This is a pioneer work on karayuki-san, poor rural Japanese women sold into overseas prostitution between the 1860s and 1930s. Sandakan Brothel No. 8 presents the life story of a former karayuki-san, Osaki, as related to the author. Persuaded as a child of ten to accept cleaning work in Sandakan, North Bornea, Osaki is soon forced into prostitution. Thousands of other young Japanese women shared a similar fate in the brothels that were established throughout Asia in conjunction with the expansion of Japanese business interests. In spite of her anger and revulsion, Osaki sends all her earnings home to improve the lot of her older brother, only to be rejected by him and his family upon her return to Japan. She is later rejected by her son, as well, who does not want his mother's social stigma to interfere with his prospects for marriage and work. Yamazaki views Osaki, as the embodiment of the suffering experienced by all Japanese women, who have long been oppressed under the dual yoke of class and gender. This sad tale could not be more relevant for present times. The translator's introduction provides a socio-historic context for understanding the sexual exploitation of Asian women before and during the Pacific War and for the growing flesh trade in Southeast Asia and Japan today. Young women are being brought to Japan with the same false promises which enticed Osaki to Borneo eighty years ago. Yamazaki Tomoko has devoted her life to documenting the history of the exchange of women between Japan and other Asian countries since 1868. She has worked directly with karayuki-san, military comfort women, war orphans, repatriates, women sent as picture brides to China and Manchuria, Asian women who have married into Japanese farming communities, and Japanese women married to other Asians in Japan. Now in its 24th printing in Japan, Sandakan hachiban shokan received the Oya Soichi Prize for Non-Fiction Literature in 1973, and was made into a movie by producer Kumai Kei in 1974. It has been translated into Korean and Chinese.
