Unveiling Silenced Voices from Chuuk Lagoon to Indonesia: Personal Experiences, Oppression, and Resilience in the Japanese Empire

Historiographical research on the 20th-century Japanese Empire has traditionally focused on state-to-state relations, emphasizing economic, political, and military aspects. While recent scholarly works have shifted towards oral histories, the interplay between individual experiences and their connection to broader historical narratives necessitates further investigation. This paper aims to explore the phenomenon of military sexual slavery, with a specific focus on the intersections of gender, race, socioeconomic status, age, and physical ability. These intersections formed a complex hierarchical structure, influencing each individual's position and relative privilege within the system. By analyzing the personal narratives of victims and survivors, this paper reveals how government-led discourses regarding gender, race, and class intersected with and mutually reinforced one another.

The paper will present stories of individuals from across the Empire, especially highlighting those who lived on the margins of society and were victimized due to multiple intersecting layers. Personal experiences and struggles will be examined, including those of Japanese and Korean 'comfort women' taken to Chuuk Lagoon, Filipino individuals who may today identify as transgender or non-binary, and the stark disparities in the treatment of white women as opposed to Indonesian and Chinese women living in Japan-occupied Indonesia. The paper will also briefly introduce debates about the significance of this new historiography and how it relates to contemporary society and the present-day struggles of individuals who continue to be oppressed by the legacies of colonialism.