Analysis of Japanese attitudes towards prostitution in Southeast Asia before 1945

Abstract

Japanese attitudes to prostitution are a result of a hierarchical system rooted before the Meiji period. These attitudes influenced the way the Japanese military looked at issues related to the sexuality of Japanese soldiers in countries or areas occupied by the Japanese military forces from the beginning of the 20th Century to 1945. This involved the construction, maintenance and administration of Comfort Stations in Japanese occupied areas in countries like China, the Malay Peninsula and the Dutch East Indies. Additionally, the Japanese military needed to supply women to work in these Comfort Stations. The obtaining of these women was carried out through a number of different approaches ranging from agreed participation to coercion through physical violence by pimps or the Japanese military. My study has found that the attitudes of Japanese in relation to prostitutes was a product of socio-economic factors and the hierarchical system inherited from the Momoyama period and carried on by the Tokugawa period to control those considered lower class such as prostitutes. The hierarchical structure of Japanese society meant that many poor families needed to sell their daughters to keep the rest of the family alive. This is no more apparent than in the case of the Karayuki-san who, as a result of socio-economic conditions, went to work in brothels in Southeast Asia, Korea or China. The attitudes of Japanese towards prostitution were a major factor in the creation of the Karayuki-san. These attitudes can be seen to be a major reason for the obtaining of women to work in Comfort Stations established by the Japanese military from 1932 to 1945.