Japan's comfort women

by Tanaka, Toshiyuki

This work tells the harrowing story of the "comfort women" who were forced to enter prostitution to serve the Japanese Imperial army, often living in appalling conditions of sexual slavery. Using a wide range of primary sources, the author for the first time links military controlled prostitution with enforced prostitution. He uncovers new and controversial information about the role of the U.S. occupation forces in military controlled prostitution, as well as the subsequent "cover-up" of the existence of such a policy. This book asks why U.S. occupation forces did little to help the women, and argues that military authorities organised prostitution to prevent the widespread incidence of GI rape of Japanese women, and to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.