Comfort Women

Key Takeaways

1. Japan's "Comfort Women" System: A State-Sanctioned War Crime

Military Comfort Women is not simply an investigation into previously understudied aspects of the Asia Pacific War but part of an ongoing struggle to restore the dignity of these women by acknowledging their fundamental human rights and compensating them for the gross violations ot those rights during the war.

Systematic Enslavement. The "comfort women" system was not a spontaneous or isolated phenomenon but a systematic, orchestrated policy emanating from the highest reaches of the Japanese state. The Japanese military planned, constructed, and operated comfort stations, demonstrating official military involvement, despite initial government denials. This policy violated international law and the women’s human rights, therefore constituting a war crime for which the nation is responsible.

Beyond Individual Acts. The enslavement of comfort women was a systematic, orchestrated policy emanating from the highest reaches of the Japanese state. The coercion inherent in the system took many forms and must be understood in the context of gender, ethnic, colonial, and class oppression. Japan’s crimes against comfort women did not end with the war and the dissolution of the comfort station system but continue today in the form of Japanese denials and evasion of responsibility.

Citizen Complicity. Japanese responsibility does not rest only with the government or military but also extends to Japanese citizens who condoned imperialism and the sexual exploitation of women. The book challenges Japanese people to see themselves and their elders not simply as victims of the war but as perpetrators of systematic violence and war crimes as well. This struggle is being waged by victims and their supporters against those in Japan and other Asian countries who seek to minimize Japan’s war responsibility or declare it adequately discharged.

2. The Genesis of Comfort Stations: From Shanghai to Nanking

It appears, then, that the first comfort stations were constructed by the navy.

Early Naval Origins. The first confirmed military comfort stations were established by the Japanese Navy in Shanghai during the First Shanghai Incident in 1932. The army was schooled in the military comfort women system by the Japanese navy in Shanghai. These naval comfort stations were large enough to occupy several buildings.

Army Expansion. The army, witnessing the navy's system, established its own comfort stations, citing the prevention of rape as the primary justification. Okamura Yasuji, Vice Chief of Staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force, established comfort stations for the army in March 1932 modeled on naval comfort stations. The army probably focused on Nagasaki Prefecture first because there were many women born there who became karayukisan {women sent to Siberia, Asia, and throughout the Pacific as indentured prostitutes}.

Nanking Massacre Catalyst. The widespread establishment of comfort stations coincided with the Nanking Massacre in 1937, as a means to control rampant rapes by Japanese soldiers. The Central China Area Army ordered the establishment of military comfort stations. Iinuma Mamoru, Chief of Staff of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force that participated in the invasion of Nanking, wrote in his diary that day, “On the matter of the establishment of military comfort stations, documents from the [Central China] Area Army arrived, and {I will} oversee the execution {of those orders}.”

3. Coercion and Deception: The Recruitment of Comfort Women

In recruiting women domestically to work in the military comfort stations to be set up in the areas affected by the China Incident, it is feared that some people have claimed<eos>

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Last updated: April 18, 2025

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