Dayi

Born in Sulawesi, Indonesia, Drafted year: 1945, 20y/o estimates, for 6 months

I had to say hello every time I met him.

“ごんにちわ, さよなら(Hallo, Good bye)”

If I did not say hello, he got angry

but didn’t hit me.

My parents were farmers, and I was happy with ten siblings.

The village foreman came and forcibly picked out twelve girls and sent to the Japanese military, saying that he was ordered to do so. I wasn’t even properly dressed when I was forcibly sent away.

The village foreman said that we were going to make cotton yarns. I was 20 years old, and there were some women older than me.

We made cotton yarns during the day, but we were taken away by the soldiers in the evening. Almost every night, the same soldier came and slept with me. I had to say hello every time I met him.

“ごんにちわ, さよなら(Hallo, Good bye)” If I did not say hello, he got angry but didn’t hit me.

Every night, I did it with that Japanese soldier and then went home. I had my period at the time but didn’t get pregnant.

Some of the other women got pregnant. I don’t know where and how they live now.

* Her bed is in one corner of the kitchen because there isn’t a proper room to live in. The 2nd floor is woven with bamboo that it looks dangerous as she may get a cut. She kept pointing at me with her finger while I interviewed her. I only heard later that she said I look exactly like that Japanese soldier but the interpreter couldn’t tell me this in front of her.

Fedencia Nacar David

Born in Luzon, the Philippines, Drafted year: 1942, 14y/o, for 10 days + a month(2times)

Even after that, two, three Japanese soldiers

would come to rape me

frequently and took food from me.

My father was hiding out elsewhere and I was home alone.

There was no hope.

When I went to the village market with my grandmother, two Japanese soldiers hit me that I collapsed and they tied my hands behind. When I resisted, they cut my ear with a knife and then took me away. I was taken to room in a government office where a Japanese soldier came

and tried to hold me. I started screaming but the soldier covered my mouth and raped me. I was raped by more soldiers after that. There were about ten other women.

I worked during the day, and soldiers kept coming at night. After about 10 days, soldiers told me to go home. They thought we were guerrilla spies, so they let me go on purpose to put a tail on me. When we arrived home the next day,

the Japanese soldier shot my grandmother and killed her for no reason. In this chaos, the two Japanese soldiers raped me. I fainted and I gathered myself after a while and came home.

the Japanese soldier shot my grandmother and killed her for no reason. In this chaos, the two Japanese soldiers raped me. I fainted and I gathered myself after a while and came home.

Only after one month of this, the Japanese soldiers finally stopped coming. I have suffered from traumatic amnesia. I couldn’t even speak at the time.

* In order to make ends meet, she seeks for pieces of cloth and make cleaning towels for sale. She uses a sewing machine to make it in a size small enough to hold in one hand. It’s only 1 peso (3cents) each, but she says it’s better than just resting, and she keeps looking for work to do.

LI Lan-hai 李兰孩

Born in Sanxi, China, Drafted year: 1945, 15y/o, for 10 days

The girls who had both parents at home

were released after gifting meat, food, and money

to the Japanese soldiers,

but my family couldn’t afford it.

Several days passed and my father gave the local leader.....

My father raised me. Japanese soldiers came and took many women. They only kept those who were 15 and 16 years-old among those women. Only myself and the other three were the ones.In order to avoid being raped by the Japanese soldiers, we searched for a way to escape from the yard.

The Japanese soldiers forced us into rooms and raped us. After they captured us, they did not give us enough water and food.

The girls who had both parents at home were released after gifting meat, food, and money to the Japanese soldiers, but my family couldn’t afford it. Several days passed and my father gave the local leader a few things and money, only then I was released.

After returning home, I stayed in bed because we didn’t have money to go see a doctor. The villagers collected money for me, so I could go to the hospital. It took me half a year to feel better after taking the medicine called #606 (an injection).

My husband, who belonged to the Eighth Route Army, lost one of his arms when a Japanese bomb exploded. My husband died early from a stomach cancer, and I worked for a textile factory.

* Her son lives in the city, but she lives alone because she prefers the countryside. She lives on the dumplings her son brings for her from time to time. She has a large picture of MAO Zedong毛澤東 in her room, whom she thinks of someone that defeated the Japanese military during the war.

