This year, China’s core scholars on “comfort women” — women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army in World War II — published two career-defining books.

One, “A Comprehensive History of the Japanese Military ‘Comfort Women’ System,” offers an in-depth analysis of wartime female slavery and is considered the most comprehensive, systematic, and authoritative multi-volume study of its kind to date. The other, “The Search: ‘Comfort Woman’ Park Yong-sim and Her Sisters,” is a revised edition about Park Yong-sim’s personal narrative as she was taken from her hometown of Nampo, Korea, to Nanjing, capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, and forced into sexual slavery at the age of 17.

In many ways, the works are a fitting capstone to Su Zhiliang and Chen Lifei’s decadeslong scholarship and advocacy, as the husband-and-wife pair, now nearing their 70s, consider stepping back. Taken together, the books encapsulate the dual approach that has defined the Shanghai Normal University scholars’ foundational work to document and identify survivors of the wartime female slavery system.

However, as the couple contemplate the future of their research, challenges remain. Since they began their research and fieldwork in the 1990s, they have identified 358 comfort women survivors in the Chinese mainland, nearly tripling previous estimates. Now, there are only seven remaining survivors — the youngest of whom is 95 years old.

“The history of ‘comfort women’ represents one of the most horrific, systematic violations of women’s rights in modern history,” Su tells Sixth Tone. “I hope more scholars will enter this field, whether to reconstruct the historical narrative or to analyze it from new perspectives.”

This question of who will carry on their important research — and how — marks a shift in the field. While Su and Chen feel they have essentially fulfilled their academic mission by preserving both comprehensive information and first-person accounts, there are currently very few scholars poised to pick up the baton. Often, the issue only comes to light in media reports when another survivor dies, and there is comparatively little discourse on the system behind wartime female sexual slavery.

Su and Chen believe the field must undergo a transformation to keep the tragedy from being forgotten or misconstrued. But what does a career spanning over three decades mean when the victims and witnesses of this wartime atrocity are disappearing?

Ahead of this year’s International Memorial Day for Comfort Women on Aug. 14, Sixth Tone sat down with Su Zhiliang — Chen Lifei declined to be interviewed due to health reasons — to delve deeper into the pair’s research and advocacy.

The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Sixth Tone: You and your wife, Professor Chen Lifei, are among China’s most prominent scholars researching the “comfort women” system. Could you start by sharing how you first became involved in this field of study?

Su Zhiliang: After WWII, the Japanese government knew this was a shameful crime and systematically destroyed archival materials related to the “comfort women” system, so the issue only came to international attention in 1991, when a 67-year-old Korean woman, Kim Hak-sun, courageously came forward to testify that she had been forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military in China and to file a lawsuit against the Japanese government. That was when I first became aware of the “comfort women” system.

However, I wasn’t truly compelled to act until 1992, when I was conducting research at the University of Tokyo as an associate professor of history at Shanghai Normal University. During an international academic conference, a Japanese scholar learned I was from Shanghai and said, “Did you know the Japanese military’s first ‘comfort station’ (a military-run enslavement site for sex slaves) was established in Shanghai?” I was stunned. I specialized in the social history of Shanghai, yet I had never heard of this. I decided to extend my stay in Japan by a year to begin collecting and studying documents about the “comfort women” system. When I returned to Shanghai in 1993, I used my spare time to locate former “comfort station” sites and search for survivors and witnesses.

As I gathered more information about survivors, I wanted to begin interviews, but I asked my wife, Chen Lifei, to take the lead. Typically, she would ask the questions while I handled note-taking and video recording.

Sixth Tone: Once you two receive a lead about a potential survivor, how do you go about confirming their identity as a former “comfort woman” and proceeding with an interview? What kinds of obstacles do you usually face?

Su: Confirming someone’s identity as a former “comfort woman” is not easy. “Comfort women” were part of a structured system, and not all victims of Japanese military sexual violence were officially designated as such. So when we receive a lead, it takes a considerable amount of time to conduct background research. We check historical records, military troop movements, battle timelines, and seek corroborating evidence. We only proceed once we’ve established the context.

There were many obstacles, especially in the early years. Local officials in China were often uncooperative, as if this history was something to be ashamed of. This resistance began to ease a bit after 2000 (as more survivors sought litigation and public awareness increased), but the survivors themselves would sometimes still decline interviews. For example, we had once arranged for a Shanghai TV crew to travel with us to northern Shanxi province’s capital, Taiyuan, to interview a survivor. Everything was in place, but just before we departed, she called to say she no longer wished to speak on camera. All I could say was that we understood. It’s incredibly painful to recount the most traumatic experiences of your life to strangers.

