All language subtitles for Twenty.Two.2015.CHINESE.1080p.WEBRip.x265-VXT_Eng

Presented

& Co-Presented By

Producers
Ke Guo & Xiangyong Zhang

Special thanks to Xinyi Zhang

Yu County, Shanxi Province, China 2014

We are gathered here to
attend Aunt Chen's funeral

Today we take this opportunity
to hold a small memorial service

During the War of Resistance against Japan

Her husband undertook the great responsibility
of fighting against the Japanese

He was the commander of
our 11th Military Regiment

Because of that,
and due to the betrayal of traitors

She herself was arrested
by the Japanese invaders

She was taken to a Japanese stronghold

And was insulted in every possible
way, both physically and mentally

CHEN LINTAO (1921-2014)

Our friends here attending
the funeral today include

Ms. Xiong Bangling from Canada

And our photographer friends from Beijing

And Mr. Zhao from the China 'Comfort
Women' Issue Research Center

32 years of this

Fate, just fate

Perhaps I'm destined to
walk the path of hardship

These elderly ladies are now
all over 80 or 90 years old

If only they can be a little
healthier, and hold on a little longer

ZHANG XIANTU（1926-2015）

LI XIUMEI (1928-2014)

DURING JAPAN'S EIGHT-YEAR OCCUPATION OF CHINA
(1937-1945) BEFORE AND DURING WORLD WAR II,

AROUND 200,000 CHINESE WOMEN WERE FORCED INTO SEXUAL SLAVERY
AND DESIGNATED AS "COMFORT WOMEN" BY THE JAPANESE MILITARY.

MOST OF THEM WERE TORTURED TO DEATH OR COMMITTED
SUICIDE DUE TO THE UNBEARABLE HUMILIATION.

ONLY VERY FEW SURVIVED.

JINGUI VILLAGE, YU COUNTY, SHANXI PROVINCE

Here was the so-called 'Comfort Station'

It was secured by wire fences and trenches

There were soldiers guarding the
gate and women were held inside

There were two caves in the front

Liu Mianhuan and Feng Zhuangxiang
used to be locked up there

On the east side were three caves

Where Li Xiumei and Zhang Xiaoni were kept

On the south were four rooms

Hou Dong'e and Chen Lintao were held there

There were two brick beds in this cave.
Both had women sleeping on them

According to my research,
more than 40 women were once held here

Then the Japanese built strongholds
in Shangshe, Xiyan and Hedong

I've made surveys at all these locations

Female victims were found at
every place the Japanese occupied

Having endured unbearable pain and
distress, they long to pour it all out

But obviously no one can
share this kind of pain

She would be so relieved
if she could speak out

But then there are those around her

She bears such a heavy burden in her heart

She is concerned for her children,
so she dare not speak out

Pian Huanying, born in 1928

Hao Juxiang（1922-2016）

Ren Lan'e（1931-2016）

Zhao Lanying (1925-2016)

Liu Gailian, born in 1925

Liu Fenghai (1924-2017)

She lives with her son and his wife.

Cao Heimao, born in 1922

Grandma

Where is her daughter?

Where is your daughter?

Do you know where your daughter is?

Take one

Don't be shy. What are you afraid of?

I can't find her either, forget it

Do you understand what she is saying?

I'll go ask if you want
to look for her daughter

That's okay

We can't understand what she's
saying, can't communicate with her

Can you call her daughter
and see if she can come over?

I can't find my pictures

Will the pictures taken
later still be the same?

Is the picture ok?

See if it looks the same

This is my picture on my
'Good Citizen Certificate'

See if you can take a photo of it

So it's all inside there

This must be very good

It can take pictures of anything

It must be very expensive

I first met these grannies in 1995

AHN SE-HONG (SOUTH KOREA), PHOTOGRAPHER

In South Korea, I met them for the first time I
felt their pain. It was very unforgettable for me

So I continued to pay attention to them
And look for ways to help them

I'm a photographer, so by that means

I hope many people can see their
situation and offer some help

DONGNING COUNTY, MUDANJIANG CITY
HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE

