On the night of September 18, 1931, Japanese troops bombed railway tracks near Liutiaohu, Shenyang, framing the Chinese army, and then bombarded the Northeast Army's Beidaying barracks. This explosion marked the outbreak of the September 18 Incident, beginning a 14-year-long bloody struggle for the Chinese nation.
Slaughter, indiscriminate bombing, live burial, live experiments, resource plunder, rape, forced labor, cremation… During the Japanese invasion of China, much of the country was trampled upon by the Japanese army.
The "comfort women" system was one of the countless crimes committed by the Japanese army. It is estimated that over 200,000 Chinese "comfort women" were subjected to Japanese bayonets, suffering immense physical and psychological pain throughout their lives. Today, the number of surviving comfort women is dwindling, and those who remain are growing old amidst their tearful testimonies.
The Broken Calendar Monument Square at the September 18th History Museum, Shenyang, Liaoning Province
Death with resentment, never receiving an apology.
The "comfort women" system was a system implemented by Japanese militarists during World War II, where large numbers of young women were forcibly conscripted as sex slaves. Directly planned by the Japanese government and military, and carried out by local Japanese troops, this system forced women from China, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia, and other countries and regions to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese army, possessing international characteristics.
From 1931 onwards, during the Japanese invasion of China, at least 200,000 Chinese women were forced into sexual slavery as "comfort women," suffering inhumane torture. According to statistics from the Research Center for the Comfort Women Issue at Shanghai Normal University, there are currently 14 surviving victims in mainland China. The number of survivors is constantly decreasing.
They use their blood and tears to condemn the atrocities of Japanese militarism.
Due to her strenuous resistance, her right thighbone was broken, resulting in permanent disability. Lin Ailan's inhumane experience as a "comfort woman" lasted for six months, and she permanently lost her fertility.
At just 15 years old, Huang Youliang was imprisoned in a Japanese military camp and forced into sexual slavery as a comfort woman. For two years, she endured unimaginable brutality. "I'm old now, and I hope that before I die, I can get justice!" Tragically, Huang Youliang died without ever receiving a formal apology from Japan.
Hao Yuelian was forcibly conscripted as a "comfort woman" by the Japanese army, bound with ropes and taken to a stronghold. After suffering inhumane abuse, she suffered multiple fractures and was rendered infertile for life.
Chen Meiying, after being humiliated and tortured by the Japanese army, had to use a cane to firmly barricade the door every night after her rescue.
Tang Genzhen was captured by the Japanese army and forced into a comfort station, where she was subjected to severe torture. Her arm was broken, and she was forced to take birth control pills, resulting in her lifelong infertility.
At 16, she was forcibly taken to the Japanese army headquarters, where she was forced to do laundry and cook for Japanese soldiers during the day and provide sexual services at night. Her family rescued her, but after recovering from illness, she was again captured by the Japanese army and taken to a military camp. This became a painful memory for Chen Liancun throughout her life…
They were all victims of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system, many of whom were brutally violated in their youth. As the years passed, the surviving "comfort women," now elderly, died one by one with resentment, never receiving an apology until their last breath!
Nanjing Liji Lane Comfort Women Site Museum
Ironclad Evidence of Japan's Forced Recruitment of "Comfort Women"
"December 28, 1937. With increasing illegal and disciplinary incidents within the army, the Second Section of the General Staff convened a meeting of officers from all units. The Chief of Staff emphasized military discipline and reviewed and approved the Second Section's proposal to establish a comfort station in Nanjing," wrote Uemura Toshimichi, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army, in his diary.
From 1991 onwards, the Japanese government began collecting official historical documents related to the "comfort women" who served with the military.
In 1993, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono issued the "Kono Statement," which was the Japanese government's report on the forced recruitment of "comfort women" during World War II. It acknowledged that this was a historical fact, perpetrated by the Japanese military against the wishes of the victims through coercion and deception.
In the same year, the UN World Human Rights Conference adopted the Declaration on the Abolition of Violence against Women, condemning the Japanese military's "comfort women" system as "wartime slavery."
