Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive

Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/110


ANNOTATION

Okinawa Prefecture, commonly referred to as Okinawa, is located at the southwestern tip of Japan and is made up of over 100 islands, including the main island of Okinawa, which is home to the largest population. InMarch 1944, major Japanese forces began to be stationed in Okinawa. In February 1944, when U.S. troops attacked Truk Island in Micronesia and Guam, Saipan, and Tinian in the Mariana Islands, the Japanese military, feeling pressured, created the Okinawan Defensive Forces, the 32nd Army, to defend the southwestern side of the Japanese mainland. Accordingly, in 1944, at the end of the war, more than 100,000 Japanese troops gathered in Okinawa from Manchuria and mainland Japan. Since soldiers who had already used comfort stations in China were among those moved to Okinawa, the Japanese military decided that they needed "comfort women" for the soldiers, and started to mobilize "comfort women" by establishing comfort stations in various locations in Okinawa. As a result, more than 100comfort stations were built in Okinawa from 1944 until the end of the war in 1945.

In March 1945, a full swing battle began in Okinawa between U.S. forces and Japanese forces. On March 22, 1945, U.S. forces began attacking Okinawa, starting with the Kerama Islands (Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, and Akashi Island) made their way onto the main island of Okinawa on April 1, 1945 from Yomitan, central Okinawa, and occupied the northern and southern regions. This battle, which lasted for about three months until June 23, when the Japanese military's resistance collapsed, was the only long-term battle that took place in Japanese territory during the Pacific War (the surrender was signed on September 7th), with a death toll that reached 200,000. The civilian casualties were enormous: More than 94,000 lives lost were those of civilians, and about 180,000 deaths, including local defense personnel, reached one-third of the total population of Okinawa, and more than 280,000 residents were detained in camps. The battle over Okinawa was intense because it was a strategic location for the Japanese military in building a breakwater to prevent U.S. troops from landing on mainland Japan, and conversely for the U.S. forces in securing a bridgehead for the offensive onto mainland Japan.

This is a photograph attached to the U.S. military administration activity report in November 1945 that depicts Korean “comfort women” waiting to return from Koza camp in Okinawa to Korea. The photographer is unknown. At the bottom of the photo, there is an explanation that says, “Korean “comfort girls” brought to Okinawa by the Japanese Army were gathered at Camp Koza in November and then repatriated to Korea. These girls were a constant source of trouble to Military Government from the time they were taken until they were sent home. Some of them worked in native hospitals as nurses in the early phases of the operation.”

This attitude toward the women is also apparent in the report attached to the photo. The U.S. military points out in the military government report that one issue related to public safety is the Korean “comfort women” left by the Japanese military in Okinawa, and that 40 Korean “comfort women” from various parts of Okinawa were gathered at Camp Koza to await their return to Korea, and 110 additional women from the rest of the Ryuku Islands are waiting for their return to Korea. The U.S. military and U.S. military government that began to control Okinawa seem to have considered the Korean “comfort women” as a threat to public safety, local health conditions, as well as to their rule of Okinawa, such that they prioritized the return of these women to Korea.


Contributors

[Organization] National Archives and Records Administration 1934~
[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~


#photo #return #evacuation #Okinawa #Koza_camp