I'm visiting mainly South Koreans and
those of Korean ethnicity in China

But it was not just Koreans
who were among the victims

There were also victims from Asia like
the Philippines, China and Indonesia

And even more countries and regions

I know their pain is the same

And many people are
aware of their existence

I personally hope that people can
work together to solve this problem

That's why I come to visit these grannies

LI FENGYUN (1922-2016)
ORIGINALLY NAMED LI SHOUDUAN, KOREAN

Especially China

It was the most invaded country

And had a large number of victims

Even now they are enduring great pain

When I saw their living
situation was so difficult

I wanted more people to know
about them as soon as possible

But I've recently discovered their
situation hasn't really improved

So I'm thinking more about what
kind of help they really need

When I saw Grandma 'Park Cha Sun' was
still living in a workshop-like place

I wanted to transform it into a warm house

By repairing the house
for this elderly lady

We wanted more people to know about her

Then word spread by mouth

We went to South Korea
and Japan to run campaigns

Telling people there exists such an
old lady, and calling on more to help

All 24 of us went to Xiaogan
together to help repair her house

We painted the house and rebuilt the walls

Everyone there wanted to
show their regard for her

They wanted to give their
most precious things to her

So they prepared things such as

Thermal underwear, scarves,
and music and maps of South Korea

XIAOGAN CITY, HUBEI PROVINCE

Because my mother never
gave birth to any child

She thought about having children

Her former neighbour told her
she could adopt one, so she did

I was only two years old at that time

I heard from others that I was
still breastfeeding back then

My son has a family of four

He's got one son and one daughter

My grandkids

Plus we three

My husband, me, and my mother

Seven in total

She's had a very sad life

She fled from South Korea to
China, seeking refuge

MAO YINMEI（1922-2017）
ORIGINALLY NAMED PARK CHA SUN, KOREAN

Mother (in Korean)

Father (in Korean)

Grandma (in Korean)

South Korea is where I was born

We didn't have any food to eat at that time

So we fled

My mother abandoned me, she just left me

My sister was very young,
she couldn't survive alone

Mother held her and walked away

She walked away just like that

But she'd been missing me ever since

My 'Ga Ga' is my grandmother

You don't understand what I'm saying?

Grandma is 'Ga Ga' (Hubei dialect)

My Ga Ga looked for me everywhere

If it wasn't for her,
I would have been lost

From then I stayed with my Ga Ga

I didn't know how old I was

I didn't know how old I was back then

I just knew she was my mother

She looked at me and I looked at her

She didn't know what to do
and father was already gone

On one occasion

She just went back,
back to our home country

That vehicle, the train

It was on such a high
slope and it just left

I leaned against the slope and cried

People up there were all looking at us

Dropping food down to us

I picked up the food and
ate, and my mother cried

I had no idea what was happening

There was food and I just ate and ate

Then I was tricked by a Korean

He said the Japanese were
going to start a sock factory

Maybe it was July, in Hankou

Where the Japanese stayed

They had the Koreans and the
Japanese, all locked up together

There were doors, doors everywhere,
and we were all locked up there

Once locked inside, no one could get out

We all stood up facing the wall,
with guards at the entrance

You couldn't escape,
or they would beat you to death

They took their time (playing with other
women), they came one after another

And they just left once they finished

They did nothing (to me)

They didn't care about us.
They didn't even look at us

Some things I remember, some I don't

I remember some and then I forget some

I'm done talking.
I don't want to talk about it any more

I don't feel comfortable talking about it

My mother didn't tell me anything

She said: "I'm too old so there's
no need talking about it now."

She didn't want to talk, so I didn't insist

What more is there to say?

HUANG MEIRONG MAO
YINMEI'S ADOPTED DAUGHTER

It's inappropriate for us
juniors to talk about her

More than 10 years ago

A reporter came to interview her

People were talking about her, so I knew

But she never talked about
it, never told me anything

When reporters came to interview
her, the neighbours became suspicious

They said my mother was in the newspaper

It was also broadcast on TV

People were talking,
saying she was a Korean

That the Japanese did things to
her, they insulted her

My father never told me anything.
He passed away 18 years ago

He must have known about it long ago

She just said

"I'm so old, what more is there to say?"

"What's in the past is in the past"

Wuhan City, Hubei Province

October 25th - 27th, 1938

ON NOVEMBER 8TH, 1938, THE FIRST PRISON FOR THE
"COMFORT WOMEN" OPENED IN JI QING LI, HAN KOU.

