Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive
Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/13
ANNOTATION
In 1942, Japan invaded Burma (today’s Myanmar), a British colony, in order to block the supply route of Allied Forces. At the end of April 1942, Japan gained full control over the Burma Road, which linked the cities of Rangoon, Burma, with Chongqing, China. In June 1944, the Y Force (allied forces of China and the United States) started the Salween Campaign, attacking the territories occupied by Japan in Songshan and Tengchong within Yunnan Province, at the border between China and Burma. The Y Force captured Songshan on September 7, Tengchong on September 13, and Longling on November 3, 1944. This is a compilation of daily reports of the allied forces of the U.S. and China that participated in the Salween Campaign.
According to these reports, the Y Force received intel about “comfort women” during the Salween Campaign. There was information about captured Korean women and “comfort women” as POWs, dead bodies of “comfort women,” and information that Japanese troops had killed some of these “comfort women.”
The most relevant contents are as follows: In the daily report for July 30, it says there are twenty “comfort women” in Tengchong. On August 10, it says there are ten Korean “comfort women” among the 2nd Battalion of the148th Regiment, remnants of the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Japanese forces, stationed in Longling. The August 31 report says the bodies of two Japanese officers and one Japanese woman who had disemboweled herself were found. On September 5, it was reported that six dead bodies of well-dressed women were found in Tachai, Songshan and in apparent suicides. On September 6, eight dead “comfort girls” were found in Tachai. On September 8, it says six Korean women were captured as POWs. On September 9, according to Japanese POWs, there were sixty Chinese civilians and thirty Korean “whores” in the town of Tengchong. On September 15, the report stated that thirteen women were captured alive and that the Japanese shot thirty Korean girls to death.
Contributors
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] City of Seoul, Women and Family Policy Affairs Office 2011~
[Organization] National Archives and Records Administration 1934~
#Y_Force #Tengchong #Longling #Songshan #Tachai #massacre
Download file: https://international.ucla.edu/media/files/US-9-G-2-3-Daily-Report-t1-aq5.pdf
LESSON PLAN
Note to teachers:
This document is 41-page long. It is impractical to use the entire document in teaching. Thus, it is recommended that teachers pick out the information relating to "comfort women" and compile them on one page. Then, have a class discussion. See an example below.
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the document:
- disembowel: cut open one's belly. It is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide, originated with Japan's ancient samurai warrior class. It is also known as hara-kiri.
- POW: prisoner of war
- Tengchong: a city in Yunnan Province, southwest China
- whore: derogatory form of sex workers. It refers to "comfort women" in the document.
This paragraph is directly from the annotation. Teachers can us it in class. Be sure to provide students with the context before asking them to read the paragraph. The context can be found in the annotation.
In the daily report for July 30, it says there are twenty "comfort women" in Tengchong. On August 10, it says there are ten Korean "comfort women" among the 2nd Battalion of the 148th Regiment, remnants of the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Japanese forces, stationed in Longling. The August 31 report says the bodies of two Japanese officers and one Japanese woman who had disemboweled herself were found. On September 5, it was reported that sex dead bodies of well-dressed women were found in Tachai, Songshan and in apparent suicides. On September 6, eight dead "comfort girls" were found in Tachai. On September 8, it says six Korean women were captured as POWs. On September 9, according to Japanese POWs, there were sixty Chinese civilians and thirty Korean "whores" in the town of Tengchong. On September 15, the report stated that thirteen women were captured alive and that the Japanese shot thirty Korean girls to death.
After reading the information, discuss these questions:
1. Use Google Maps to locate Tengchong, Yunnan Province in China.
2. What is the strategic significance of the location of Tengchong for the Japanese army as they advanced to Southwest Asia?
3. What happened to "comfort women" according to the daily reports?
4. Why do you think the Japanese army decided to kill some of the "comfort women" toward the end of the war?
5. 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?
6. What additional questions do you have for this document?
7. Where/How can you find the answers?
*This lesson plan was designed by Jing Williams, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at University of South Dakota.