Publisher's Synopsis
First brought to the attention of the Japanese public in 1991 when three Korean women filed suit in Tokyo District Court charging that they were forced into sexual servitude by the Japanese military during World War II, the existence of "comfort stations" and the military's role in running them have been hotly debated in Japan. How large a role did the military, and by extension the government, play in setting up and administering these camps? Were the women in actuality willing prostitutes freely offering their services, as some officials have averred, or victims of deception and, in some cases, kidnapping?;This account of sexual slavery in the Japanese military provides a wealth of documentation to prove the existence of some 2000 centers where possibly as many as 200,000 Korean, Filipina, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Burmese, Dutch, Australian, and some Japanese women were restrained for months and forced to engage in sexual activity with Japanese military personnel. Many were teenagers, some as young as 14. To date, the Japanese government has not admitted responsibility for creating the comfort station system or given apologies or compensation directly to former comfort women.;This English edition updates the Japanese edition originally published in 1995, and includes a new introduction setting the story in context for American readers.