I can't remember

I don't remember

Miss Shiro (in Japanese)

He used to call me "Miss Shiro"

I didn't know what that meant

"Welcome, please sit down" (in Japanese)

It means sit down

"Please come in" (in Japanese)

It means come in, come up

"Please come in" (in Japanese)

"Welcome, please sit down" (in Japanese)

It means sit down

Some visitors came to
see her in recent years

They phoned to greet her

About once a year

A South Korean once called,
asking to speak to 'Park Cha Sun'

Why did he change her
name to 'Park Cha Sun'?

I said her name was 'Mao Yinmei'

I named myself after Chairman Mao
and I gave myself a first name too

My former last name was Park

I changed it to Mao, after Chairman Mao

I love Chairman Mao

He loved us and I love him

Others said she was Japanese.
I don't care where she came from

She's very old now, she's good to me
and I'm good to her, that's enough

She raised me for all those years

She was so nice to me

I should take care of her
now and repay her kindness

She can't do any chores in winter.
The cold always makes her curl up tight

She just wants to walk around

Her hands get so cold that she can't
straighten them up. No blood in there

She stays under her blankets
when it gets too cold

She doesn't want to go
outside when she feels cold

Only skin and bone,
it gets cold here when there's wind

She feels cold whenever there's wind

She's always worried about being a
burden to me, for living this long

I'm useless

Useless

I have lived too long. I'm useless

You can sing. How can you be useless?
Don't you remember?

When I was a kid, I had a good memory

I could sing a song after
listening to it just once

Now I can't. I don't remember anything

Arirang

The song 'Arirang'. Have you heard it?

Arirang, Arirang,
Arariyo (Korean folk song)

Arirang Pass is the long road you travel

If you leave and forsake me, so cruel

Ere three miles you go,
homesick you'll grow

Her lover left. She didn't want him to
go, but he still left

His feet started to hurt
before he could walk far

Arirang, Arirang, Arariyo

Arirang Pass is the long road you go

A South Korean asked her to go back
home, to visit Korea

She said she's too old. She won't go back

She said it's too much trouble

He said it's not difficult,
only two hours by plane

She won't go back, no family there now

Up on that mountain covered with trees

I used to dig for vegetables and sing

When I was little

Doraji, doraji,
white doraji (Korean folk song)

Down in the deep valley
white doraji flowers bloom

Doraji, doraji, white doraji

Down in the deep valley
white doraji flowers bloom

I'm going to dig the doraji

Thus many excuses I made

Are you going to visit
your husband's grave?

Ai hey ai yo

How beautiful, how lovely!

Just one or two plants
will fill the whole basket

Lingshui Li Autonomous
County, Hainan Province

Chen Yabian（1927－2017）
Ethnic Group: Li

Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous
County, Hainan Province

I have been visiting them since 1996

Granny Huang Yufeng passed
away in February 2003

The Japanese built a bridge connecting
their stronghold in Jiamao to the town

They built a road to their
military camp in Baoting

And forced local peasants to work for them

Granny Huang Yufeng lived in the
same village as those peasants

She was a real beauty
of the Li ethnic group

The Japanese drooled over her

They coaxed her to wash their
clothes in their stronghold

She was negatively regarded
during the Cultural Revolution

Some said she married a Japanese

They said she was a traitor
working for the Japanese

Back then, these ladies were
called 'Japanese whores'

That was before they are
referred to as 'Comfort Women'

Huang Youliang, born in 1927
Ethnic Group: Li

Chen Liancun, born in 1926

So every time I visited these ladies

I always recorded their
words very carefully

FU MEIJU（1928－2017）

I will follow their cases
from the day I met them

Until their last days

We have filed a lawsuit
against the Japanese government

A claim for these 'Comfort Women'

The phrase 'Comfort Women' is
actually used only by the Japanese

Not by we Chinese

We use it only to identify
these ladies in these matters

Wang Zhifeng, born in 1928

We are actually supposed to call them

"Victims who were forced into
sexual slavery during World War II"

Fu Guiying (1919-2015)

Your husband went to Haikou

Yes

Home of Wang Yukai (1920-2014)

I thought you would come
to visit us a few days ago

During the Dragon Boat Festival?

