ATIS Interrogation Report No. 60 ~ No. 573

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CONTENTS

* Interrogation Report No. 60      _ Japanese POW   (Rabaul, 1943.4.17)

* Interrogation Report No. 63      _ Japanese POW   (Rabaul, 1943.4.19)

* 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)

Copies of original reports preserved at NARA are available at here

Below are copies from

“WAR TIME MILITARY RECORDS ON COMFORT WOMEN”

(Compilation of U.S./Allied/Dutch/Japanese Military Records)

[by Archie Miyamoto, Lt Col, U.S. Army, Retired, February, 2016].

* ATIS Interrogation Report No. 60, dated 17 Apr 1943.

(1) Subject is Japanese soldier rescued from the sea off New Guinea coast by US Navy Patrol Boat.

 (2) Subject stated:  “There were approximately 20 brothels in

RABAUL, KOKOPO area and the remainder were in the town. Inmates were all

Japanese women”

(3). Subject made an interesting comment about attitude:

 “PW did not believe ant-British feeling existed in Japan. In fact, foreigners in Japan had the sympathy of the Japanese because they could not return to their own countries “He did not believe that natives of occupied territories should be treated as equals to the Japanese. Owing to the Rescript of the Emperor MEIJI,  natives, although not on the same footing as the Japanese, were not made slaves and were well treated.”

* ATIS Interrogation Report No. 63,  dated 19 Apr 1943.

 (1). Subject is a Japanese soldier, corporal, captured by Australian

 troops.

 (2). PW had heard that: “…there were brothels in RABAUL and

 believed they were run by civilians…. The women in them were ‘played out’ Japanese.”

* ATIS Interrogation Report No. 78, dated 15 May 1943.

 (1) Subject is a Japanese officer PW, 2/Lt, captured Trobriands,

 after ship sunk and he made it to shore.

(2) Subject “persisted in his statement that Japan was treating natives of occupied countries as equals….”

(3) PW stated that he had heard there were Naval brothels in

 RABAUL staffed by Japanese girls. These were professionals from Japan.

* ATIS Interrogation Report No. 94. dated 15 Jun 1943.

(1) Subject is a medical captain, captured after making it to shore, New Guinea. In addition to reference to brothels, he comments on the attitude of the Japanese army towards locals.

(2).”PW believed the natives of occupied countries should be and were being treated as equals. PW insisted that the Army did not run brothels but merely supervised those run by civilians under an arrangement whereby supervision began with the war and ended immediately after cessation of hostilities In no case were natives enslaved or restricted in any way. He had not read the Rescript of MEIJI (Emperor Meiji) regarding treatment of prisoners of war and natives, but thought it was being followed.”

* ATIS Interrogation Report No. 104, dated 27 Jun 43.

(1) Subject is a Japanese Army Sgt, captured in lifeboat, Trobriand.

(2) “Tojo had been forced to declare war when the Nomura and Kurusu missions failed. These Japanese representatives had tried to get the USA to sell materials but had been refused…. Foreigners all seemed to have the idea that Japan was a warlike country but the opposite was true. She is poor and could not exist unless England and US traded with her…. ‘

(3) “Although brothels were provided by the Army, there was only one woman to 2,000 troops, consequently only officers were accommodated.”

* ATIS Interrogation Report No. 577, dated 23 Jan 45.

 (1). Subject is Japanese Army Air Force PFC, rescued from sea by

US Navy near MOEMI. This is interesting in that unauthorized brothels operated by locals charged considerably more than authorized brothels.  

(2) “Girls at civilian houses were usually half caste Spanish-Filipinos and prices Yen 10-20. Those at Army controlled houses were Yen 2-3 with Japanese and Korean girls. Brothels in PI – Manila. Some were under Army jurisdiction. Others run by civilians were out of bounds, and MPs who tried to keep soldiers away, frequented these places themselves. Despite the differences in prices civilian houses were more popular, as they were less crowded.”

163d LANGUAGE DETACHMENT REPORT NO. 0223.

The 163d Language Detachment was attached to Headquarters I Corps, U.S. Army, in the Philippines. Report No. 163LD-1 0223 is titled, “Combined Enemy Preliminary Report,” and dated 21 May 1945. Classified Confidential, declassified 6/6/56. 

This is an Interrogation Report of five Korean Comfort Women captured by U.S. Forces in Luzon, Philippines in May, 1945. Their ages are: 19, 22, 24, 28 and 28. Two pairs are sisters.

Portions of interest are quoted in italics. Parts of special interest are highlighted in bold letters.

“Nationality : Korean.

Status : Prostitutes in employ of Jap Army.

Place of Capture: Vic of Dingalan Bay, Tayabas Prov, Luzon.

