米軍調書「慰安婦の給料はサムスン幹部以上だった」

OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION

Japanese Prisoner
of War Interrogation
Report No. 49.

Place interrogated: Ledo Stockade
Date Interrogated: Aug. 20 - Sept. 10, 1944
Date of Report: October 1, 1944
By: T/3 Alex Yorichi

Prisoners: 20 Korean Comfort Girls
Date of Capture: August 10, 1944
Date of Arrival: August 15, 1994
at Stockade

Thisreport is based on the information obtained from the interrogation oftwenty Korean "comfort girls" and two Japanese civilians captured aroundthe tenth of August, 1944 in the mopping up operations after the fallof Myitkyin a in Burma.

Thereport shows how the Japanese recruited these Korean "comfort girls",the conditions under which they lived and worked, their relations withand reaction to the Japanese soldier, and their understanding of themilitary situation.

A "comfort girl" is nothing more than a prostitute or "professionalcamp follower" attached to the Japanese Army for the benefit of the soldiers. The word"comfort girl" is peculiar to the Japanese. Other reports showthe "comfort girls" have been found wherever it was necessaryfor the Japanese Army to fight. This report however deals only with theKorean "comfort girls" recruited by the Japanese and attachedto their Army in Burma. The Japanese are reported to have shipped some703 of these girls to Burma in 1942.

RECRUITING;

Earlyin May of 1942 Japanese agents arrived in Korea for the purpose ofenlisting Korean girls for "comfort service" in newly conquered Japaneseterritories in Southeast Asia. The nature of this "service" was notspecified but it was assumed to be work connected with visiting thewounded in hospitals, rolling bandages, and generally making thesoldiers happy. The inducement used by these agents was plenty of money,an opportunity to pay off the family debts, easy work, and the prospectof a new life in a new land, Singapore. On the basis of these falserepresentations many girls enlisted for overseas duty and were rewardedwith an advance of a few hundred yen.

Themajority of the girls were ignorant and uneducated, although a few hadbeen connected with "oldest profession on earth" before. The contractthey signed bound them to Army regulations and to war for the "housemaster " for a period of from six months to a year depending on thefamily debt for which they were advanced ...

Approximately800 of these girls were recruited in this manner and they landed withtheir Japanese "house master " at Rangoon around August 20th, 1942. Theycame in groups of from eight to twenty-two. From here they weredistributed to various parts of Burma, usually to fair sized towns nearJapanese Army camps.
Eventually four of these units reached the Myitkyina. They were,Kyoei, Kinsui, Bakushinro, and Momoya. The Kyoei house was called the"Maruyama Club", but was changed when the girls reached Myitkyina asCol.Maruyama, commander of the garrison at Myitkyina, objected to thesimilarity to his name.

PERSONALITY;

Theinterrogations show the average Korean "comfort girl" to be abouttwenty-five years old, uneducated, childish, and selfish. She is notpretty either by Japanese of Caucasian standards. She is inclined to beegotistical and likes to talk about herself. Her attitude in front ofstrangers is quiet and demure, but she "knows the wiles of a woman." Sheclaims to dislike her "profession" and would rather not talk eitherabout it or her family. Because of the kind treatment she received as aprisoner from American soldiers at Myitkyina and Ledo, she feels thatthey are more emotional than Japanese soldiers. She is afraid of Chineseand Indian troops.

LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS;

In Myitkyina the girls were usually quartered in a large two story house(usually a school building) with a separate room for each girl. There eachgirl lived, slept, and transacted business. In Myitkina their food wasprepared by and purchased from the "house master" as they receivedno regular ration from the Japanese Army. They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places. This was especially true of their second year in Burma. They lived well because their food and material was not heavily rationedand they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles. Theywere able to buy cloth, shoes, cigarettes, and cosmetics to supplementthe many gifts given to them by soldiers who had received "comfortbags" from home.

Whilein Burma they amused themselves by participating in sports events withboth officers and men, and attended picnics, entertainments, and socialdinners. They had a phonograph and in the towns they were allowed to goshopping.

PRIOR SYSTEM;

Theconditions under which they transacted business were regulated by theArmy, and in congested areas regulations were strictly enforced. TheArmy found it necessary in congested areas to install a system ofprices, priorities, and schedules for the various units operating in aparticular areas. According to interrogations the average system was asfollows:

1. Soldiers

10 AM to 5 PM

1.50 yen

20 to 30 minutes

2. NCOs

5 PM to 9 PM

3.00 yen

30 to 40 minutes

3. Officers

9 PM to 12 PM

5.00 yen

30 to 40 minutes

Thesewere average prices in Central Burma. Officers were allowed to stayovernight for twenty yen. In Myitkyina Col. Maruyama slashed the pricesto almost one-half of the average price.

SCHEDULES;

Thesoldiers often complained about congestion in the houses. In manysituations they were not served and had to leave as the army was verystrict about overstaying. In order to overcome this problem the Army setaside certain days for certain units. Usually two men from the unit forthe day were stationed at the house to identify soldiers. A roving MPwas also on hand to keep order. Following is the schedule used by the"Kyoei" house for the various units of the 18th pision while atNaymyo.

