Annotation source: Seoul Metropolitan Archive Annotation and image link: https://archives.seoul.go.kr/item/115 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. In March 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, towards 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 100 comfort stations were built in Okinawa from 1944 until the end of the war in 1945. It is unknown how many more "comfort women" were in Kerama Islands besides the women who were mobilized in November 1944, and how many of them would have survived the Battle of Okinawa. However, considering the result of a survey conducted by the Okinawa Women's History Research Group, which reported in 1992 that there were 121 comfort stations all over Okinawa, based on the testimonies of the residents who lived in the same community with the “comfort women,” we may surmise that there were a large number of Korean “comfort women” in Okinawa. This is a photograph of 10 captured Korean “comfort women,” taken by the U.S. Marine Corps' reconnaissance team. The photo was taken by Connolly, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. On March 22, 1945, U.S. forces began attacking Okinawa, starting with the Kerama Islands, made their way onto the main island of Okinawa on April 1, 1945 from Yomitan, central Okinawa, and occupied the northern and southern regions. These women were found by a liberation patrol unit near a Japanese supply depot, shortly after U.S. Marines engaged in a small battle with the Japanese troops. Most of the women are seen with their heads down except for the woman who is talking to an American soldier. It appears to be a commemorative photo to show a scene of interrogation, similar to the photo of Korean “comfort women” taken in Myitkyina, Burma. The note on the back of the photo says that these 10 Korean women were “sold by extremely poor families,” which indicates that the photographer, Connolly, was aware of the contents of the interrogation of these Korean women. (The photo is in U.S. National Archives, Record Group (RG) 127, Entry GW, Box 34). Some photo books published in Japan have claimed that the women in this photo were “tea shop girls”, and that Korean “comfort women” who became “comfort women for the U.S. military” were “allowed to return to Korea after the war.” However, it is difficult to find the basis for such an interpretation from the photograph and the note added to it. 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 #Connolly #Okinawa #interrogation