I was a bit busy

All cleaned up

Whenever there's a festival, we come here

Be it the Dragon Boat Festival
or the Spring Festival

You come to worship the gods
during the Spring Festival too?

I kept her photos here

We were cooking outside the house yesterday

Killing a chicken?

Killing a chicken here

We still cook her share of food
but no one is here to eat now

She was lying here sleeping that day

She seemed like sleeping but actually
she couldn't get up, very unwell

My husband said: "How could she
suddenly become like this?" He cried too

How could she become like
this all of a sudden?

There's nothing we can do

It looked like she was sleeping,
just sleeping. She never woke up again

Granny passed away on the
morning of January 2, 2014

Her granddaughter told me on the
Internet that she had passed away

Her funeral was arranged too

Granny is really gone

You bought all of these things

You bought all of these things
for her but she hadn't used any

I said: "So many people cared about
you, yet you…"

Not that many

This is still new

It's new

I used to visit on weekends

I visited Granny Wang more often

About once a month

She was the loneliest of
all the seven grannies here

She didn't have any family,
so she lived by herself

Most other grannies live with families

Lingao County, Hainan Province

It has been three years since
this nursing home was built

I manage this home

LIANG CHAOSHENG
DEPUTY MANAGER OF NANBAO NURSING HOME

I open the gate in the morning,
the big gate And I lock it at night

These are security bars

To prevent thieves from breaking
windows to steal their belongings

All the elderly people here come
from the 'Five-Guarantee Households'

They are either blind,
disabled, or have no offspring

She has been living here for three years

She moved here right
after this place was built

She was the first one to move in

Lin Ailan (1925-2015)

When I was 13

I called on the villagers to supply
our Communist troops with rice

When I was 17 or 18,
I began to follow the Communist Party

And I fought battles along
the path to Haikou City

I killed two Japanese devils

A machine gun

The trigger was over here and
I hung the gun around my neck

I also held pistols,
one in each of my hands

I would load all the bullets, one by one

With all the bullets loaded

I just picked up the guns
and fired shots at them

I have a hole right here

If that bullet had entered
here, I would have died

That bullet flew past
here, just scraping my head

Come, let's have a drink

I don't drink

We've got cigarettes

I neither smoke nor drink, I just eat

Go eat then, there's food

That's fine. I've eaten already.
I ate at home after class

I had three scoops of rice at
home, then I came directly here

How big is your ladle? This big?

About this size, not big

That's too small.
Ten scoops wouldn't be enough for me

Three glasses of wine
wouldn't be enough for me

When I was teaching, she used to
live behind the Nanbao Town Hall

On my way home from school,
I would pass by her front door

She was in a very tough situation.
No one was there to help her

I would buy things,
cook rice and fetch water for her

That's how I came to know her

I used to know a veteran who
fought in the anti-Japanese war

YAN XUEZHAN
RETIRED TEACHER OF NANBAO TOWN

He has passed away, but once he told me
Lin Ailan made a great contribution

To our party and to our people. How?

After she infiltrated the Japanese camp

He once told me

She stole a lot of
ammunition for our troops

She snuck them out, one case after another

She also called for others,
especially young women, to join our army

They've been filming for so long.
They've got so many pictures

They'll take the pictures to
the government. I don't know

Did I forget? I didn't. Am I a fool?

I put them at the end of the bed

I know the medals are put together
with the money and the purse

But they are not in the purse.
I have no idea where they are

They are taken

They are not stolen. Here they are

You said somebody stole these.
Look, they are here!

