japanese prostitutes who remained in the military brothels often became karayukisan, or brothel managers, leaving the non-Japanese comfort women to suffer serial rapes.

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The military also sought comfort women from local sources. In urban areas, conventional advertising through middlemen was used alongside kidnapping. However, along the front lines, especially in the countryside where middlemen were rare, the military often directly demanded that local leaders procure women for the brothels. This situation became worse as the war progressed. Under the strain of the war effort, the military became unable to provide enough supplies to Japanese units; in response, the units made up the difference by demanding or looting supplies from the locals. Moreover, when the locals, especially Chinese, were considered hostile, Japanese soldiers carried out the policy known as "purging" (in Japanese 燼滅作戦, in Chinese 三光作?), which included indiscriminately kidnapping and raping local civilians.

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Accounts from surviving comfort women paint a grim picture of Japanese military brothels. Women were divided into three or four categories, depending on their length of service. The freshest women were the least likely to suffer from STDs and were placed in the highest category. However, as time went on, the comfort women were downgraded as the likelihood of their acquiring STDs became more certain. When they were considered likely to be too diseased to be of any further use, they were abandoned. Many women reported having their uteruses rot from the diseases acquired from being raped by thousands of men over several years.

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As the Japanese war effort suffered reversals and the military evacuated their positions in South-East Asia, non-Japanese comfort women were often left behind. Many comfort women starved to death on desert islands thousands of miles away from home. A few managed to make incredible treks thousands of miles across mainland Asia to return to their homes in Korea and northeastern China.

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