After World War II, 110,000 Japanese women married Chinese

In August 1945, the Soviet Red Army launched a massive attack on Northeast my country and defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army with great ease. At this time in Northeast China, farms, businesses, daily life, logistics, schools, etc. were all filled with Japanese who were in a state of panic. According to statistics, as many as 1.3 million people were instantly transformed from first-class subjects into refugees.

In the chaos, many Japanese women married Chinese men through acquaintances or introductions from friends who had previously become Chinese wives. Because the problems facing them that they could hardly overcome or solve on their own were terror and hunger. According to historical records, this group of people numbered as many as 110,000.

As for the remaining 1.2 million people, they naturally became refugees, and they had too many things to avoid... The biggest problem was how to solve the problem of food and shelter for more than 1.2 million people?!

When the war was completely over and everything was in basic order, the three-person military mediation team consisting of Marshall of the United States, Zhou Enlai of the Communist Party of China, and Zhang Qun of the Kuomintang coordinated and decided to repatriate all Japanese expatriates in Northeast China in batches!

The vast majority of Japanese who have lived in this place for a long time or even were born, went to school, and worked in this place chose to leave and return to mainland Japan one after another. However, there are also quite a number of Japanese, especially Japanese women who have become wives of Chinese men, who remain in China. Obviously, they chose to stay because they love this place so much!

Even if you choose to leave, returning safely to Japan is still full of hardships. According to records, on the way to Huludao (the repatriation assembly point), fear was prevalent among the pioneers. There were constant rumors that Soviet soldiers specifically targeted Japanese women and would beat children to death on sight, and that bearded soldiers were coming to sweep the area. It turned out that the farmers on this land were coming back for revenge. As a result, there were frequent incidents of hundreds of people agreeing to commit suicide together. The Sado Development Group committed suicide on the spot where they lived. In the Mashan Incident, 530 members of the development group reached Mashan in Jixi and could not walk any further. The group leader ordered the children to be killed first and then the adults to take poison collectively.

Now let’s talk about Japanese women marrying Chinese men locally. This is the story of a man named Hiroshiro Kaneko.

In early 1940, after graduating from high school, Hiroyo Kaneko came to Korea with her husband, who was a squad leader of the Japanese 17th Army in Korea. Later, her husband died in Korea and her son's whereabouts were unknown. During the war, Hiroyo Kaneko fled to Yanji, China, and was introduced to remarry and became the wife of the captain of the gendarmerie at Mudanjiang Railway Station.

In 1941, a Japanese delegation came to Mudanjiang Railway Station. Most of them were young, beautiful female students who were good at singing and dancing. The military police squad leader asked his wife to join the military consolation group to perform in Suifenhe, Dongning and other places.

They were not comfort women and did not provide sexual services. Their mission was to boost the morale of Japanese soldiers with singing and dancing.

Hiroyo Kaneko's second husband died in battle with the Soviet Red Army in August 1945. She had no relatives in Northeast China, so she began to flee, first to Yanji and then to Hunchun. She was introduced to her and married her third husband, a Chinese.

The villagers around were very understanding and caring about the man who couldn't get married and picked up a wife. In fact, many Kuomintang officers and soldiers also hid Japanese women whom they were familiar with or had feelings for.

These women who stayed in China settled down and had many children. Later on, many people chose to return to Japan to settle down and work. Some of them have also made important contributions to China-Japan friendship and high-level mutual visits between China and Japan.