Virginity is a virtual requisite for marriage in Korean society, and many of the survivors were shunned by their families when they returned.

Until recently South Korea's school textbooks, like Japan's, have scarcely mentioned the women's plight. With news organizations focused on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, however, a few of the surviving Korean "comfort women" decided the moment was ripe to press their case.

Three came to Tokyo in December to file a damages suit against the Japanese Government, prompting the Government's chief spokesman, Koichi Kato, to reiterate that Japan considered all of its war reparations to South Korea paid, and to deny that the army had organized or run the brothels.

Apart from the "comfort women" themselves, no one seemed ready to dispute that reading of history. But as he watched on television, Mr. Yoshimi recalled that a few years ago, combing through the Self-Defense Agency's library to research Japan's use of poison gas during the war, he had tripped across a military order to set up a brothel.

Born outside Hiroshima in 1946, Mr. Yoshimi has spent his professional life trying to get a glimpse of a war he is too young to remember. "I grew up hearing my older brothers and sisters tell about the day they saw a mushroom cloud erupt from the center of the city," he said. "I could feel the war misery. I've always wanted to grasp what happened."

Certain that more documents existed that would disprove the Government's contention, Mr. Yoshimi returned to the library over the New Year's holiday. In two days of searching, he came up with a small trove, including one document titled "Regarding the Recruitment of Women for Military Brothels." It ordered the quick construction of "facilities for sexual comfort," to stop the troops occupying China from raping women in the regions they controlled. It bears the "hanko," or personal stamps, of leaders of the high command of the Japanese Army. Documents Given to Reporter

Mr. Yoshimi handed the documents to a reporter at the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest dailies, just before Mr. Miyazawa traveled to South Korea for a meeting with President Roh Tae Woo. Almost overnight, the Government's arguments collapsed.