The Scar of Memory - A Deep Revelation of Japanese Comfort Women in Western Yunnan (A Long-Form Documentary Series)

Author: Cai Wen, Li Genzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Park Yong-hee was in Room 19, her name at that time was "Kagami." The Japanese called these comfort women "Korean prostitutes," and to satisfy a psychological lust, these pitiful Korean women were given Japanese names according to their own national naming customs. In the post-war era, Park Yong-hee wrote a memoir titled "The Final Song of a Life Torn Apart." Our Japanese friend is a freelance writer who specializes in interviewing Japanese veterans of the invasion of China. In recent years, due to the rise of right-wing forces in Japan, his situation in Japan has become increasingly difficult. Because the topics he covers are generally very sensitive worldwide, his life is constantly threatened. He said that sometimes he has to move several times a month, so even now he dare not reveal his mobile phone number to anyone, including us. In our communication with him, it is only conducted through email. Sometimes, when a phone call is truly necessary, it is always him calling us, not the other way around. In 2000, while researching Japanese materials, we came across a name called Wakachun among the comfort women. So I sent him an email asking who Wakachun really was. He replied, "You fool, Wakachun is Park Yong-hee, and Park Yong-hee is Wakachun." It was him who told us the following story: He said, the pregnant comfort woman in the photo is Park Yong-hee, whom the Japanese called Wakachun. Park Yong-hee was born on November 11, 1921, in Hopyeodong, Jiangxi District, Namp'o City, Korea. Her mother passed away shortly after her birth. As a daughter, Park Yong-hee understood and sympathized deeply with her father. At the age of 14, she went to work as a maid in a suit shop, beginning a life away from her family, lonely and hard. In Park Yong-hee's young heart, an ideal of winning a happy life through hard work and meticulous effort gradually emerged. Although young, her work ethic was just as strong as that of adults, and she gradually became an outstanding worker in the suit shop. However, fate did not treat Park Yong-hee kindly despite her diligence. Instead, her troubled destiny led her to a cruel fate. At the age of 17, the Japanese recruited young women workers to work in their factories, promising they could earn more money. Upon hearing this news, the already beautiful Park Yong-hee had no sense of caution and began to imagine her own fairy tale. She thought, if she could earn more money, she could find a man who would satisfy her, and she could alleviate her father's worries. She signed up, unaware that she was walking into the jaws of a crocodile. When she arrived in Pyongyang, there were already 15 Korean girls gathered there. She felt the atmosphere was off, as many Japanese men stared at them with wolf-like eyes, as if they wanted to devour them at once. At night, the 16 girls huddled together, trembling and afraid to speak. On December 13, 1937, the Japanese army occupied Nanjing and carried out a six-week massacre, during which they brutally raped countless women. These events, reported by foreign journalists, drew strong condemnation from countries around the world, forcing the Japanese Imperial Army to realize the severity of the issue and hold General Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the "China Central Area Army," responsible, leading to his dismissal on February 14, 1938. Ironically, the Japanese high command justified the establishment of the comfort women system by claiming it was necessary to prevent Japanese soldiers from raping ordinary women, and as a result, the first comfort stations were set up in Nanjing shortly after the city was captured in late December 1937. After that, the Japanese army quickly established more comfort stations. In March 1938, not long after the "Nanjing Massacre," Park Yong-hee and the other 15 Korean girls were sent to Nanjing. On the night they arrived, she was raped by an officer who was about 30 years old. However, she never learned his name, nor could she remember his appearance. In this way, Park Yong-hee and the other 15 Korean girls became unwilling comfort women for the Japanese overnight. Park Yong-hee was sent to the largest comfort station built in Nanjing at the time—Jinshuilou. P1-3