Author: 7th company, 219th infantry regiment guard unit
Date: 1943
File: File of various regulations, 7th company, 219th infantry regiment guard unit (1948)
Locations: China
Keywords: Installation / management and supervision
Annotation by: Hye-in Han, Ph.D. Researcher, Asia Peace and History Institute
Click HERE to see the related annotation in Korean
Image link: http://wam-peace.org/ianfu-koubunsho/pdf/K-PDF/K_D_167.pdf
ANNOTATION
This document contains regulations relating to the establishment, management, and usage of the facilities outside the camp in accordance with the Army’s guidelines on the expansion of the facilities outside the camp. The document indicates that the Commanding Officer of the unit in the occupied area had the authority to manage, operate, and supervise facilities outside the camp, even if they were operated by the local notables or organizations.
These regulations govern outside facilities such as recreation facilities for the military (restaurants and game rooms, for example) which are operated by veterans’ associations or local organizations, as well as special comfort stations which employ “comfort women” and are exclusively for the military’s use. According to the regulations, the military unit is to delegate the operation of special “comfort” stations instead of running them directly.
However, the fact that the military unit was supposed to lease the comfort station building for free and to supply it with necessary items and food from the military PX in the field show that the military de facto managed the comfort stations and the implication on paper that the military consigned the comfort stations to civilians was to avoid liability.
Details:
General rules / PX in the field outside the camp / Exclusive “comfort stations” / Kaikosha (An Association for veterans) / Miscellaneous
Sources:
WAM Collection (Military_097)
Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, C13010769700
Note:
This document was omitted by the deliberation committee for the Ministry of Foreign Affair when the Kono Statement was released (1993). The document contains regulations on the use of recreational and “comfort” facilities outside the camp.
#installation #management #supervision #PX_in_the_field #outside #Kaikosha
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the annotation:
- delegate: entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself
- de facto: in fact
- consign: deliver (something) to a person's custody
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. Use one sentence to summarize this document.
9. Who had the power to manage, operate, and supervise the "comfort" facilities?
10. According to the document, was the military directly running the comfort stations? Why or why not?
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.