At 10 pm on November 9, 2023, Li Meijin, a victim of the Japanese Army’s “Sex Slaves” System, passed away in her hometown Chengmai county, South China’s Hainan Province, at the age of 98.

Li Meijin

Li, a native of Chengmai county,was born in 1926.

In 1941, Li was taken away by the Japanese army. She was forced to do heavy labor in the daytime and sexually tortured at night. Whenever she wanted to slow down and take a rest, the Japanese soldiers hit her on the back of her head with theirweapon and beat her hard in the waist. In the years that followed, she suffered from a dull pain in the wound on cloudy and rainy days. Li once took part in filming for the documentary Twenty Two, which took its name from the number of “Sex Slaves” alive at the time of its filming in 2014. The movie was first released in the Chinese mainland in 2017.

Memorial Hall staff members visited Li every year since 2017

In her later years, Li was looked after by her son. When she rested, she liked lying down on a lounge chair, closing her eyes. Li was warm and approachable. Every time there were visitors, she always greeted them with a bright smile and invited them to stay for dinner.

Memorial Hall staff members visited Li in 2023

This April, when Memorial Hall staff members visited Li again in Hainan, she happily sang the song “Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China.” Before departure, the staff members and Li agreed to meet next year, not expecting that to be the last time they would see each other.

The Memorial Hall and the Nanjing Museum of the Site of Liji Lane Sex Slaves Station pay deep tribute to Li and express deep condolences to her family. May she rest in peace!