Synopses & Reviews
"The most extensive record available in English of the ugly story". -- Elisabeth Rubinfein, New York Newsday
Over 100,000 women across Asia were victims of enforced prostitution by the Japanese Imperial Forces during World War II. Until as recently as 1993 the Japanese government continued to deny this shameful aspect of its wartime history. George Hicks's book is the only history in English regarding this terrible enslavement of women.
"George Hicks has delivered a work that is worth taking seriously, not only for its data regarding events decades behind us, but also as part of the campaign to uncover the truth about the Japanese army's actions". -- Leonard Bushkoff, Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly
-- "A groundbreaking account of one of the least examined atrocities of WWII.... Painful and scrupulously researched". -- Kirkus Reviews
Review
"A groundbreaking account of one of the least examined atrocities of WWII. . . . Painful and scrupulously researched." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"George Hicks has delivered a work that is worth taking seriously, not only for its data regarding events decades behind us, but also as part of the campaign to uncover the truth about the Japanese army's actions." Leonard Bushkoff
Synopsis
In 1938 the Japanese Imperial Forces established a "comfort station" in Shanghai. This was the first of many officially sanctioned brothels set up across Asia to service the needs of the Japanese forces. It was also the first comfort station where women, many in their early teens, were coaxed, tricked, and forcibly recruited to act as prostitutes for the Japanese military. Using official documents and other original sources never before available, George Hicks tells how well-established and well-organized the comfort system was across the Japanese empire, and how complete was its coverup. He also traces the fight by Japanese and Korean feminist and liberal groups to expose the truth and tells of the complicity of the Japanese government in maintaining the lie. The Comfort Women is an account of a shameful aspect of Japanese society and psychology. It is also an exploration of Japanese racial and gender politics. Above all else, The Comfort Women allows the victims of this unacknowledged war crime to tell their own stories powerfully and poignantly, to speak of their shame and the full magnitude and brutality of the system.
Synopsis
Over 100,000 women across Asia were victims of enforced prostitution by the Japanese Imperial Forces during World War II. Until as recently as 1993 the Japanese government continued to deny this shameful aspect of its wartime history. George Hicks's book is the only history in English regarding this terrible enslavement of women.
About the Author
George Hicks is an anthropologist. Much of his work focuses on the experiences of the Japanese during World War II.