Recipient: Adjutant, Ministry of the Army
Author: Chief of Staff, Taiwan Army of Japan
Date: June 13, 1942
File: Secret documents of the Army from Asia, no. 22, Ministry of the Army (1942)
Locations: Taiwan, Borneo (Indonesia)
Keywords: Transportation
Annotation Source: Northeast Asian History Foundation
Click HERE to see the annotation in Korean
Image link: http://wam-peace.org/ianfu-koubunsho/pdf/K-PDF/K_D_052.pdf
ANNOTATION
This document is a request for an approval “to send 20 extra “comfort women” due to the fact that the 50 “comfort women” who were exclusively dispatched to Borneo Island are not enough to meet local needs and some of those who arrived cannot work.” Further, it continues, “in the future, in the case of this type of situation involving a small number of additions, exchanges and/or increases in the number of “comfort women”, please allow us [Taiwan Army of Japan] to handle the situation ourselves, in a proper manner.”
Sources:
WAM Collection (Military_256)
Collection of the Asian Women’s Fund, Vol. 2, p. 207-208
Sourcebook by Yoshimi, Vol. 20, p. 146Sourcebook by Suzuki, Yamashita, and Tonomura, Vol. 1, p. 328.
#establishment #transportation #Borneo
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS
After reading the annotation, please answer the following questions:
1. What kind of document is this?
2. Who wrote it?
3. What year was it created?
4. What was the historical context in East Asia during the time?
5. Where was it created?
6. What's the title of the document? What does the title tell you?
7. Who's the audience of the document?
8. How many "comfort women" were already sent to Borneo Island?
9. How many more would be sent there? Why?
10. Why did the Taiwan Army of Japan request to handle "comfort women" shortage on its own?
11. The Japanese government has been claiming that it bears no legal or official responsibility for the "comfort women" victims. Based on this document, do you think the claim is defendable? Why or why not?
12. What other questions do you have for this document?
13. How/Where can you find the answers?
*Questions for Students section was designed by Jing Williams, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at University of South Dakota.