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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| October 27, 2004 |
Subic Bay, the Philippines - Meeting the Comfort Women |
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One of the issues at the center of debate over historical record in East Asia is that of the "Comfort Women". When the Japanese military occupied the region during World War II, one act of war and terror against the local populations was the conscription of tens of thousands of women to provide sexual service to the occupying soldiers. While the Japanese government still refuses to recognize their experience and the pain these women have carried with them for over 50 years, a group of about 40 Peace Boat participants spent a day with the "Lolas" - the women, now grandmothers, who suffered as Comfort Women. Here, local youth in Subic Bay perform a traditional dance welcoming Peace Boat's arrival. |
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Organized by partner organizations ASCENT and People's Global Exchange, the programme focused on two points: to meet the Lolas and listen to their stories, and to learn about their continuing struggle to gain recognition, apology and compensation from the Japanese government. Lola Masing, pictured here, joined the Peace Boat group at the port and told her story as we traveled to Mapanique village in the countryside. At the age of 13, she was forced into sexual slavery lasting one year, suffering rape, abuse, injury and intense psychological trauma that has never healed. |
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The first stop on the tour was a large, run-down building known as the "Red House", pictured here at the edge of Mapanique village. On November 22, 1944, the Japanese occupying army, trying to cut off a supply route to Filipino rebels, bombed, then invaded Mapanique. While the village was razed, the men were rounded up and killed, and many of the women and young girls were captured and forced into sexual slavery, the center of which was the Red House. |
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The Lolas led participants through the Red House, where the creaky, dusty floors and barren rooms were lit by rays of sunlight through broken stained-glass windows, harking back to a affluent existence before the war. Later, their experience came out in greater detail. Not only as a means to "service" the occupying soldiers, rape and torture were widely used as tools to further the aims of war: forcing local people to reveal information about the rebels, erasing any remnants of psychological resistance, breaking down local social structure, and forcing people to watch torture and public execution of suspected rebel sympathizers. Revealing their experiences, even to families or husbands, was not possible for decades after the war for many of the Lolas. When the Lolas did share their experiences, facing intense social stigma as a degraded human, the responses by family and husbands ranged from drinking and despair, refusal to believe their story, abandonment, and only in a minority of cases, support and care. |
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Around the early 1990s enough women began coming out with their stories, supported by various NGOs, that they could begin openly pressuring the Japanese government for an apology and compensation. In this struggle they also joined with women from the Korean peninsula, Taiwan and China, Indonesia and other countries seeking justice and reconciliation. Despite overwhelming evidence of responsibility for these war crimes, the Japanese government continues to evade the issue and dismiss the women, rather than settle the issue. The Japanese Supreme Court most recently dismissed Lola Masing's case in December 2003. Despite the incredible tenacity and courage of women who are now all in their 70s and above, time is not on their side. It is clear that the strategy of the Japanese government, rather than level a complete denial of the women's experience, is to wait for them to die, hoping that the truth they carry will die with them. Amidst the hard stories though were a thousand happy moments like this picture here, participants sharing in the bountiful energy and curiosity of the young locals. |
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The final stop was a small memorial at the back of the local primary school, dedicated to the men who died fighting in the war. A moment of silence, and tears, followed by a few words from the Lolas and Peace Boat participants was sufficient to end an emotional day. Many people wanted to know how they could support the Lolas in their struggle, and many offered financial help. Much appreciated as the offers were, the Lolas made clear that the most important way participants could help them was to return to Japan, spread their message, and for participants to become advocates themselves by applying pressure to the Japanese government.
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Many participants left Mapanique emotionally drained, but with a powerful new connection to historical events and the people who experienced them, as well as a harsh understanding of how their government (dis)regards the comfort women of Asia. The stories told by the Lolas prompted many tears and the occasional outburst by both sides, as an important process of sharing was able to take place. One young participant explained her deep interest in the stories of the Lolas as coming from the fact that her grandfather was in the Philippines with the Japanese army. Hugs were shared by all before boarding the bus for the long ride back to Subic Bay, giving everyone ample time to think about the day's experience; the first of many to be had over the next three months. Before leaving though, a water buffalo rambled up to bid farewell to the Peace Boat group, instigating a few smiles and giggles. |
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