Along with the opium the Japanese sent thousands of beautiful girls to work in the dens or to become prostitutes. As far as the Tokyo High Command was concerned it mattered little whether the women were Japanese, Chinese or of any other race. They had the utmost contempt for members of the female sex, whose only duty, as they saw it, was to serve the dominant male. So the daughters of Japanese families might find themselves serving opium pipes in Peking or working in a brothel in Harbin. They were told that what they were doing was a patriotic duty in the service of the Emperor whose blessing of their sacrifices would ensure in the next world immortal fife. And they believed it. After all the Emperor was the Son of Heaven, descendant of the sun goddess, Amaterasu, who founded the royal house in BC 600.

In Shanghai the Japanese were more circumspect. They ran their brothels for the fighting men but Japanese women, in general, were not on open sale as they were in the Japanese controlled areas of China. Here and there it was possible to find a brothel offering Japanese females - they had a reputation for expertise that ensured constant popularity - but they were scarce on the ground and expensive. Not so, however, the Japanese massage shops which flourished everywhere - in Hongkew, in the Settlement-central district and in the French Concession.