An interior view of the former "comfort station" in Hongkou district, Shanghai, Feb 23, 2016. [Photo/CFP]

This building, which opened in 1939, once housed 40 "comfort women" in its 17 rooms -- 10 were from Japan, 10 from Korea and 20 from China.

Xinhua reporters spoke to some older members of the local community who could still recall a Japanese song "I Am A 16-year-old Manchurian Girl".

Su Zhiliang, a professor with the Shanghai Normal University who has studied the issue for decades, said; "almost all the victims and residents near these 'comfort stations' know this song," he said.