Sixth Tone: Today, the remaining survivors are all well into their 90s. I often find it remarkable how these women endured unimaginable suffering in their youth, yet many have lived long lives. Their resilience is extraordinary.

Su: The survivors we’ve met are incredibly strong. Most of them are illiterate, yet possess a deep sense of dignity and moral clarity. Take Li Lianchun from the southwestern Yunnan province, for instance. She has a scar on her shoulder from when a Japanese soldier bit a chunk of flesh from her while raping her. After recounting her experience, she told us, “My body is the most precious thing I own — no amount of money can compensate for what was taken from me. I don’t want money, nor revenge. I just want justice.”

Then there’s Wei Shaolan, a Yao ethnic minority woman from the southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region featured in the documentary “Twenty-Two,” who sang traditional mountain songs. I’ll never forget what she said: “The world is so beautiful. Even if all you eat is wild herbs, you must stay alive to see it.”

Yet we must also recognize that they are the exceptions. The history of “comfort women” represents one of the most horrific, systematic violations of women’s rights in modern history. Our research shows that in China alone, the Japanese military established more than 2,100 “comfort stations.” Throughout the entire war, between 360,000 and 410,000 women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military. Many died during their captivity.

Sixth Tone: In 2000, you led the Chinese delegation at the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery in Tokyo, and later supported survivors in legal action against the Japanese government. But in 2007, Japan’s Supreme Court ruled that individuals do not have the right to sue the state and rejected the case. Nearly 20 years on, has Japan’s stance changed?

Su: Unfortunately, it has only worsened. In the 1990s, Japanese school textbooks still included references to the “comfort women” system. Now, such content is becoming increasingly rare. One major reason is the decline of left-leaning historians and the weakening of progressive forces, while nationalist and right-wing voices grow stronger. As a result, Japan’s current attitude toward the issue is even more regressive than it was 30 years ago. We must remain vigilant about this.

Sixth Tone: Rape is tragically common in war, but the “comfort women” system seems different — it was institutionalized and far more systematic. Can you explain the nature of this system?

Su: Through extensive archival research, we’ve established that the “comfort women” system was implemented and maintained by the Japanese state and military. It was part of their logistical planning, and women — like food and ammunition — were considered indispensable wartime resources. According to internal documents from the Japanese Ministry of War, senior officials discussed the shortage of “comfort stations” at the front lines and decided that 400 more should be established.

(Editor’s note: According to Su’s research and Japanese scholars on the subject, the army’s logistical planning also determined the number of sex slaves the Japanese army claimed it needed to satisfy troops’ sexual appetites and prevent them from other debauchery. The allotted number was roughly one sex slave for every 29 soldiers.)

The system evolved in three stages. The first phase, from 1932 to 1937, saw the emergence of “comfort stations” in places like Shanghai and Manchuria. The world’s first known “comfort station,” called Daiichi Salon, was located at Lane 125, Dongbaoxing Road in Shanghai.

The second phase, from 1937 to 1941, followed the Nanjing Massacre. Amid international condemnation and rising rates of venereal disease, the Japanese military formalized and expanded the system, establishing “comfort stations” wherever their forces advanced in China.

The third phase, from 1941 to 1945, coincided with the outbreak of the Pacific War. The system expanded into Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. During this time, “comfort women” included not only those forcibly taken from China, Korea, and Japan, but also local women from across Southeast Asia — even some Western women who had been living there.

Sixth Tone: I’ve often thought that the “comfort women” system bears a chilling resemblance to the Holocaust. Both involved taking a recurring atrocity of war — sexual violence or mass killing — and turning it into a highly efficient, state-administered system.

Su: I agree. The “comfort women” system and the Holocaust represent two distinct but equally heinous forms of fascist violence — one Eastern, one Western. Both were state-sponsored crimes against humanity, and both epitomize the brutality of fascism and militarism.

Sixth Tone: But compared to Holocaust studies, “comfort women” research remains relatively underdeveloped. Why is that?

Su: You’re right: The disparity is striking. I hope more scholars will enter this field, whether to reconstruct the historical narrative or to analyze it from new perspectives such as gender studies or psychology.

That said, I do take pride in what my wife and I — along with many of our students — have accomplished over the past 30 years. We’ve helped establish and preserve the core historical facts of the Japanese military’s sexual slavery system, which the Japanese government continues to evade and deny.

(Header image: A visitor looks at the portraits of victims at the site of the Lijixiang Comfort Station in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, 2019. VCG)