Occupying Power: Sex Workers And Servicemen In Postwar Japan

Synopsis

The year was 1945. Hundreds of thousands of Allied troops poured into war-torn Japan and spread throughout the country, altering both the built environment and the country's psychological landscape. The effect of this influx on the local population did not lessen in the years following the war's end. In fact, the presence of foreign servicemen also heightened the visibility of certain others, particularlypanpan-streetwalkers-who were objects of their desire. Occupying Powershows how intimate histories and international relations are interconnected in ways scholars have only begun to explore. Although sex workers became symbols of Japan's diminished status, by earning scarce dollars they helped jump-start economic recovery. But sex workers who catered to servicemen were nonetheless a frequent target. They were blamed for increases in venereal disease. They were charged with diluting the Japanese race by producing mixed-race offspring. In 1956, Japan passed its first national law against prostitution. Though empowered female legislators had joined with conservatives in this effort to reform and rehabilitate, the law produced an unanticipated effect. By ending a centuries-old tradition of sex work regulation, it made sex workers less visible and more vulnerable. This probing history reveals an important but underexplored aspect of the Japanese occupation and its effect on gender and society. It seeks to shift the terms of debate on a number of controversies, including Japan's history of forced sexual slavery, rape accusations against U. S. servicemen, opposition to U. S. overseas bases, and sexual trafficking.

Copyright:

2012

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780804783460

Related ISBNs:

9780804776912, 9780804788632

Publisher:

Stanford University Press

Date of Addition:

05/17/17

Copyrighted By:

Stanford University Press

Adult content:

Yes

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Social Studies

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.