One of the mains characters in ‘The Naked Blood of the Cherry Blossoms’ is Mi-Chan, an impoverished Korean Japanese girl.
Mi-Chan’s family is struggling for survival after the war and she takes a job at the Rokko Garden. It’s a club exclusively for American officers located just outside Kobe near Suma.
Mi-Chan finds the job after answering this advert, placed in Sannomiya railway station.
Women of New Japan, as part of the post-war revival we are seeking the active cooperation of new Japanese women. The great task is comforting the occupation force. There are openings for singers, musicians, hostesses, and entertainers. Applications sought from those aged between eighteen and twenty-five. Housing, clothing, and food supplied.
SCAP advert in post-war Japan
I found this photograph in the Atlantic magazine that helped me visualise what sorts of entertainment might have taken place at the Rokko Garden.
In case you were wondering, Musume means daughter in Japanese. The manageress of the Rokko Garden, Ota-san, uses it to describe the young women who work for her.
Kano Ishikawa 