HA Sang-sook 하상숙

하상숙

HA Sang-sook

Born in South Chungcheong, Kore, Drafted year: 1944, 16y/o, for 8 months. left in Wuhan, China

First, a military doctor examined my body

and gave me a contraceptive shot.

When I tried to pee after the first three soldiers,

I had an extremely sharp pain.

One day, a neighbor girl who was older than I came over wearing nice makeup. She told me she made money at a Japanese factory, and this time she was going to Shanghai上海. She asked me to go with her. I said I would. A few days later, two men came.

We boarded a train to Kyongsung(now Seoul), and took another train with 40 other women to Dandong丹东 and Nanjing南京, and then went to Wuhan武汉 by boat.

When we arrived in Jiqing-ri积庆里, Hankou汉口, I was at a loss since it was very different from what I was told.

First, a military doctor examined my body and gave me a contraceptive shot. When I tried to pee after the first three soldiers, I had an extremely sharp pain.

My room was on the second floor, and the soldiers picked a girl based on the pictures of us hanging downstairs. On Sundays, the soldiers lined up outside. The rule said one hour per person, so the owner scolded me if it went over an hour.

The rule said one hour per person, so the owner scolded me if it went over an hour. After the war, Koreans gathered in Jiching-ri. Many women returned to Korea,

but I didn’t go, thinking what would I do with this body? I could not bear a child, so I married a Chinese man with three children.

* In 2001, I went to Wuhan to meet her for the first time. I still remember how she stitched my pants, standing, because my pants caught the corner of a desk and got torn. She said a man shouldn’t dress like that. In 2015, she tripped and fell from the second floor staircase that she has been transferred to Korea and now is receiving treatment.

Senga

Sen-ga

Born in Sulawesi, Indonesia, Drafted year: 1945, 15y/o, for 2 months

I didn’t have any specific disease

but my vagina was itchy and occasionally bled.

I did not get any medical treatment

because there was no doctor.

My parents were farmers. The three sibling with my older and younger brother, we were happy.

When I was 15, Japanese soldiers came and asked my parents to call me out. Five Japanese soldiers came, and I could not understand what they were saying.

I was forcibly taken away and it was scarier because I did not know where I was being taken to.

I was taken to the jungle and locked in a Barak (a house made of bamboo, sometimes refers to a “comfort station” in Indonesia).

Two soldiers came every day. When they did it to me, I felt so lost. I felt I was losing my soul, and I could not remember anything.

I didn’t try to remember who and how many of them did it to me a day. I didn’t have any specific disease but my vagina was itchy and occasionally bled. I did not get any medical treatment because there was no doctor.

There were 4 more women besides me in the barak, and the Japanese soldiers controlled and monitored us.

I was raped for 2 months even without condoms, but luckily, I never got pregnant. When the Japanese military left after the defeat, they never gave me any money or goods.

When I came home, my father asked me what happened, and I told him I just cooked for the Japanese soldiers. Even after the marriage, I told my husband the same.

* There is an old sewing machine at the entrance to the house. She makes her own clothes and even bed curtains.

Ines de Jesus

Born in Beco, East-Timor, Drafted year: 1942, 13y/o estimates, for 2 years

I also got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter.

3 months after giving birth, Japanese soldiers returned home.

I was on my way home with my daughter

when I ran into a Japanese soldier,he took my daughter forcibly.

When many Japanese soldiers showed up, so the village foreman sent me away. There were two houses there, and I was locked in a room next to a coop for chickens and pigs. During the day, I cut trees and made roads.

At night, many Japanese soldiers came. At least 4, as many as 8 soldiers came. It was so painful down there, I couldn’t even walk. I had a Japanese name, but I do not remember.

The soldiers didn’t even feed me. My mother cooked for me and brought food every day. Out of fear of what might happen if she gets caught, she had to come in secret.

There were pregnant women and many gave birth to babies. I also got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter. 3 months after giving birth, Japanese soldiers returned home.

I was on my way home with my daughter when I ran into a Japanese soldier, he took my daughter forcibly. I don’t know what happened to the baby since then.

I didn’t tell my father when I got home. I got married in my twenties, but I didn’t tell my husband, either.

20 years ago when a Japanese priest came, everything was told and my children also found out. I have back pain and I have hard of hearing. I need a house and money.

* The road to her home was so rough that I went with her son who lives in the city. The son named Leonel Barreto said he couldn’t accept what happened to his mother at first, and he still feels the same. He said the Japanese government is bad.