Geishas and the “others,” as described to American occupation soldiers

Abstract

Abstract

A restricted bulletin, Guide to Japan, produced by the Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet and Com- mander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas on 1 September 1945, writes that geishas “are not for the casual visitor with a few dollars to spare” and “Commercial love is supplied by the professional prostitutes and free-lancers … Prostitution in Japan is an honorable profession: it has nothing of the stigma attached to it in America.” Guide to Japan was an attempt at reducing anti-Japanese prejudice and hatred that had become etched into the minds of the soldiers of the occupying forces by the relentless battles and experiences and the intense war pro- paganda they had been subjected to. This publication aimed at explaining to the first US occupation soldiers how to meet the Japanese, including women, both geishas and the “others.”

Guide to Japan shared facts and information with the occupation soldiers, because it tried to prepare them to meet Japanese women. This information followed the official policy of the United States, which presented a re- spectable and friendly image of a woman. The occupation soldiers were told about women’s position in Japa- nese society and culture and also about geishas, who were to be protected.

At the same time, the guide created both troubling expectations and questionable images from outside the offi- cial policy. The “others,” i.e., Japanese women other than geishas, were treated as an object of sexual desire and a commodity and portrayed as willing to engage in commercial sex.

Official facts and images provided to the occupation soldiers and other unofficial images regarding sexual objec- tification reveal an internal dichotomy and contradiction to what was shown in Guide to Japan.