Sunday

18th p. Hdqs. Staff

Monday

Cavalry

Tuesday

Engineers

Wednesday

Day off and weekly physical exam.

Thursday

Medics

Friday

Mountain artillery

Saturday

Transport

Officers were allowed to come seven nights a week. The girls complained that even with the schedule congestion was so greatthat they could not care for all guests, thus causing ill feeling amongmany of the soldiers.

Soldiers would come to the house, pay the price and get tickets of cardboardabout two inches square with the prior on the left side and the name ofthe house on the other side. Each soldier"s identity or rank was then establishedafter which he "took his turn in line". The girls were allowed the prerogative of refusing a customer. This was often done if the person were too drunk.

PAY AND LIVING CONDITIONS;

The"house master" received fifty to sixty per cent of the girls" grossearnings depending on how much of a debt each girl had incurred when shesigned her contract. This meant that in an average month a girl wouldgross about fifteen hundred yen. She turned over seven hundred and fiftyto the "master". Many "masters" made life very difficult for the girlsby charging them high prices for food and other articles.

Inthe latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls whohad paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thusallowed to return to Korea.

Theinterrogations further show that the health of these girls was good.They were well supplied with all types of contraceptives, and oftensoldiers would bring their own which

hadbeen supplied by the army. They were well trained in looking after boththemselves and customers in the matter of hygiene. A regular JapaneseArmy doctor visited the houses once a week and any girl found diseasedwas given treatment, secluded, and eventually sent to a hospital. Thissame procedure was carried on within the ranks of the Army itself, butit is interesting to note that a soldier did not lose pay during theperiod he was confined.

REACTIONS TO JAPANESE SOLDIERS;

Intheir relations with the Japanese officers and men only two names ofany consequence came out of interrogations. They were those of Col.Maruyama, commander of the garrison at Myitkyina and Maj. Gen.Mizukami,who brought in reinforcements. The two were exact opposites. The formerwas hard, selfish and repulsive with no consideration for his men; thelatter a good, kind man and a fine soldier, with the utmostconsideration for those who worked under him. The Colonel was a constanthabitué of the houses while the General was never known to have visitedthem. With the fall of Myitkyina, Col. Maruyama supposedly desertedwhile Gen. Mizukami committed suicide because he could not evacuate themen.

SOLDIERS REACTIONS;

Theaverage Japanese soldier is embarrassed about being seen in a "comforthouse" according to one of the girls who said, "when the place is packedhe is apt to be ashamed if he has to wait in line for his turn". However there were numerous instances of proposals of marriage and in certaincases marriages actually took place.

Allthe girls agreed that the worst officers and men who came to see themwere those who were drunk and leaving for the front the following day.But all likewise agreed that even though very drunk the Japanese soldiernever discussed military matters or secrets with them. Though the girlsmight start the conversation about some military matter the officer orenlisted man would not talk, but would in fact "scold us for discussingsuch un-lady like subjects. Even Col. Maruyama when drunk would neverdiscuss such matters."

Thesoldiers would often express how much they enjoyed receiving magazines,letters and newspapers from home. They also mentioned the receipt of"comfort bags" filled with canned goods, magazines, soap, handkerchiefs,toothbrush, miniature doll, lipstick, and wooden clothes. The lipstickand cloths were feminine and the girls couldn"t understand why thepeople at home were sending such articles. They speculated that thesender could only have had themselves or the "native girls".

REACTION TO THE MILITARY SITUATION;

It appears they knew very little about the military situation around Myitkyinaeven up to and including the time of
their retreat and capture. There is however some information worth nothing:

"In the initial attack on Myitleyna and the airstrip about two hundredJapanese died in battle, leaving about two hundred to defend the town.Ammunition was very low.

"Col.Maruyama dispersed his men. During the following days the enemy wereshooting haphazardly everywhere. It was a waste since they didn"t seemto aim at any particular thing. The Japanese soldiers on the other handhad orders to fire one shot at a time and only when they were sure of ahit."

Beforethe enemy attacked on the west airstrip, soldiers stationed aroundMyitkyina were dispatched elsewhere, to storm the Allied attack in theNorth and West. About four hundred men were left behind, largely fromthe 114th Regiment. Evidently Col. Maruyama did not expect the town tobe attacked. Later Maj. Gen. Mizukami of the 56th pision brought inreinforcements of more than two regiments but these were unable to holdthe town.

Itwas the consensus among the girls that Allied bombings were intense andfrightening and because of them they spent most of their last days infoxholes. One or two even carried on work there. The comfort houses werebombed and several of the girls were wounded and killed.

REQUESTS

Noneof the girls appeared to have heard the loudspeaker used at Myitkyinabut very did overhear the soldiers mention a "radio broadcast."

Theyasked that leaflets telling of the capture of the "comfort girls"should not be used for it would endanger the lives of other girls if theArmy knew of their capture. They did think it would be a good idea toutilize the fact of their capture in any droppings planned for Korea.