The Silent Suffering of Ianfu in Indonesia

OMOH was at the front of her house when two Japanese soldiers came with a letter and handed it to her parents. After the Japanese left, no one dared to touch the letter. Besides being afraid, her parents, who lived off farming, were illiterate. "All they said was that I would be hired," Omoh recalled. 

Following the soldiers' order, the next day Omoh and her parents went to the Japanese army office on Jalan Simpang, Cimahi, bringing the letter with them. Once there, they found out that the letter contained an announcement that Omoh had been accepted to work there as a servant. 

In 1942, Omoh was still 14 years old. There, she met several young women who would also be employed as servants. For six days, Omoh had nothing to do except doing taiso (calisthenics). Confused, she asked the cook there, a woman named Awat, about the job she was supposed to do. Awat's answer was short: you'll find out later. "I could only wonder to myself what my job actually was."

One day, a Japanese doctor named Tanaka came to do a medical checkup. Omoh was taken aback. The most sensitive part of her body was examined. Omoh screamed in pain as she bled. She then developed a fever. "Dr. Tanaka was the first Japanese man to have sex with me."

From then on, Omoh knew that she was trapped to become a Japanese prostitute and work at ianjo (Japanese military brothel, or euphemistically called 'comfort stations'). Her name was changed to Midori. Every day, she was forced to satisfy the sexual needs of her Japanese "guests" who usually arrived in the late afternoon. After taking a short break, she had to serve the next guests until late at night. There were often so many guests that she was exhausted, but nothing could be done, as refusing to work would cause her to receive punches and kicks. She couldn't escape either because ianjo, which was usually built close to the army dormitory, was often guarded by the ruthless Kempeitai (Japanese military police).

Ianjo Throughout Indonesia

In Indonesia, ianjo existed in many regions from Aceh to Papua. Most ianjo could be found near every Japanese military barrack although the name might vary depending on the region. Some called it asrama (dormitory), rumah panjang (long house), or rumah bambu (bamboo house). Based on research conducted by Koichi Kimura and Eka Hindra from 1999-2012, there are several models of the ianjo buildings. Ianjo could be a new building constructed near the military barrack or an old building adjacent to residential areas; a former house of a Dutch, a hotel in the city center, or a mountain retreat owned by a Dutch.

During the Japanese occupation, Indonesian territory was divided into three administrative regions of military rule: The 25th Army for Sumatra based in Bukittinggi; the Navy's 16th Army for Java and Madura based in Jakarta; and the Navy's 2nd Southern Fleet for Bali, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Maluku based in Makassar. David Jenkins in Soeharto di Bawah Militerisme Jepang writes that these three regions had little contact with each other as if they were three different regions. The regions were different, and so were their policies. It was no wonder that the ianjo conditions in each region were also not the same.

However, based on Eka Hindra's observations, the policies in handling ianjo also differed from one another even within the same government area. For example, Omoh's ianjo in Cimahi didn't allow women to go outside to serve the guests. All guests must come to ianjo to get service. Meanwhile, in an ianjo in Sukabumi where Iting worked, guests were allowed to take the woman they wanted out, and after fulfilling their desires, they must take the woman back to the ianjo.

In Mardiyem's ianjo in Banjarmasin and Lantrah's ianjo in Balikpapan, no woman could be taken out to serve one person, not even a high-ranking officer. But this wasn't the case in Sanga-sanga Dalam, where high-ranking officers had the power to get a woman for himself. The woman would be housed outside of her ianjo. This happened to Siti Neng Itjuh, who after staying in ianjo for two years, was taken by a Japanese officer named Yoshitani to exclusively serve him, until she gave birth to a baby boy.

In addition to differences in policies, the facilities in each ianjo also differed. The size of the rooms might vary, and some ianjo were equipped with facilities such as health examination rooms and open toilets for washing the genitals for women and guests. Also, the quality of the food and the rationing of "Kooa" cigarettes might differ from one ianjo to another.

Inside the Ianjo

The ianjo building was usually surrounded by a high wooden fence so that the activities around the building were not visible to people from outside. After getting in, guests must come to a room that functioned as a counter where they would receive two condoms and a ticket valid for a one-hour visit.

Visiting hours and ticket prices were determined by class: civilians and military (low-ranking and officers). Low-ranking soldiers could make a visit from 12:00-19:00 with a ticket price of 2.5 yen/hour. For civilians, the ticket would be 3.5 yen/hour (17:00-24:00), while for officers it was 12.5 yen/hour (24:00-06:00). There were rules that guests had to abide by, such as no drunkenness and no disturbances. If the rules were violated, Kempeitai wouldn't hesitate to beat and throw the guest out of ianjo.

The ianfu (sex slaves, or euphemistically called ‘comfort women’) were usually placed hierarchically according to class, race, and nationality. Those with white skin from Manado, Chinese descent, and Dutch descent usually served high-ranking officers. Meanwhile, the brown-skinned women, from Java, were placed in the ianjo for the lower-ranking soldiers. 

