Author: Director of the Police and Security Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs
Recipient: Ministers of each administrative district (except for Tokyo), Director of the Police
Date: February 18, 1938
File: Documents for Approval, Office of the Minister of Home Affairs (1938, Vol. 1)
Locations: Northern China, Central China, Japan
Keywords: Mobilization
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_P_001-2.pdf
ANNOTATION
This is a notification from the Director of Police and Security Bureau of the Ministry of Home affairs to the Ministers and the Directors of the Police in each local district of Japan. The purpose of this document is to standardize the policies for the “comfort women” recruitment, in order to avoid confusions.
The summary is as follows: There are a considerable number of traders and women headed to China these days to work in the prostitution industry, since public order in many places in China has been restored.
However, recruiters are appearing everywhere in Japan who claim that they are acting based on the understanding they obtained from the military authorities. Given the local conditions in China, it is necessary to transport women overseas to China; therefore, the police authorities must provide a special consideration for these cases.
In order to avoid any damages such claims may inflict on the honor of the Imperial military and the dignity of the Empire, and to prevent the negative impact on the morale of the people in the home front, especially of those families of the enlisted men in the front line, as well as to prevent violation of the international treaties prohibiting human trafficking of women, the Chiefs of the Police Office in each area should control and regulate (such behaviors) according to the following rules.
Overseas travel of the women for the purpose of prostitution shall be overlooked for the time being, as long as they are already working in the prostitution in Japan, over 21 years of age without any venereal or contagious diseases, and who are headed to Northern or Central China. Identity certificates shall be issued to such women, according to the America 3 Highly Classified Instruction no. 3776, issued in August 1937 by the Foreign Ministry. Recipients of the identity certificates should be informed at the time of the issuance that they must return to Japan as soon as their temporary contract expires or whenever necessary. The women must appear at the police station to apply in person for the identity certificates. When the identity certificates are issued, the contract and other items should be examined to make sure there is no pillaging or kidnapping of women. Those who make statements that could damage the reputation of the military, such as they have the understanding from or in communications with the military authority with respect to the recruiting arrangement, or any other statements that can harm the reputation of the military should be strictly controlled. Any false or exaggerated recruitment advertisement should be strictly regulated. The police shall issue formal permits to the recruiters after conducting a rigorous inspection of their identity, and the permits should not be issued for those who do not have a certificate issued by an overseas consulate office or those whose identity is questionable.
The attachments to this notification are the reports or inquiries from various prefectural governors, either making a report of the investigation they’ve conducted on suspicious behaviors of the recruiters, or inquiring about certain facts. These documents are listed as separate documents in chronological order at WAM, whereas they are put together in a collection by the Asian Women’s Fund.
Details:
〈Attachments〉
-Matters Concerning the Control and Regulation of the Recruitment of Women Traveling overseas to China (January 25, 1938)
-Matters Concerning the Recruitment of Shakuhu [Waitresses] for the North China Expeditionary Army (January 25, 1938)
-Matters Concerning Recruitment of Prostitutes for the Comfort Station of theExpeditionary Army in Shanghai (January 19, 1938)
-Matters Concerning the Recruitment of Waitresses for the Comfort Station in the North China Expeditionary Army, no. 2 (February 15, 1938)
-Matters Concerning the Recruitment of Waitresses for the Comfort Stations in the North China Expeditionary Army (February 14, 1938)
-Matters Concerning the Control of Suspicious Persons Traveling Overseas to China (Vice Secretary of the Foreign Affairs, August 31, 1937)
-Concerning the Case Involving an Alleged Abduction of Women in Taking Advantage of the Current Situation (February 7, 1938)
Note: Click HERE to read the annotations and full translation of this document, provide dby professors Amy Stanley of Northwestern University and Sayaka Chatani of National University of Singapore.
Sources:
WAM Collection (Police_011)
Sourcebook by the Asia Women’s Fund, Vol. 1, p. 55-67
Sourcebook by Suzuki, Yamashita, Tonomura, Vol. 1, p. 124-126
Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, A05032040800
#recruitment #Home_Affairs #Internal_Affairs #regulation #notification #identity #certificate
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the annotation:
- prostitution: the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment
- inflict: cause something unpleasant to be suffered by someone or something
- morale: the confidence and discipline of a person or group at a particular time
- venereal disease (VD): a sexually transmitted disease
- pillage: rob a (place) using violence, especially in wartime
- prefecture: an administrative division or unit in Japan
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. What's the purpose of the document?
9. According to the document, why did the Director of the Police and Security Bureau regulate the recruitment of "comfort women" traveling to China?
10. Which country's prostitutes are mentioned in this document?
11. What does this document not tell us?
Now, it is recommended that teachers introduce JS-8. Matters Concerning Recruitment of Prostitutes for the Comfort Station of the Expeditionary Army in Shanghai. Jan 19, 1938, or JS-10. Matters Concerning the Control and Regulation of the Recruitment of Women Traveling Overseas to China. Jan 25, 1938, and then answer the following questions:
12. What information in JS-8 or JS-10 is not included in JS-9?
13. The "comfort women" deniers usually cite this document (JS-9) in their argument. Why do you think they do so?
14. What other questions do you have for this document?
15. 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.