[New Evidence] Why have 30 Korean ‘comfort women’ survived, even though it is that claimed all of them have been massacred?

This is an article sourced from a Facebook post by Shigeharu Oku, the head of the Institute for National Security of the Southwest Islands, in Okinawa. (The text has been revised for clarity.)

Regarding the comfort women issue, at the briefing that was held at the Constitution Memorial Center to report my return to Japan, I have announced that “The comfort women issue is finished”.

And as I was clearing out the immense amount of documents and data, I was asking myself “Is there anything that I have left undone?”

When I attended the International Comfort Women Issue conference on the 7th, I had doubts about the claims made by Seoul University that the comfort women were massacred by the Japanese army. I then flew to Yunnan province in China, and at the public library in Yunnan, I found some microfilm that contradicted South Korea’s claims.    

Regarding this, I have already posted online, but I found a segment of a copy of “Toetsu Honorable Suicide Records” that I had kept while I was sorting out my documents.

The copy consisted of witness statements written by Takakimi Yoshino (from Kurume, Fukuoka prefecture), a former member of the 56th Division/Tatsu 6774 who was a combat medic, which were then copied at the National Diet Library.

As I read it again, I noticed how it contained in detail how 30 Korean comfort women had survived.

The following is what was stated.

A Japanese comfort woman who had survived made the Korean comfort women surrender by saying to them “You have no obligation to Japan”. There were about 30 Korean comfort women.

After that, the Japanese comfort woman commited suicide.

Before the last attack on September 13th, 11 soldiers including Mr. Yoshino were ordered by the commander of their division to notify the Division Headquarters about their final situation.

At that time, the 30 Korean comfort women who were hiding in the forest near the defensive walls of Toetsu pleaded to him, asking him “Commander, can you please take us too?” However, the soldiers set the comfort women free, deep into the forest, as if they wanted to protect them.

On October 7th, Mr. Yoshino became a prisoner-of-war.

He was then transferred from the Tadon concentration camp in Toetsu to Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan. At that time, he saw a truck full of Korean comfort women.

After all, the Korean comfort women were able to escape, aided by a Japanese comfort woman.

I feel a sense of pride in being Japanese, when I think about the kindness of the Japanese comfort women, and the considerateness of the Japanese army towards the Korean comfort women.

I have posted this as I wanted Japanese people to know how the claims made by Seoul University are groundless.

It is a newspaper at the time of the exhibition at Matsuyama Base in Unnan Province.

I arrived in Toetsu after taking 5 connecting flights.

（Edited by Josie ，BLINKS！　Translated  by  Karina、BLINKS!)

＊　The Japanese article is here.