By 1938, Japan had invaded much of China and taken control of Nanjing, killing more than 42,000 civilians. The Chinese government never fully surrendered, and the war continued on a smaller scale until 1945. During World War II, the Japanese military forced women from several countries to work as comfort women for Japanese soldiers. Trafficking in women is a form of sexual slavery in which women are transported across national borders and sold into prostitution, sex tourism or migrant workers. Women were kidnapped or brought here under false pretenses thinking they would be given jobs. The comfort women of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II are an extreme case of this institutionalized sexual violence against women. Through research and testimonies from comfort women who survived World War II and former Japanese veterans, I seek to show the ways in which this influenced the intersection of colonial power, gender, and class. I argue that the development of gender contributes to the construction of Japanese colonialism and that the comfort women system helped Japan as an imperial state gain power. The ideas of masculinity and femininity are what helped maintain the Japanese military system and comfort stations had an impact where Japan expanded its colonies through military means. Starting in the 1930s, comfort stations were established in China and were mainly private. comfort stations. The purpose of the comfort stations was to try to prevent Japanese soldiers from raping local women, which didn't completely work. The Japanese only started building larger comfort stations after the Rape of Nanjing or also known as the Nanjing Massacre. In December 1937 the Japanese conquered Nanjing and... middle of paper... the Japanese army facilitated specific forms of gender identity, in which to be a soldier was to be a real man. Men often think that to reach maturity they must serve in the army, especially in combat. As difficult as it was to be in the Army, soldiers say it made them men, and in some cases life in the Army was easy compared to the hardships they were facing even if they were just trying to make a living. The effects of the discipline that the army imposes on soldiers can vary depending on the class of origin of the recruits; they unite towards the production of a dominant model of manhood. This also includes rape, pillage and arson, which were to demonstrate their power or courage. However, I argue that military versions of masculinity are deeply contradictory, as feminization and masculinization are enacted simultaneously.