A tiny piece of paper is the latest evidence in the battle for truth over Sino-Japanese history. Japanese soldiers have allegedly used the small voucher, found in China’s Hebei province, as a “sex-ticket” during World War II. The recent discovery comes in good time to support China’s efforts to expose atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial army during the war, and prevent Japan from scoring a permanent seat in the United Nation’s Security Council. According to Xinhua, the Chinese Government’s official news agency, the voucher would be “hard evidence rebutting Japanese government’s claim of the absence of sex slaves during World War II”.
A Hebei resident found the voucher inside a box of Japanese-made fragrant powder while going through a collection of wartime items left to him by his father. According to Xinhua, the Imperial Japanese army flag and the characters for “The Sixth Sex Slave Centre” and “Yinglou Building” are still visible on the 60-year-old voucher.
Back to 2005: a recent poll finds young Chinese have their first sexual experience at the average age of 17.4, almost 9 years earlier than the norm when their grandparents were making their first steps in the same field. Beijing Renmin Univeristy conducted the poll, which encompasses 2,252 respondents in seven major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guanzhou, and Xi’an. The poll also found increasingly permissive attitudes, with 1 in 5 respondents approving of premarital sex.
Nevertheless, while there is an apparent increase in action, satisfaction levels are still under question. Xu Tianming, president of the China Sexology Society, claims that many Chinese are “sex idiots” and are more “ignorant about sex than about other knowledge… including those having received higher education and [are] experts of other fields”.
In a possible attempt to prove his point, Xu went on to claim that people can only enjoy a normal sex life before the age of 25, and encouraged parents to allow the young to “have normal contacts with the opposite sex, such as dancing, and to read some books with certain sex descriptions”.
In line with Mr Xu’s recommendations, three of China’s top sex bloggers held a communal press conference in Beijing last week. Bokee.com, a local blog service provider, invited the infamous trio: Muzi Mei, Furong Sister, and San ZhenZhen to promote blogging and individual expression. The event gained coverage in the local media, and Xinhua described the three young women as “sharp personalities” prone to “odd behaviors”.