You put them here. It might have fallen off

You accused Ahan of stealing and
sent all those people to question him

Where did you find them?
I'd looked for them everywhere

Inside the floral bag

Where? Let me see

Inside that floral bag

You kept them there,
of course you couldn't find them

It should be placed like this

But the other one is like this

It's the same

Well, leave it at that

She joined the troops after they saved her

That's why our Department of Civil
Affairs awarded her these medals

At the 60th anniversary of the
victory of the anti-Japanese war

The few of us girls

We used to sing those songs

Songs about fighting
against the Japanese devils

The cannons of the Japanese
devils destroyed our homes

They took my father and
me, then in came more

They took my father and
mother, then took us too

Our troops came to save
me, saviors they are

We will fight against the Japanese

Oh so many songs like this,
the Japanese would beat us if we sang

As soon as the Japanese arrived,
they destroyed our homes

They seized my mother
and killed her right away

She was tossed into the river with
her hands and feet all tied up

They took my mother to that river
in Jialai and tossed her there

It was the Japanese who
threw her into the river

I was caught by the Japanese
after I joined the army

They threatened to kill
everyone in Songmei Village

They caught me, the three of us from
the village. He forced me to marry him

I said okay, but I just wanted to slash him

I pretended to agree to marry him,
then I retaliated against him later

The government knows a lot about me

That Japanese disabled me. Then he died too

When she wakes up we bring her breakfast

She sits there till noon, then slowly
moves herself inside to take a nap

She then sits by the door
again in the afternoon

Waiting for the carer to bring her dinner

We deliver meals to three of them

Others who can still walk fetch their
meals from the canteen themselves

It was mainly because of the torture
that they couldn't have children

They would strip you naked and
force you to sleep with them

Otherwise they would use tools
on your mouth to torture you

They would force you to sleep with
them, or they would beat you up

I was held there for nearly two years

October to July, around two
years, or less than two years

I don't want to talk about these things

Li Meijin, born in 1926

Chengmai County, Hainan Province

My daughter is working in Haikou

She has three kids,
who are either studying or in the army

They all give me money

Sometimes I give them some too.
I don't mind spending less on myself

My kids are all grown up.
I have grandchildren too

My son would also bring me food

My grandchildren take care of me
too, so I feel very happy and secure

I am very relaxed at home.
I don't need to do anything

When I run out of firewood for
cooking, I'll just go get some

It's been over 70 years.
I can't remember it all

I was still in my teens

The Japanese devils came, shouting "Girls!
So many girls!"

They came to our village to take people
away, then burned down our houses

Many Japanese devils came,
one group after another

They made us pick wild fruit for them

We had to climb trees to pick fruit,
or they would stab us to death

There was a bayonet at the end of the rifle

With that sharp and pointy
blade, the rifle became very long

There were so many Japanese devils.
They made loud noises when they ran

Their boots were up to their
knees and made such noises

Back then I dare not sleep at home.
I would sleep on the mountain

I tied up my cows and
sheep on the mountain too

I dare not fall into a deep sleep.
I had to watch the cows

I hid in the tall woods.
I dare not sleep at home

We hid in the mountains but they
would find you wherever you hid

There were so many
Japanese, too many to count

We walked until we couldn't walk any more.
The kids couldn't walk at all

We walked until our legs hurt,
then they hit our legs with their rifles

My legs still hurt so
much now because of that

I can't even walk well now.
It hurts every time I kneel down

Those Japanese were very cruel

They beat me all over my body.
I was hurt everywhere

They took everything, pigs, chicken,
cows and sheep, and killed them all

Then the Japanese devils caught me

They took me to the airport in Jialai

Once they caught you they would lock
you up. Wouldn't you be terrified?

I was scared to death.
They would lock you up in that house

My mother grabbed hold of my older sister

She wouldn't let the Japanese take her away

LI CAIYONG
LI MEIJIN'S YOUNGER BROTHER

He pushed my mother and
she fell to the ground

Then they took my sister away

At night

When you slept in that room,
you could hear people screaming from rape

When that Japanese touched me

I would scream "Mum! Dad!", just scream

The Japanese soldiers would rape
any girl they could find, so vicious

I once bumped into a couple and
asked them to give me some water

When the Japanese found out about
this, they beat that man to death

His wife wanted to take his body home

He was already dead,
so the Japanese let her

I snuck into the funeral procession
and hid among the mourners

"You sister was taken away.
How could she possibly return home?"

"The Japanese must have killed
her already." My mother said

She then cried

My mother and father thought I was dead

When I made it back home,
they were so happy and cried

They couldn't hold back their tears,
and told everyone "Our daughter is back!"

The matchmaker said there was a
young man living here, he had food

My parents were very poor,
they were worried I would starve to death

My parents agreed to the marriage
and wrote down my date of birth

They gave that to my husband's family
and we were married just like that

When I came here, my husband was
working and studying at the same time

After I gave birth to my oldest daughter

He stopped attending school

My husband had a stroke when he was older

He had the stroke after a bad fall.
He couldn't eat so I fed him food slowly

I would feed my husband food

And help him wash his feet and
body, and do everything for him

I would also clean off his urine and feces

He couldn't do anything any more.
He could only eat a little

I told him: "You have food
to eat and clothes to wear."

