This book addresses both the historical reality of Japanese military sexual slavery and the social movements to resolve the issue. On the basis mainly of Japanese military documents and survivors’ testimonies, it reconstructs the concept of military sexual slavery, the process through which military “comfort stations” were established, and the social structural background and reality of the institution. In addition, this volume examines the process through which the movement to resolve Japanese military sexual slavery, begun by women’s movements in South Korea, spread to Japan, Asia, and civil society organizations in the West, the raising of the issue at international organs such as the UN and the ILO, cooperation with North Korea, and the responses of the Japanese government and NGOs to this issue. It also deals with the overall reality of corporate sexual slavery, which Japan implemented from the late 1930s, and the Women’s Labor Volunteer Corps in the context of Japanese military sexual slavery. As elucidated in the first, Korean-language, edition of this work, facts and materials regarding the issue continue to be unearthed even today so that its resolution likewise remains incomplete. With official resolution including legal compensations and apologies to the victims and the punishment of the liable parties still utterly unfulfilled, the restoration of the victims’ honor and dignity has progressed on the psychological and mental level through the efforts of civil society. This book must be ceaselessly revised and supplemented in accordance with the discovery of new facts and the development of social movements and, as such, is still in the making.

A Note on the Text, Translation, and Transliteration
Abbreviations
Tables and Diagrams
Preface

Part I: The Reality of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery

Chapter 1. The Concept of Japanese Military Sex Slaves
1. The Many Names for Japanese Military Sex Slaves
2. The Terminology of the Official Institution
3. Problems with the Actual Operation of the Volunteer Corps/Military Sexual Slavery
4. Institutional Confusion in the Testimonies of the Victims, Victimizers, and Investigators
5. The Perception of South Koreans Who Experienced the Japanese Colonial Era: Survey Results
6. Conclusion

Chapter 2. The Process of Establishing Japanese Military Comfort Stations
1. The Periodization of the Implementation of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
2. The Primitive Form of Military Comfort Stations: Approximately 1905
3. The Formation of Military Comfort Stations: Approximately 1932
4. The Establishment and Implementation of Full-fledged Military Comfort Station Policies: The End of 1937 and Onwards
5. Changes in the Establishment and Form of Management of Military Comfort Stations
6. Conclusion

Chapter 3. The Forced Mobilization of Women as Japanese Military Sex Slaves
1. The Debate Surrounding Forced Mobilization
2. An Analysis of the Testimonies of South Korean Victims
3. The Testimonies of Other Victims and Experiencers of Comfort Stations and Documentary Materials
4. Conclusion

Chapter 4. The Social Structural Background and Reality of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
1. The Formative Background and Coloniality of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
2. The Reality of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
3. Concealment


Part II: The Social Movements to Resolve the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery

Chapter 5. The Movement to Resolve the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
1. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery before Social Movements
2. The Development and Periodization of the Movement
3. The Raising of the Issue by South Korean Women’s Movements and the Establishment of the Korean Council
4. The Participation of Other South Korean NGOs, North Korea, and Overseas Koreans
5. Solidarity with Civil Society in Japan and Asian Victim Nations and around the World
6. The Movement since the 2000 Women’s Tribunal
7. Beyond a Movement for Victims
8. The Movements Demanding Measures from the South Korean and Japanese Governments and the South Korean Government’s Position

Chapter 6. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at the UN
1. The Internationalization of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
2. The UN’s Human Rights-related Organs
3. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at the UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights
4. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at the UN Commission on Human Rights/Human Rights Council
5. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at Treaty Bodies
6. Discussions on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at Global Conferences and by International NGOs
7. Conclusion

Chapter 7. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at the ILO
1. International Activities for the Resolution of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
2. The ILO, the Arena of the Presentation of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
3. Raising the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery at the ILO: 1995-1996
4. The Initiation of Active Activities through the Channel of the Committee of Experts and the Committee of Experts and Conference Committee Reports: 1996-1997
5. The Committee of Experts’ Judgment and the Repeated Frustration of the Adoption of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery as an International Labour Conference Agenda: 1998-2000
6. A Partial Victory?The Adoption of the Issue at the Workers’ Meeting: 2001-2003
7. Repeated Conflict between the Workers’ and Employers’ Groups: Since 2004

Chapter 8. The 2000 Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery
1. The 2000 Women’s Tribunal as a New Movement
2. The Factors That Made the 2000 Women’s Tribunal Possible
3. The Movement in South Korea in the Process of Preparing for the 2000 Women’s Tribunal
4. The Main Points of Contention of the International Organizing Committee and the Tribunal
5. Cooperation among South Korea, North Korea, and Korean Residents in Japan
6. The Significance and Limitations of the 2000 Women’s Tribunal


Part III: Japan’s Responses

Chapter 9. The Responses of the Japanese Government and Conservative Public
1. Changes in the Position of the Japanese Government in the Process of Raising the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
2. The Japanese Government’s Position as Expressed in UN Documents
3. The Perspective of Right-wing Public Opinion in Japan
4. Responses to the 2007 Passage of the US House of Representatives’ “Comfort Women Resolution”
5. From the Review of the Kono Statement to the December 28, 2015 Announcement of the Agreement on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery by the South Korean and Japanese Foreign Ministers

Chapter 10. The Movements of Japanese NGOs
1. Raising the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery in Japan
2. The Awareness of the Issue and the Formation of the Movements: 1988-1991
3. The Development of Full-fledged Movements for the Resolution of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery: End of 1991-1993
4. The Weakening of the Movements and the Search for Alternative Methods: End of 1993-August 1994
5. The Downfall of the Asian Women’s Fund, Movements for Legislation, the 2000 Women’s Tribunal, and Research Activities
6. Attempts at a Nationwide Coalition
7. The Characteristics and Points of Contention of Activist Organizations in Japan


Part IV: The Nature of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery

Chapter 11. The Nature of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
1. The Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery as One of Multilayered Human Rights Violation
2. The Historical Structure of the Oppression of Women
3. Nationalism and Feminism in the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
4. Conclusion

Chapter 12. The Awareness of the International Community: The Universality and Historical Particularity of the Wartime Violation of Women’s Human Rights
1. The Universality and Particularity of the Issue of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery
2. Japanese Military Sexual Slavery as an Issue of the Wartime Violation of Women’s Human Rights
3. The Issue of Historical Particularity
4. The Reasons for the Oversight of Historical Particularity in the Internationalization Process of the Movement
5. Conclusion


Supplements
Bibliography
Index