The House of Sharing - A respite for the Korean Women who suffered as sex slaves to the Japanese in World War 2.

Hi there team,

Tonight I wanna write to you all about something different then K pop and Baseball lol ! Yes team I know its going to be a shock and all but hey you will like the idea I am sure.  

I am going to write about a place I was very fortunate to visit when I was in Seoul in 2007.   It is a place that is directly attached to the heart and soul of Korea, and has certainly played a part in the how and why of the relations Korea has with its neighbours, especially, utterly and particularly Japan, and the everlasting memories of what regularly is a tempered and testy relationship indeed, even at the best of times.  

The place I visited is referred to as the House of Sharing, and it houses those unfortunate poor elder women who, in their youth, were subjected to some of the most brutal, inhumane, and horrific treatment ever dished out to a human being at the hands of the Japanese soldiers during World War 2.  

It certainly was a moving experience.   I mean we as humans, and indeed readers of my blog, we complain about the basics of life with consumate ease.   We moan about our boss, our rent, our partner, and whatever else happens to be on our mind at that given time.   Well team, maybe its time for us to put our simple issues aside and consider that some people in the world have it far more horrific then we do.  

And trust me, these women suffered horrendously.  

The House of Sharing will prove to be a lasting testament to this. 

The memories of the horrors suffered by these poor women are now forever enshrined not just in the psyche of the Korean People, but in a commemorative museum in a small town in Gwangju-si, in the Gyunggi-do province area about 50 minutes out of Seoul.  

From an aesthetic viewpoint, the house is pretty much like any other house, except for a few extra amenities, in the form of a meeting hall and museum area.   Some may even wonder what the fuss is indeed all about.

Well team.   Aesthetics mean nothing here.  Its when you go deeper inside and see the replica of the kind of room that young Korean women were forced to have sex with the Japanese soldiers and the other museum exhibits that your mind starts to role and acknowledge the very magnitude of this tumultuous and periless time in Korea's history.   

The house itself was first commissioned in 1992, and is currently home to 7 former comfort women, their helpers and a buddhist priest who is the director of the house.   Age may have wearied them physically, yet I can assure you, their memories of the horrors that happened to them have not dimmed.  

They can still recall the horrendous pain and suffering inflicted upon them.   The having to eat fellow comfort women.   The forced sex with at least 20 men a day.   The total dehumanization experienced.   The seeing of their friends being cooked.   The horrors of it all.  

Team, words really cant describe just what it was these women went through.    I remember in the tour group I was with, we had about 20 people.   When we were inside the museum, we were asked if we wanted to go into a replica of the kind of room that the women were forced to have sex in.   Only 3 people took up the chance.   People were really strongly emotional about this.   I know I felt it when I was inside the room and standing right next to the replica bed.   It was kind of surreal.   I could basically visualize a young woman lying there in agony as she is having her dignity removed from her, and just feeling helpless as I am unable to do anything to stop it from happening.  

That, my friends, was a horrible feeling. 

Its sure not something I wish to feel again anytime soon.  

But I couldnt help but feel it.   I mean you cant fully understand what these women went through unless you are fully prepared to allow yourself to do so.    You will not be effected by the experience if you dont.   You have to allow yourself to feel it.   

Another touching moment is when you are able to hear one of the former comfort women actually talk about her experiences.   We were able to hear one of them talk about how she was raped numerous times, tortured, made to eat her dead friends, and have so many internal problems that her child bearing abilities had been rendered non existent.   Yep, she went into a lot of things.

What she talked about certainly made me think about a lot of the supposed problems I have in life, and how, compared to these women, my issues are basically insignificant.   I learned to acknowledge and understand that in my life, I have had it very easy, and that some simply have not had it as good as I have.

Even though I love japan and the Japanese people,  I am not going to sugarcoat what they did.   The soldiers committed horrible atrocities and I hope they are never forgotten and that one day the Japanese Government accepts responsibility for these actions and officially apologises on the matter.    Only time will tell of that ever happens.  

Team you owe it to yourself to visit the house of sharing when you come to Korea.   You will be a changed person by doing so.   And that change will be for the better.  

To plan your trip, you can go here...

http://www.nanum.org/eng/index.html

You really do owe it to yourself to check this out.