Date of Capture: 19 May 45”

 “The families of all the women were extremely poor and in order to save their families the expense of caring for them, they were sold to a Geisha House in Korea. They were sent to Taichu City, Formosa (present Taichung, Taiwan) and placed in the employ of the Army. The returned to Korean and on 29 Apr 44 left with 62 other women of both Jap and Korean nationality for the Philippines. They were still in the employ of the Jap Army. Upon arrival in the Philippines they were split up into small groups and sent to various army camps. 10 women, including subject EAs (enemy aliens), were sent to Higuchi L of C unit near Clark Field where they stayed at a Geisha House run by Mr. Taniguchi. From here they were sent to Sector Hq, Clark Field. Sometime in October 1944 they were sent to South San Fernando and joined Nakamura L of C Unit. 10 Jan 45, they withdrew from South San Fernando and enroute (sic) met up with Col Suzuki and his force. Col Suzuki told them that if they were captured they would be a disgrace to Japan (the Japanese military considered being taken POW as a disgrace), therefore they had better tag along with him. They went to Ipo. During the march Army personnel would go on ahead leaving two or three soldiers with the women. One woman died enroute and two others were left in Ipo  because of illness. Late Jan 43, left Ipo and arrived Iloilo sometime in Apr 45. They saw many soldiers fall out and die from starvation enroute. About two weeks ago Col Suzuki took approx 300 able-bodied men and proceeded  towards Umiray. They thought men were armed with rifles. Men headed up towards the mountains and not along the coast. Two of the women went with the group but the five EA decided to go off and fend for themselves. They followed the coastline northward. 18 May 44 they saw an LCM off the coast firing up into the hills above them. They waded out into the water and waved their arms and shouted. The crew of the LCM picked them up and took them to Dingalong Bay.”

All contents above are copied from

“WAR TIME MILITARY RECORDS ON COMFORT WOMEN”

 (Compilation of U.S./Allied/Dutch/Japanese Military Records)

[by Archie Miyamoto, Lt Col, U.S. Army, Retired February, 2016]

Objective evidences issued from the Imperial Japanese Govornment

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This chapter brings old documents that were issued from Imperial Japanese governments.  After the search of these documents, NOTHING has turned up indicating that women were forcibly rounded up to work as Comfort Women, but rather turned up evidence that these orders and directives were aimed to protect the rights of women.  Those documents also indicated that Japanese government authority and Japanese military got involved in Comfort Women system regarding the following points #2~#6.

#1, prohibited illegal recruitment of Comfort Women by abduction, and the action of deceiving women with smooth talk

#2, determined how many Comfort Women to be recruited

#3, determined the rules in recruiting Comfort Women, regarding age, qualification,

#4, the rules prevented women from being gathered by inappropriate / illegal methods

#5, issued ID to Comfort Women under the approval of their parents / guardians,

#6, transported Comfort Women to oversea,

#1 had special meanings in addition to the moral consciousness and law awareness.  In the era, His Majesty of the Emperor was the presence of being Arahitokami (God who appears in the world in human form) whom all Japanese nationals respected.  So, Japanese military and the government authorities paid high attention to their terminal parts' actions / behaviors that were likely to dishonor the Emperor.

All copies of documents issued from Imperial Japanese Government are available in links at the National Archives at The Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR), which houses wartime orders / directives from the government and military leaders, or at Asian Women’s Fund, the latter of which Japanese government established for the atonement project for former Comfort Women.

Army Memorandum 2197 issued on March 4, 1938 (PDF, JACAR)

軍慰安婦従業婦等募集に関する件「陸軍省副官」(昭13.3.4)

* Explicitly prohibits the recruiting methods that fraudulently employ the army's name or that can be classified as abduction

* Employing such illegal methods would be punished for hurting the military prestige and giving misunderstanding to ordinary citizens.

page 2 of the document

Home Affairs Ministry Directive No. 77 issued February 18, 1938 (PDF, JACAR)

支那渡航婦女の取り扱いに関する件「内務省警備局長通牒案」(昭13.2.18)

* Recruiting Comfort Women must be appropriate

* Inappropriate / illegal recruitment of Comfort Women would hurt the prestige of both the nation and the military, and have bad influence on families of soldiers.

* Comfort Women must reach their 21th birthday, not have venereal disease.

* Women who are already professionally engaged in the trade may be recruited

* Comfort Women need to get ID issued from police

* Before issuing ID, the following points must be surveyed or confirmed.

                * Contract period with the broker

                * Approval by parents or the guardians

                * Fidelity guarantee

                * Women are NOT gathered by abduction

* When issuing the ID, Comfort Women should be notified that they can close the business after fulfilling the contract period.

page 1 of the document

 

Home Affairs Ministry Directive No. 136 issued on November 8, 1938 (PDF, JACAR)

南支方面渡航婦女の取り扱いに関する件「内務省警備局長」(昭13.11.8)

* Brokers who gather Comfort Women and/or take them to the oversea need to confirm fidelity guarantee of the women (i.e, recruiting of women by inappropriate methods is prohibited)

* Total 400 Comfort Women will be gathered to send to South China from Japan.

* One conductor can lead a group consisting of 10 ~ 30 Comfort Women.

* Comfort Women must reach their 21th birthday and be healthy.

* Women who are already professionally engaged in the trade may be recruited

* Comfort Women need to get issued ID

* Medical examination is required before issuing ID to the women

* The debt that the women can borrow from the broker in advance must be as small as possible.

* For recruiting, the women must be notified beforehand how the job is like.

