New book exposes comprehensive history of Japan's 'comfort women' system

A symposium was held in Shanghai last week to mark the publication of "A Comprehensive History of the Japanese Military 'Comfort Women' System," bringing together leading historians and scholars to reflect on decades of research into one of World War II's darkest chapters. Scholars described the book as both a major academic achievement and a sobering reminder of the importance of confronting historical atrocities.

Authored by Professors Su Zhiliang and Chen Lifei, the four-volume work spans 2.16 million Chinese characters and provides a panoramic and systematic account of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system, a history long obscured or marginalized in mainstream war narratives.

The study draws on multilingual archival materials from China, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Timor-Leste, incorporating sources in Chinese, Japanese, English, Korean, and Dutch, as well as findings from over 300 field investigations conducted over the past 30 years.

The book traces the origins of the "comfort women" system, analyzes its operational structures at different levels, and documents the physical remains of at least 2,100 so-called "comfort stations" established by the Japanese military in China alone.

It also records the lived experiences of victims, based on interviews with 358 surviving women, carefully cross-verified with documentary and material evidence to ensure historical accuracy. A significant portion of the evidence comes from Japanese primary sources, including military archives, diaries, letters, battlefield records, and photographs.

Structured around the background of the system, the establishment and expansion of the "comfort stations," their management and daily realities, and the victims' acknowledgment of their experiences, alongside recognition and responses from the international community, the work offers an unprecedented, comprehensive account of the wartime system.

Scholars attending the symposium noted the book's timely significance, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.