Rabauru no Nihonjin Kangofu (Japanese nurses in Rabaul)

Abstract

This chapter provides detailed accounts of Japanese military nurses' experiences of working in Rabaul in 1942 and 1943, based mainly on oral interviews. It argues that for several decades the memories of the military nurses were not discussed publicly in Japan because of the discrepancies between the images of women as peace loving mothers and wives and military nurses who were keen to make their contribution to fight war.