* Comfort Women must have medical examination conducted by the military while working

page 1 of the document

 

Diaries written by a Korean man who worked at military brothels

The diaries of a Korean man who worked in wartime brothels for Japanese soldiers in Burma and Singapore during World War II have been found in South Korea. The Korean man worked as a clerk in the brothels. Born in 1905, he died in 1979 before the comfort women became a thorny issue between Japan and South Korea. The diaries were written by both Japanese and Korean languages.

Korean male scholar Ahn Byung-Jik (安秉直), the professor emeritus at Seoul National University, examined the portion for 1943 and 1944 jointly with two Japanese researchers, Kyoto University professor Kazuo Hori and Kobe University professor Kan Kimura.

Ahn Byung-Jik, the professor emeritus at Seoul National University

                                  Professor Kan Kimura

 

The diaries are “highly credible,” Kimura said, noting there was little possibility of alterations because the man died before the comfort women issue became a source of contention.

                                                 
                                     Photocopy of the diary

 A book entitled "The diaries by Korean Employee at the Comfort Houses" (Ahn Byung-Jik, 2013)

What’s written?

* “On this day last year, I boarded a ship at Busan port and took the first step of my southbound journey,” the man wrote in the entry for July 10, 1943.“

* “On April 6, 1944, he wrote, “When a comfort team left Busan two years ago, Mr. Tsumura, who came as head of the fourth comfort corps, was working in a fresh food association.”

The description confirmed the fourth comfort corps, which was also described as "The Japanese are reported to have shipped some 703 of these girls to Burma in 1942." in the US Office of War Information report No.49 (see below), and therefore the credibility of the diaries is also guaranteed.  

What's else written?

* “Notification of Discontinuance of Business” submitted by a Comfort Woman was approved (Sep 9, 1944).

*Comfort Woman, name A and name B, closed their business (March 3 1944).  
* "We attended a meeting of Comfort House Union held at Suikouen (翠香園) in Rangoon (a.k.a. Yangon).  We paid totally 62 JPN Yen as union dues, which are 30 JPN yen per brothel owner and 2 JPN yen per Comfort Woman.  (Aug 10, 1943)." 

* Comfort Women went to see a movie screened by the railroad unit (Aug 13, 1943)

* he had withdrawn 600 JPN Yen from a Comfort Woman C’s account and remitted it at a post office on her behalf (Oct 27, 1944).

These description clearly shows that Comfort Women were NOT sex slaves, i.e., Comfort Women had freedom of closing their business, they got paid, and they amused themselves. Surprisingly, Comfort House Union was formed. 

To be fair, introduced is one passage from the diary describing that two comfort women who had quit because of their marriages had been ordered to return by army logistics.  Not sure why those two women were ordered to return, but the diary indicates that Comfort Women were able to close their business for their marriage. 

The contents in the diary are also similar to what's written in the U.S. Office of War Information Report No.49 “Japanese Prisoner of War Interrogation Report No. 49", which was an inteterrogation report from 20 Korean comfort girls and two Japanese brothel owners (house master).   

Here are the excerpt from the report.

"The conditions under which they transacted business were regulated by the Army, and in congested areas regulations were strictly enforced. The Army found it necessary in congested areas to install a system of prices, priorities, and schedules for the various units operating in a particular areas.  According to interrogations the average system was as follows:"

 

“They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places. This was especially true of their second year in Burma. They lived well because their food and material was not heavily rationed and they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles. They were able to buy cloth, shoes, cigarettes, and cosmetics to supplement the many gifts given to them by soldiers who had received "comfort bags" from home.”

“While in Burma they amused themselves by participating in sports events with both officers and men, and attended picnics, entertainments, and social dinners. They had a phonograph and in the towns they were allowed to go shopping.”

“In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thus allowed to return to Korea.”

“There were numerous instances of proposals of marriage and in certain cases marriages actually took place.”

(Excerpt ends)

Thus, Comfort Women got paid, had freedom to close their business, they amused themselves by shopping, watching movies shown by Japanese army, parties, etc.  Ahn said "(by this diaries) It has also become certain that the Japanese government had organized comfort teams and took women to the frontline.”

However, Ahn is skeptical about the view that the Japanese military and police took women by force from the Korean Peninsula. Ahn said at the press "private brokers gathered Comfort Women in Korea and Imperial Japanese army did not need to abduct Korean women".

Concomitantly, the same news on the discovery of this diary was reported by South Korean media.  However, Korean media hid the truth and reported a lie that Korean women were forcibly mobilized.  Here is one example of such distorted news released by Chosen Ilbow, Japan.   Spreading lies of comfort women issue is its national policy of South Korea for dis-honouring Japan.

 

References:
Japanese version of the diaries written by a Korean man who worked at military brothels.
Profs Kimura and Hori translated it to Japanese what was made by Professor Ahn.

Diaries of a Korean man who worked in Comfort House
Aug 7, 2013 Mainichi Shimbun, page1, page 2 (in Japanese)

Korean’s war brothel diaries offer new details

Aug 13, 2013  The Japan Times

Professor Ahn examined Comfort Women

2013.09.10  News Post-Seven (in Japanese)