The Real Identity of Military Comfort Women I Saw

Summary

Summary: The Real Identity of Military Comfort Women I Saw
[The issue of the Japan’s wartime “comfort women” has persisted despite the underlying
fundamental flaws. With such obvious flaws, one is inevitably led to question the
motives for perpetuating the “sex slave” allegation. Obtaining English-language
information on the actual situation of the “comfort women” has been extremely difficult,
in contrast to the abundance of English language “sex slave” stories. Recently, a
Japanese civilian, then soldier, describes the brothels that were set-up for military use in
China during the Pacific War.
Mr. Hiroo Onoda describes a wartime brothel in Hankou (present-day Wuhan) that was
staffed by Japanese as well as Chinese and Korean prostitutes. Since brothels were off
limits to Japanese civilians, he accompanied a colleague who had business with the
owner. As the colleague discussed business, Mr. Onoda noted that the women flocked
around them, listening in on the conversation and at the same time trying to lure them
into spending time with them. The Korean prostitutes seen walking Hankou in groups
were easily distinguished from other Asian women. The Korean women would also try
their best, speaking in Japanese, to entice soldiers to part with their meager pay; on
average, the soldiers stationed in Hankou spent about a third of their pay on “comfort
women”. By these observations alone, it is clear that the women were not “slaves”.
During Mr. Onoda’s initial service in the army, he was stationed in Nanchang, where a
brothel was situated behind the wire along with regimental headquarters. Although he
did not spend any off-duty time in the brothel, Mr. Onoda was required to patrol it along
with the rest of the headquarters area. Since the brothel was within a military area, the
military provided medical care and transportation for the Chinese owner and employees.
Thus, the military were involved maintaining the “comfort station” in cooperation with a
local proprietor for the soldiers’ well being, as other countries that used prostitutes at the
time have done.
In dispelling the falsehoods, there are two realities that need to be stressed. First the
“comfort women” were not slaves but engaged in an unfortunate, yet profitable
occupation. There were many women who had little education and little opportunity for
work of any sort. However repugnant to modern sensibilities, such was the reality. Also,
the reality of combat, then and now, is that young men are sent to face death every day.
Again, the reality is that throughout history soldiers have used prostitutes as a means of
temporary escape from the realities of war.