Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive
Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/48
ANNOTATION
Throughout June to August 1944, the U.S. Navy occupied Pacific Islands, such as Saipan, Tinian, and Peleliu, that were previously Japanese territories. During this time period, the Navy captured many Korean laborers, Japanese officers and soldiers as POWs. The U.S. Navy interrogated the captured POWs on site and further interrogated POWs whom they believed to have highly valuable information.
This is an interrogation report of a Japanese POW, Joichi Hoshino (age 26), written by the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, the U.S. Navy on November 6, 1944.
According to the report, Hoshino was conscripted to the Japanese Army on December 1, 1941 in Nagoya, Japan, and sent to Hankow, China after being assigned to the 18th Infantry Regiment, 10th Infantry Company as a rifleman in late March 1942. Hoshino went to Haicheng, Manchuria, with the 18thInfantry Regiment for training and maneuvers on September 2, 1942. He went to Busan, Korea, and Saipan, Mariana Islands, in February 1944, and arrived in Guam in May 1944, where he was captured by the U.S. Marines on July 25, 1944.
Hoshino stated that when he was in Haicheng on September 2, 1942, he heard that Korean women were brought in as “comfort women” and that they were examined for disease. According to Hoshino, Japanese troops were forbidden to go to the civilian comfort stations in the town. The report contains a map with locations of three comfort stations based on Hoshino’s statement. One is close to the Japanese military base and another is close to the military parade grounds.
This is an important document that confirms the locations of comfort stations in Manchuria area and the existence of Korean “comfort women” there.
Contributors
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] City of Seoul, Women and Family Policy Affairs Office 2011~
[Organization] Seoul National University, Chin-sung Chung Research Team, 2015~
[Organization] National Archives and Records Administration 1934~
#US_Navy #POW #Haicheng #Manchuria
Download file: https://international.ucla.edu/media/files/US-15-CINCPAC-CINCPOA-Preliminary-POW-Interrogation-No.-75-35-jld.pdf
LESSON PLAN
Note to teachers:
1. The discussion questions below are designed based on the original document, not the annotation. Teachers are recommended to use the primary document in teaching, instead of the annotation. However, the annotation provides useful background information for teachers when they prepare for the lesson.
2. The scaffolded questions below are based on the top half of page 1, #21. Miscellaneous on page 9, and Appendix 1 on the last page.
Explain the following words to your students before asking them to read the required sections:
- Haicheng: a city in northeast china
- house of prostitution: referring to the "comfort station" in this document
- POW: prisoner of war
- prostitute: a person, in particular a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment. It refers to the "comfort women: in the document.
Direct students to read the top half of page 1, #21. Miscellaneous on page 9, and Appendix1 on the last page. After reading, discuss the following questions:
1. What's the letterhead of this document?
2. What are the physical characteristics of this document?
a. Is it handwritten or typed?
b. Are there any marks? If so, what are they?
c. Any other physical features do you notice?
d. Does any of these physical characteristics interest you?
3. Who sent the message?
4. Who was the audience of the document?
5. What's the title of the document?
6. When was the message created?
7. What was the historical context in East Asia during the time?
8. Use Google Maps to locate Haicheng (China). How far is it from Korea?
9. Why were the "comfort women" examined for diseases?
10. Why do you think the Japanese troops were not allowed to use the local houses of prostitution?
11. Look at the map on the last page. Can you find where the houses of prostitution are located?
12. Can you describe the location of each?
13. Why do you think the three houses of prostitution were set in those specific locations?
*This lesson plan was designed by Jing Williams, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education at University of South Dakota.