Comfort Women, Objective evidences issued from the Allies organization

(updated on Feb 20, 2016)

During World War II, the Allies’ organization issued many research reports, interrogation reports and bulletins about Comfort Women System of Japanese armed forces.

Those Allies organizations were;
Allied Translator and Interpreter Section Area (ATIS) South West Pacific, 
South East Asia Translator and Interrogation Center (SEATIC) and 
United States Office of War Information (USOWI).
Military Intelligence Service Captured Personnel & Material Branch

These reports clearly deny a rumor about Comfort Women, i.e., Comfort Women were sex slaves,  which is being spread all over the world.  Here are the summary of several reports issued from the Allies organization. 

* Comfort Women provided sexual service to only Japanese soldiers and army civilian employees. 

* Comfort Women, who were employed by the private brothel keepers, received the fee from the guests for the service

* Comfort Women were Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Filipino and the native women (in the reports)
* Korean prostitutes were volunteers or had been sold by their parents into prostitution

* Japanese armed forces made strict control of brothels: permission to brothel keepers for opening the business, price and commission rate to Comfort Women, business hours, hygiene including health of Comfort Women and control of disease and venereal disease.

* Such strict regulations protected Comfort Women and their dignity from misconduct by guests and from unfair working conditions forced by the brothel keeper.

All original documents for the reports below, except for only 163d Language Detachment report, are preserved at National Archives of Records Administration (NARA). The copies are all available at Asian Woman’s Fund that was established by Japanese Government.  The pages (p292 ~ p125) downloaded from AWF are placed in reversed order.

United States Office of War Information 
* Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No.49 
  _ Interrogation report from 20 Korean Comfort Women and two Japanese Brothel owners. (Burma, 1944.10.1) 

Military Intelligence Service Captured Personnel & Material Branch
* Composite report on three Korean Navy civilians, list no. 78, dated 28 Mar 45, Re "Special question on Koreans”  (1945) 
_  This report is based on "Interrogations of Koreans". The following sentences are extracted from the document.

"18. All Korean prostitutes that PoW have seen in the Pacific were volunteers or had been sold by their parents into prostitution. This is proper in the Korean way of thinking but direct conscription of women by the Japanese would be an outrage that the old and young alike would not tolerate. Men would rise up in a rage, killing Japanese no matter what consequence they might suffer."

Such riot for protest, however, did never happen in Korean Peninsula.

Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) South West Pacific Area 
* POW Interrogation Report      _ Japanese POW   (1943.2) 

* Research Report                      _ No. 120 (1) (1945. 11.15)

* Research Report                      _ No. 120 (2) (1945.2.16) 
* Bulletin No.1483                        _ from a dairy of Jpnese Military Officer 

                                                                                   (Daliao,1944.10.5) 
* Current Translations No.100      _ 
* Interrogation Report No. 24      _ Japanese POW  (Rabaul, 1942.12.31)

* Interrogation Report No. 25      _ Japanese POW  (Rabaul, 1943.1.10)
* Interrogation Report No. 27      _ Japanese POW  (Manila, 1943.1.28)
* Interrogation Report No. 28      _ Japanese POW  (Rabaul, 1943.1.30)
* Interrogation Report No. 30      _ Japanese POW  (Belawan, 1943.2.2) 
* Interrogation Report No. 31      _ Japanese POW  (Davao, 1943.2.1)
* Interrogation Report No. 34      _ Japanese POW  (Shanghai, 1943.2.23) 
* Interrogation Report No. 37      _ Japanese POW  (1943.2.23)
* Interrogation Report No. 46      _ Japanese POW  (Manila, Davao,  

                                                                                   1943.4.1) 
* Interrogation Report No. 48      _ Japanese POW (1943.4.7)

* Interrogation Report No. 50      _ Japanese POW  (Rabaul, 1943.4.9)

* Interrogation Report No. 52      _ Japanese POW  

                                                                 (French Indochina, 1943.4.13)

* Interrogation Report No. 53      _ Japanese POW (1943.4.13)
* Interrogation Report No. 57      _ Japanese POW  (Rabaul, 1943.4.17)
* Interrogation Report No. 60      _ Japanese POW   (Rabaul, 1943.4.17)
* Interrogation Report No. 63      _ Japanese POW   (Rabaul, 1943.4.19)
* Interrogation Report No. 67      _ Chinese army civilian employee  

                                                                                   (Rabaul,1943.4.30)
* Interrogation Report No. 78      _ Japanese POW  (Rabaul, 1943.5.15)
* Interrogation Report No. 94      _ Japanese POW   (1943.6.15)
* Interrogation Report No. 104    _ Japanese POW  (1943.6.27)
* Interrogation Report No. 573    _ Japanese POW   (Manila, 1945.1.23)

 

South East Asia Translator and Interrogation Center (SEATIC)
* SEATIC Bulletin No.116     _ Japanese POW (Burma, 1945.3.31) 

* SEATIC Bulletin No.131     _ Japanese POW (Burma, 1945.4.28) 
* SEATIC Bulletin No.182     _ Local resident (Malaysia, 1945.7.6) 
* SEATIC Bulletin No.186     _ Japanese POW (Burma, 1945.7.12) 
* SEATIC Bulletin No.197     _ Japanese POW (Thai, 1945.7.26)

HEADQUARTERS I CORPS, U.S. ARMY

* 163d Language Detachment Report No. 0223 ( Luzon, 1945.5.21)