Comfort Woman - (Asian Voices) 2nd Edition by Maria Rosa Henson (Hardcover)

About the Book

In 1943, 15-year-old Maria Rosa Henson was taken by Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines and forced into prostitution as a "comfort woman." Now with a new introduction and foreword that assess the ongoing controversy over comfort women, her powerful memoir will be essen...

Book Synopsis

In 1943, 15-year-old Maria Rosa Henson was taken by Japanese soldiers occupying the Philippines and forced into prostitution as a "comfort woman." Now with a new introduction and foreword that assess the ongoing controversy over comfort women, her powerful memoir will be essential reading for all those concerned with violence against women.

Review Quotes

A compelling and moving account of one Filipina's ordeal under the Japanese military. It is also a story of survival, and of a lifelong quest for healing and for justice. Maria Rosa Henson deserves praise for her honesty and courage. By revealing to us her painful experiences, Mrs. Henson broke a fifty-year silence and made the world aware of the brutality of war and its savageness to women. We are greatly enriched by this story and inspired by how one woman can overcome such epic suffering and still have such compassion and such faith.

Henson's book is different for two reasons: she experienced the tragedy firsthand and therefore speaks with authority; but she also speaks with the voice of healing, since she has lived with her nightmare for decades and survived, both physically and spiritually. Another amazing aspect of this book is that despite its title, it does not focus narrowly on the sex-slave controversy. Henson died in August 1997, but her words live on. Her example is unforgettable.

Maria Rosa Henson's Comfort Woman is a straightforward, painful account, simply told. A powerful account of a woman's life controlled by men, both Filipino and Japanese.

Serves as a good introduction to readers who may be approaching the subject of 'comfort women' for the first time. Henson's autobiography becomes more than just the telling of the untold but ultimately the revealing of the unseen and the unsaid. [She] is not only able to recount the nightmare of her abduction and confinement in a 'comfort station, ' but she articulates the day to day degradation and hardship that women are subjected to long before and after the war is over.

This book makes clear that what the Japanese army did was only the worst example of oppression against women in the long history of colonialism and imperialism in the Philippines. It serves a corroborative text for historians, a call to arms for feminists and human rights activists, and, finally, a life-affirming reminder of the indomitability of the human spirit for all readers.

The book's value has been increased markedly by the inclusion of Tnaka's cogent introduction that works so well in conjunction with Henson's gripping life experience. Comfort Woman will be a welcome addition to courses in Asian studies as well as women's history courses. The only problem readers may have is an emotional one.

About the Author

Maria Rosa Henson, 1928-1996, was the first comfort woman to go public with her story in 1992 and fought actively until her death for justice and reparations from the Japanese government.
Yuki Tanaka was research professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute of Hiroshima City University until his retirement in 2015.
Cynthia Enloe is research professorin the Department of International Development, Community, and Social Change and the Department of Women's Studies at Clark University.