In 1996, a UN Human Rights Commission report stated that the "comfort women" system was a system in which the Japanese government forced women from victim countries to serve as sexual slaves for the Japanese military during World War II, and that the Japanese government should apologize.
In 2014, the Jilin Provincial Archives unearthed and compiled 89 documents related to the Japanese invasion of China that were not destroyed during Japan's surrender, including new evidence of forced recruitment related to "comfort women."
A total of 25 documents related to the forced recruitment of "comfort women" by the Japanese army were unearthed from the archives of the Kwantung Military Police and the Central Bank of Manchukuo held in the Jilin Provincial Archives. These include two "Investigation Reports (Ultimatums) on the Restoration of Security in the Nanjing Military Police Jurisdiction," two telephone records from the Central Bank of Manchukuo, and 21 "Monthly Reports on Communications Inspections" submitted by military police from various regions, detailing the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the forced recruitment, abuse, and enslavement of "comfort women."
On December 6, 2019, according to Kyodo News, the Japanese Cabinet Secretariat newly collected 23 documents related to the "comfort women" issue in 2017 and 2018. These documents record details such as "the Army is considering needing about one female hostess for every 70 soldiers" and "special women traveling south in military vehicles."
Japanese historians assert that these new official historical materials further corroborate the dominant role of the Japanese military in the "comfort women" system, showing that the Japanese military and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly transported "comfort women" to the battlefield.
Nanjing Liji Lane Comfort Women Site Museum
History cannot tolerate lies, justice must be served.
In May 2016, non-governmental organizations from 11 countries and regions, including China and South Korea, again initiated an application for "comfort women" materials to be registered in the "Memory of the World Register," striving to extend and develop the "national memory" of East Asian countries suffering under Japanese militarism into a "historical memory" for all humanity, to warn the world.
Japan's crime of forcibly recruiting "comfort women" is a historical fact, with irrefutable evidence.
For a long time, hundreds of thousands of comfort women have not only received no apology, but Japan has also continuously obscured the historical facts regarding the "comfort women" system, downplaying and evading its historical responsibility.
Previously, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview with the Sankei Shimbun, declared that Japan's international reputation should be restored on the issue of comfort women.
In May 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga stated in the House of Representatives Budget Committee that, based on the Cabinet's response regarding the inappropriate use of the term "military comfort women," the term "military comfort women" would no longer be recognized in future textbook reviews, and the term "comfort women" would be used instead. He stated that he would continue the position on "comfort women" from the August 1993 "Kono Statement."
"On the one hand, Japan is playing word games, attempting to obscure the facts and downplay its culpability; on the other hand, it claims to uphold the 'Kono Statement.' This is a self-contradictory and clumsy performance, aimed at gradually denying or even glorifying its history of aggression," responded Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
Besides attempting to obscure historical facts through word games, Japan also wants to revise textbooks again to downplay and evade historical responsibility. Recently, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology approved applications from five publishers to revise or remove descriptions related to "comfort women" from textbooks, sparking considerable controversy.
On September 13, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded that the forced recruitment of "comfort women" was a serious crime against humanity committed by Japanese militarism, a historical fact that is irrefutable and undeniable.
On September 17, the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council held a dialogue on the human rights of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations. Jiang Duan, China's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, stated that even today, many people in Japan attempt to deny the Nanjing Massacre, the forced recruitment of "comfort women," and other heinous crimes committed by Japanese militarist aggressors, denying or even glorifying the history of aggression. This is a serious violation of the human rights of the people of victimized countries.
Although Japan continues to downplay and evade its historical responsibility regarding the "comfort women" system, history does not tolerate lies, and these heinous crimes will not end with the passing of the "living witnesses."
Today, memorial statues for "comfort women" have been erected in many countries, and historical materials are being made public and disseminated worldwide… The forces upholding historical truth and safeguarding world peace and justice are constantly gathering strength.
September 18th Incident—history cannot be forgotten, we dare not forget! Never forget national humiliation; let us strive for a stronger nation!