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Japan / China: Chinese 'Comfort Women' formerly in the service of the Imperial Japanese Army being interviewed by Chinese soldiers watched by an American officer, c. 1945

Comfort women were women and girls forced into a prostitution corps created by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The name 'comfort women' is a translation of a Japanese name ianfu (慰安婦). Ianfu is a euphemism for shōfu (娼婦) whose meaning is 'prostitute'.

Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 to as high as 400,000, but the exact numbers are still being researched and debated. Many of the women were from occupied countries, including Korea, China, and the Philippines, although women from Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and other Japanese-occupied territories were used for military brothels.

Stations were located in Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, then Malaya, Thailand, Burma, New Guinea, Hong Kong, Macau, and French Indochina. A smaller number of women of European origin from the Netherlands and Australia were also involved.