After receiving the ticket and condoms, in the waiting room, guests waited for their turn to enter the room they had booked. Inside, there was a board with the room number and the Japanese name of each room. In some ianjo, such as in Cimahi, there were even photos of the girls, making it easier for guests to choose the woman they want. Regarding names, the rule in every ianjo stated that the women had to change their name to a Japanese name. Siti Neng Itjuh became Ruriko, Omoh became Midori, Lantrah became Toyoko, and Mardiyem became Momoye.

Although the Japanese military had built ianjo as a facility to fulfill the sexual needs of its soldiers, many cases of rape still occurred outside ianjo, such as in military barracks, factories, and on the streets.

Every ianjo was equipped with a kitchen and bathrooms. Food was prepared by a chef in charge of cooking every day. Meanwhile, the cleaning was done by a servant who was tasked with helping the ianjo manager run the activities there.

The operations of ianjo were under the responsibility of a manager, usually a Japanese military or Chinese civilian. The ianjo manager was in charge of ensuring the activities ran smoothly, which was often reached by using violence. Cikada, for example, the manager at Mardiyem's ianjo in Banjarmasin, didn't hesitate to beat the ianfu, even if the mistake was not committed by them.

At each exit of the ianjo, four Heitai (Japanese soldiers) or Heiho (Japanese military auxiliaries, Indonesians) personnel stood guard alternately throughout the day. At night, Kempeitai or Kempeiho (Heiho who worked under the Kempeitai) took turns to control the security around the building, while keeping the ianjo in order.

Medical Facilities

Ianfu were not allowed to go out freely, unless there was a bodyguard escorting them–usually Heitai, Heiho, or the servants working there. The ianfu were basically property. As property, the military maintained the ianfu’s health so their own personnel wouldn't contract venereal diseases. Once a week, a Japanese doctor came to check on the women's health. If someone was found with a venereal disease, she would be treated until she recovered.

Ianjo also provided health examination rooms although some ianjo didn't have them, such as ianjo in Sukabumi and South Sulawesi.

In some ianjo, for instance in Cimahi, there was another building not far from the ianjo that functioned as a rest house for ianfu who were under health care or experiencing menstruation. On the other hand, in Sanga-sanga Dalam, the rest house was located far from the ianjo.

The Room

Every room was usually equipped with a toilet, although some ianjo such as in Banjarmasin, Balikpapan, and Cimahi didn't have this facility. In each room, there were several bottles of red-colored antiseptic for the vagina to prevent venereal disease after having sex with a guest. Meanwhile, a bucket of water, a dipper, and a small white towel were provided for guests to clean their genitals.

Although there was a rule that condoms must be used, guests often refused to use them, citing a lack of pleasure. Ultimately, it was the women who would have to bear the brunt of the consequences, such as contracting venereal diseases or getting pregnant. If found pregnant, the fetus must be forcibly aborted without anesthesia; an act intended to deter women from getting pregnant again. Meanwhile, the guest was not penalized at all, proving that the regulations were made in favor of military personnel.

Another reason was that the condoms given to them were of low quality, resulting in unbearable pain and often causing vaginal wounds. To solve this, officers usually brought their own better-quality condoms and lubricants.

Women were also subjected to heinous sexual violence. They were forced into sexual intercourse to the point of exhaustion. If they were deemed unsatisfactory, the guest would slap their cheeks, beat the women's bodies, or order them to do various styles of sexual intercourse. Yet, the atrocity didn't stop there. Iting was once forced to hold the feet of her roommate so that the Japanese soldiers could rape her. This memory was imprinted on Iting's mind and caused her deep regret until she passed away in 2010.

A Failed System

Although the Japanese military had built ianjo as a facility to fulfill the sexual needs of its soldiers, many cases of rape still occurred outside ianjo, such as in military barracks, factories, and on the streets. Such was the case with Rumini from East Java, who was raped many times when she and her same-age friends from her village were mobilized by the Japanese military in Tulungagung to work in a shirt-making factory. At night, they were raped one by one in the bedroom of a Japanese soldier in charge of the factory.

Systematic rape also took place in the officers' residences. Dali from South Sulawesi, who worked as a servant in the official residence of a Japanese officer named Tanaji, was raped until she gave birth to a son. Sri Sukanti, the daughter of a wedana (head of district) in Purwodadi, had an almost similar experience. She was taken by a Japanese officer named Ogawa when she was just 9 years old, held captive for four days, and used as a sex slave by Ogawa. Her uterus was damaged, making her unable to have children for the rest of her life. Tukiyem from Karanganyar became a romusha (forced laborer) in a Japanese military dormitory in Solo, cleaning the dormitory and cooking in the kitchen. But for three months, she was gang-raped by five Japanese soldiers who lived there.

It is clear that the ianjo system set up by the Japanese military was a big failure due to the lack of supervision and discipline of the army personnel who were supposed to come to the ianjo to prevent them from satisfying their desires outside. Instead, the wicked system inflicted great sorrow to the former ianfu for years, until one by one they met their death in silence.

Midori or Omoh, returned home without a penny to Cibabat, Bandung, when Japan lost the war. Her suffering multiplied when both of her parents, who were emaciated from being romusha, died. In her village, people berated and insulted her as "Japanese secondhand" or "Japanese nyai" (the mistress of the Japanese). "I still feel the pain to this day," she said. Omoh passed away in 1998.