"And the government takes good care
of me too. You don't need to worry."

"It would be nice if you are well.
If not, even if you can't walk any more,"

"And become disabled,
I will take care of you."

He is already gone

But we had a good life together

We never had a fight

My big sister and I can't
live without each other

I always ask her to come
here to eat and drink with us

We'll let her do chores if she wants to.
If not, we'll take care of her

We'll ask her to come and eat
whenever there's something good

The government is nice,
Chairman Mao was nice

Chairman Mao was our
leader, everyone knows him

His pictures are put on the walls

Everyone in our village has
his pictures on their wall

Li Ailian, born in 1928

Wuxiang County, Changzhi
City, Shanxi Province

Is your leg still hurting?

It is better

Did you take your pills?

I took a painkiller

Can you get off the bed?

Yes. Is there anything I can't do?

I'd been working as a
substitute teacher from 1992

And I became a preschool teacher in 2009

I teach singing and dancing,
and play games with the kids

I read poetries to them,
and sometimes I teach them Pinyin

And some simple Chinese characters too

My eldest sister is over 60 years
old, she can't make the journey

My older brother is too
busy working to come here

My second sister teaches in Taiyuan

So it's just my husband, my
child, my mother-in-law and me

My mother-in-law is very straightforward

LI XIUPING
LI AILIAN'S DAUGHTER-IN-LAW

She will tell you whatever she thinks,
but never means any harm

She has had a very troubled life

I married my husband on Dec.
24th on the lunar calendar

He was taken away the next February

Others wanted me to remarry at that time

I said: "I just married one.
Why marry again?"

"I won't do this. That's it."

After the Japanese made me
sign a pledge not to escape

I stayed in the enemy's
stronghold in Nangou

People asked me, "How could you
possibly make a living there?"

I worked. I told them
to find some work for me

I made shoe soles. I would accept any work

I also sewed with a sewing
machine, things like that

I could sustain myself

Is the little one out playing?

He went to his grandma's

The Japanese there beat me as well

I lived there for three months,
how could I not get hurt?

They would keep beating and
insulting me till they were satisfied

I didn't come back until the
Japanese surrendered and left

My husband said it's ok

He said: "You can live
whatever way you like."

"You were taken and forced by the
Japanese, it was against your will."

I will speak of it no more, no more

There were also villagers who judged her

But most of those of
her age have passed away

The younger generation
doesn't know much about it

It was not until reporters
came to interview them

That some villagers started to understand

Who were captured by the Japanese
and what happened to them afterwards

But they don't know any detail,
nor do they have any thoughts about it

Nowadays people don't talk
about what happened years ago

So my mother-in-law doesn't
think about her past any more

I shall not talk about it any more

I didn't want to mention those
things, but since you asked

I do feel a little relieved
to let out my feelings

People say why bottle
up those things till now

I have not mentioned anything
to my kids since I was 17

Others also know that I had
stayed at the enemy's stronghold

"Were you scared when you were there?"

They often asked me this kind of questions

I said: "Don't ask me about this any more."

Many reporters came here,
asking about those old days

They came here a few times, but I lied to
them. I did't want to tell them the truth

My daughter-in-law and her little
ones were all here listening

My children are all grown up,
what did they want me to say?

I'll say no more. I'll take it to my grave.
Speak of it no more

Check out that yellow cat, the stray cat

Whose cat is this?
It is not ours, just another stray cat

Hey! Where do you think you are going?

That cat is having kittens

Look at her belly. It's round

The one with the black little paws?
I don't know. I didn't see it

A couple of days ago,
I noticed its waist getting thick

How come it is with kittens?

It's around those two days

How are we going to feed more kittens?

Maybe it is our neighbour's cat.
It gave birth to a litter of kittens

Our neighbour doesn't look after
them so they just came to our place

At first there were five cats and my
mother-in-law would feed them every day

I said: "You don't even want to cook
for yourself, now you are feeding cats!"

She said they would die if
nobody took care of them

She would feed the cats
even if she's not eating

Sometimes when she cooks,
she'll feed the cats first

And she always gives the best
part of her meals to the cats

Kitty, come here

Where are your babies?
Why not bring them over?

