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Rating: 
Summary: A Difficult Read...
Review: ... but one that folks do need to read. This book was written back in the year 1994 when the horrific legacy of the comfort women was almost unknown to the public at large. Now 8 years later the world is better informed thanks to such authors as Nora Okja Keller.Hicls did a wonderful ob writing and researching this book. He starts off with a general history of prostitution throughout war, and also a histoty of the attrocties aimed at women during war. He then gives a good overview of how the comfort stations were set up throughout the japanese dominated parts of Asia. He goes into detail of how the army, navy, government, and private folks set up the comfort stations, how professional prostitutes joined the comfort stations. How young girls mainly from Korea, but also from other countries such as Taiwan, the Philipines, Indonesia, and others were tricked o become comfort women with promises of money and food. Hicks' book is full o interviews with comfort women so the reader gets first hand accounts of what life was like in a Comfort Station. How the women were treated, how many men each woman or girl has to service in a single day, and living conditions of the comfort women. The last 100 pages or so of the book deals with the various groups who were determined to get an apology and monetary compensation out of the Japanese government. It took a very long time just to get the Japanese to admit that the Korean comfort women were not all willingly becoming prostitutes, but that corcion was used instead. good. but hard book to read
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Summary: Required reading for all Japanese
Review: 8 years ago, I came to Japan. Japanese Society hasn't changed--business men leave their wives and children all the time to travel to Korea, Taiwan, China and Thailand for sex. I've lived in Asia as an anthropologist--as an observer. I have observed the Japanese. In Japan, war crimes are turned into myths and war criminals are worshipped. I believe if the Japanese had a chance, they would commit the same atrocities again.
Rating: 
Summary: Hicks failed to show the essential facts.
Review: If a woman claims that she was raped by a man, do you think it is absolutely O.K. to charge the man with the rape without no evidence other than the accusation of the woman?
I guess that is a breach of the man's rights. What Hicks is doing with this book is the same thing. He misleads the readers by failing to show some essential facts that make this whole issue very questionable. Basically, the comfort women were, as you see in this book, prostitutes. No one says that all of them became prostitute willingly, or no Japanese soldiers were violent and treated them like sexual toys. But it is also true that the Japanese Army authority did try to protect the women from illtreatments and take care of their health.
The report by the U.S. psychological warfare team (p.p.98-100) says: "A kempei was stationed there to controle drunkenness or violence." And it also says: "the proprietor concluded contracts withthe families of [those comfort women], advancing from 300 yen to 1000 yen..."(Japanese soldiers' monthly wage was 8.50 yen). The women were "bought" by the proprietor as it was never uncommon nor illegal in Japan, Korea and China those time. However sad it sounds to us who live in the present day, it was fact many poor parents had to sell their daughters to brothels for the sake of the finance. Nevertheless, some comfort women were, in fact, living strong-mindedly under such horrible situations, even had some enjoyments in their own ways.
The U.S.P.W. report of Myitkyina has more revealations that Hicks ommitted. A book called "Jugun-Ianfu Shiryoshu (The Documents of the Comfort Women)" edited by Professor Yoshimi Yoshiaki, whose research Hicks relies on, has the whole Japanese translation of it. It says: "The girls lived comparatively "luxurious" lives thanks to the plenty of money they were paid. They could go shopping in larger cities. The Japanese soldiers often gave them presents. They enjoyed picnics, sports day and dinner party with the soldiers. Many girls were asked by the soldiers to marry them. Indeed, some girls really married to Japanese soldiers."
Of course, there were some real cases of gang rape, but once the authority came to know of such felonies, the perpetrators were severely punished. Some offenders even got death sentence.
Those real war crimes should not be mixed up with conditions of the women worked at the comfort stations. Then, as for the kidnapping comitted by the Army authority, there is only one man's testimony: Yoshida Seiji's "My War Crimes".
Although Hicks lightly dismissed Professor Hata Ikuhiko's debunking of his claim (with only 4 lines), you should listen to Hata's refutation that was not mentioned in this book.
Hata investigated in Saishuto, South Korea, only one place that yoshida was clear about the date and the name of the place. He found that a local news paper had reported the publication of the Korean version of "My War Crimes" as a fabrication made up by "insincere salesmanship of Japanese". No local residents support the claim of such kidnapping operation.
Besides, Yoshida himself later admitted the book was indeed a fabrication in a magazine article. It should be noted that the special report on this issue for the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations written by Ms. Coomaraswamy, in 1996, was based on this Yoshida's testimony and Hicks book apart from the testimonies of the ex-comfort women that were never verified of their reliability. In 1993, Cabinet Chief Secretary Kono Yohei announced, in the form of an informal talk, an apology to those comfort women with the confirmation of the existence of the proof of involvement of the Army authority to the "kidnapping".
