New evidence of the wartime sex slave system implemented by Japan—Reading the archives on the “comfort women” of the Kwantung Army

Abstract

The files recently released by the Jilin Provincial Archives on Japan’s Kwantung Kenpeitai (Military Police) and other records have revealed an array of crimes committed by Japan in its invasion of China. These include archives on the Japanese military’s sex slaves, the “comfort women,” detailing the “comfort stations” ubiquitously established by the Japanese military across the northeast, northern and central regions of China as well as Java and other locations, which compelled women to serve as sex slaves. There are even statistics on the ratio of “comfort women” to the officers and soldiers of the Japanese military, as well as the number of officers and soldiers who visited the “comfort stations” in a given time period. The postal inspection documents of the Kwantung Army preserve a number of letters by officers and soldiers which were seized and censored, which also record many details of the “comfort women” system practiced by the Japanese military. In particular, Unit 7990 obtained approval from the Japanese military authorities to remit the enormous sum of 530,000 Japanese yen via Manchukuo Central Bank over a four-month period, demonstrating the fact that the Japanese military used public funds to establish “comfort stations,” with the approval of the higher authorities. These archives are extremely valuable, reflecting the fundamental and unique nature of sources, and representing fresh evidence revealing the sex slave system implemented by Japan, as well as other atrocities.