일본군 전범의 자필진술서를 통해서 본 일본군 ‘위안부’ 문제

Abstract

This article analyzes the statements of nine war criminals regarding the “comfort women” of the imperial Japanese military. The nationalities of these “comfort women” mentioned by the nine war criminals include China, Japan, and Korea. Especially, Japanese women are referred to as ‘ginyeo(=기녀(妓女)’ or ‘prostitutes.’ They named the facilities confined these women as “comfort stations,” but did not use the term “comfort women” directly. This paper emphasizes the noteworthiness of the statements indicating that war criminals dealt with comfort station-related matters within the category of rape. For example, Isao Inaba stated that while being stationed in the Yanxishan Army in Shaanxi Province, he operated a military “comfort station” during the civil war. Ono Taketsugu used different terms by stating that a Korean woman was present at the “comfort station” and “yolijeom.” This is significant in considering the continuity and discontinuity of comfort stations and brothels. Yutaka Takeuchi said, as a army surgeon, that he proposed to set up a comfort station for “sanitation,” which meant by the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases. Ippei Azuma used emphasized marks(equivalent to double quotation marks in English) on the comfort station, and there is also a mention of “Auntie Kim,” who appeared to be a Korean trader. Although Takazawa Kenji visited a place called geumseongnu金城樓 and a comfort station separately, he mentioned that the acts in both places were “rape.” Yuichi Furukawa wrote, as an “administrative adviser” in Manchukuo, that he was aware of the “rape and gang rape” that had taken place in the “Japanese Military Soldier Comfort Station,” but he had ignored it. Watanabe and Hirose both stated the same facts related to the Japanese military comfort station, but Watanabe confessed that it is an “open rape facility,” while Hirose mentioned it as an “gigwan(妓館).”