Wait for your babies

They haven't eaten yet

Take your time

She comes outside when the kids
are playing in the courtyard

Those kids will surround her,
calling her "Granny, Granny"

They all play with her, very happy

She will amuse the kids and
sometimes cook them food to eat

The kids love to spend time with her.
They will sing and dance for her

My mother-in-law is
actually quite happy now

But we can never imagine how she suffered

Now my mother-in-law is in good
health, we are all very happy

Back then there was no
such thing in my village

But in other villages many women
(who were raped) got pregnant

They gave birth to kids
with big noses and big eyes

Those were kids of the Japanese

Lipu County,
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

A journalist from a Beijing magazine

How did you feel when you learned
that you were half Japanese?

My younger brother (half-brother)
said I was Japanese

LUO SHANXUE, BORN IN 1945
MIXED CHINESE/JAPANESE RACE

He wanted to kill Japanese.
He said he'd pay a killer

He'd pay a killer to kill me. I just shut
the door and told him "kill all then"

Your brother said he was going
to pay a killer to kill you? Why?

Because I am Japanese

Because of his mixed blood,
70-year-old Luo Shanxue has never married.

Didn't Zhu Hong (volunteer) say he's
going to find you a wife in Japan?

Ridiculous

Wei Shaolan, born in 1920
Ethnic Group: Yao

He Yuzhen (1921-2014)

When these elderly ladies have
all departed this world one day

This fact of history will remain

Many people will still be asking

What about their descendants?
How are their families?

Every time I meet them

They all look so happy and carefree

But as soon as this subject is brought up

They become so sad and tears come down

So we'll only ask them questions
when it's necessary for the lawsuit

If not, we'll just try to make them happy

Chen Houzhi, farm worker

When I was visiting Granny Wang Yukai

I would do the cleaning,
give her massages and fetch water for her

If she washed her clothes,
I would hang out the clothes to dry

I didn't see her as a poor victim

She was just like my own
grandma, someone I like

Some grannies are having a very hard time

Some are not as sad as I imagined

They are very warm

They would let us eat and sleep in
their houses, they cared about us

When I was young, it was my grandma who
took care of me and my little brother

So I like grannies

These grannies are very old,
but they are all very adorable

After some Japanese
soldiers went back to Japan

They told the public what they did.
There's a book on it

One day, Granny Wang's family showed
her a picture of a Japanese soldier

The Japanese man in the picture
was very old, over 80 years old

Granny looked at the picture and laughed

She said: "That Japanese has become
old, no mustache now."

Because the Japanese soldiers of that
time all seemed to have mustaches

I thought she would cry or get
angry when she saw the picture

If it were me, I would probably
always hate those who hurt me

And even give up on life

The wounds in their
hearts are huge and deep

But they are still being nice to others

No matter we are from Japan or elsewhere

Komeda Mai, international student from Japan
Helping victims in Hainan Province since 2009

When I started investigating,
there were 123 victims in Shanxi Province

Now (2014) only 12 here are still alive

I was very naive at that time and
just wanted to bring them justice

I wanted the Japanese government
to apologize and to compensate them

But in the end, after more than 30 years

They didn't receive a single cent or
any apology from the Japanese government

They spoke out publicly about their past

Which caused them disgrace

Now all the people around them and
even the entire country know about them

It's not a good thing for them

So I regret it very much

If I had known it would turn out like this

I would have never disturbed them

ZHANG SHUANGBING, RETIRED TEACHER

YU COUNTY, SHANXI PROVINCE

ZHANG GAIXIANG (1925-2014)

(The victims' names, including those who have since passed away)

We would like to express our gratitude to every character in
this documentary and their families for their trust and support

According to the statistics of the China "Comfort Women" Issue Research
Center Only 22 "Comfort Women" had survived in mainland China by 2014

The sun is rising, and the sky turns red

WEI SHAOLAN (SURVIVOR, GUANGXI PROVINCE)

"THANK YOU."
- MAO YINMEI (SURVIVOR, HUBEI PROVINCE)

"I'M HAPPY THAT YOU CAME TO VISIT ME."
- LI MEIJIN (SURVIVOR, HAINAN PROVINCE)

CHEN LINTAO (SURVIVOR, SHANXI PROVINCE)