(Edited to delete full copy-paste)
A friend who recently visited Penang noted that at the Penang Musuem, a room that described the contributions of different peoples to the island, the Japanese section read: “[…] Besides traders, women were prominent in this emerging society. Most of them were prostitutes.”
(Note: This report is unconfirmed and I myself failed to notice it during my own quick trip through the same museum)
Japanese prostitutes called Karayuki in Penang and other part of South East Asia is widely known fact.The anarchist poet,金子光晴Kaneko Kousei had written about them in the travelogue in Straits colonies and Dutch East Indies in early 30’s”Travels in Malay and Dutch Indiesマレー蘭印紀行”.The book was my travel companion in Penang back in 1989.
And Imamura Shouhei’s 1987 film about karayuki trafficker”Zegen女衒”ｗas partly filmed in Malacca,Malaysia.
Kaneko kouseiX
Kaneko Mitsuharｕ○
Ｉ’ｖｅ ｂｅｅｎ ｍａｋｉｎｇ ｍｉｓｔａｋｅｓ ｆｏｒ ２０ ｙｅａｒｓ．．．
James Warren’s book “Ah Ku and Karayuki-San: Prostitution in Singapore 1870-1940” also gives some background.