However, what the exact document (Yoshimi, Ibid, p.105) shows was nothing but good intention of the Army authority who ordered the Staff officers in China to watch those wicked proprietors who sometimes recruit women in rough way almost like kidnapping. Furthermore, later in 1997, then Cabinet Vice-Secretary Ishihara Nobuo admitted to a jounalist that they gave that apology knowing that no such evidence exists because they had a "deal" with the South Korean government in order to save their face, and in return, Japan got a promise not to be demanded any compensations in future. He also admitted that the Korean comfort women's testimonies were never tested nor substantiated. I understand that most of the people who think the Japanese Army was evil think so because of the Tokyo Trial.
But, it is well admitted by some of the judges of the trial that the procedure in the trial was not fair to the defendants and, therefore, the crimes they were accused of were never properly verified. It was merely a "victor's justice".
Given the fact, all allegations against the Japanese Imperial Army during the war should be examined carefully in fair way.
Accusing people falsely should never be justified by sympathy to the accuser if there are no validated evidences.
Rating:
Summary: Full of lies.
Review: In Japan, this book is known as a book full of fabirication.
I recommend any other books.
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Summary: A History Lesson Everyone Should Learn
Review: It is not a easy book to read; it sure will make many of people in today's materialized society to realize how lucky they are.
This book should be included in our text book to teach our new generation that freedom and liberity is not FREE and there is always a price to pay.
If the Japanese government is not so sensitive and being over-protective about the issue, they should use this book as one of their text book in learning the mistake in their past, and hopefully they won't make the same mistake again in their new generation.
People can find more info on another good book about the topic, "Comfort Women" by Yoshimi Yoshiaki and Suzanne O'Brien. I have the same comment there.
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Summary: jap is sick
Review: once u know jap culture, u will feel sorry for them
Rating:
Summary: Look at all the Japanese reviewers in here!
Review: take a look. the Japanese reviewers for the books are really "fair" and "objective". if the book tells us good aspects about Japan, or shows us that the thousands and thousands of people killed by them during the WW II are just stories, or fictions, they will rate the book up to its highest five stars. Like this book, the author is very objective, however,the facts are not for the good of those Japanese, then they will rate the book to the lowest point. they hope there could be 0 star out there. what a shame. That Hiromi "woman" and another anonymous Japanese both said that we should definitely go get another book which by their meanings does not show the dirty and cruel facts of Japan.
Japanese govenm't and their people never acknowledged the sins they've made; even naking massacre is said to be just a fake fiction. You Japanese are shameless and coward on every respects! but I'll tell you what, facts are facts, people on the earth will all make their eyes clear and see the truth. You can never ever conceal all the human experiments done to the Chinese people and the unspeakable massacres!!!!! japanese people like that Hiromi said that Chinese are being brain washed. Your japxnese are not being brain washed? you distort the history, never face or acknowledge what you'd done during the war. I'm NOT surprised to see a person like you who is talking like this. Denying the truth without feeling guilty or shame. Now I know Xapanese govnm't is much better than the Chinese government in brainwashing their people. No matter what you Xapanese say or deny, all the real people with a human heart and logic will see the truth! Xapanese all will have to pay for that! we will never forget!
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Summary: Hiromi, have you ever seen any comfort woman in China!!!!
Review: They are live history. You said that Chinese had been brain washed. On the contrary, the government says 'Let Chinese and Japanese be friends generation by generation.'That is the stupid thing of the Communist Party of China. I am 30 now. When I was in my childhood. I knew that Japs invaded China, but I didn't know what they DID in China because the Communist Party of China didn't even talk about the details. These years, the victims speak out what they suffered. I relized ... Hironmi, you are a brain-washed Japanese woman or a liar. Unless you talked to the people who suffered the WAR in Asian, you don't have the right to do any review.
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Summary: Hiromi shut the hell up
Review: You should shut the hell up hiromi. Your negative comments have plagued this entire system when the truth has comes out. Don't deny there was no rape. There is rape in every war even today, some being more cruel like the damn Japanese. If the damn Jap army was as you claim so "nice", the Chinese people would have supported them instead of Chiang or Mao. So shut up Hiromi, and accept the truth. How would you feel if you, your family and loved ones got raped and mutilated? SO SHUT UP.
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Summary: Women's lives in a war zone.
Review: ¡° The Comfort Women¡± written by George Hicks portrays how the war can bring down women¡¯s right to the bottom line. They were fed to survive, but other than that, they were like a disposable thing. They were sent to the war zone with the food and cloths for the Japanese soldiers. They were sent to the war zone to provide sexual comfort to the soldier.
In the book, the author contained several comfort women¡¯s stories too. The speaker¡¯s pain will touch your heart, and live with you for a long time. Those women are who survived from the World War II and make their way back home. However, they were not able to overcome of the horror until now. Their shocking stories in the war zone and their lives after the war are no similar to any other women¡¯s who suffered from a war.
There were 200.000 women who were taken away to the war, and only less than 200 women got back. Last of them were buried in the war field. After half century later, most of them died of old age. The remained victims¡¯, of the Japan¡¯s brutal sexual assault, last word are in this book. We should read and remember their pain. Thus, nothing like this won¡¯t happen again.
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