--- title: "1 Father Different Quotes By Masaji Ishikawa" description: "1 Father Different quotes by Masaji Ishikawa. Plus more from Masaji Ishikawa and more Father Different sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a9/masaji-ishikawa-5495_north-korea_even-now-i-sometimes-wonder-why-my-fathe_2113428.jpg" --- > [“Even now, I sometimes wonder why my father was so different in North Korea from the man he’d been in Japan. I used to think it was related to his physical strength. In Japan, that was the thing that had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/even-now-i-sometimes-wonder-why-my-father-was-so-different-in-north/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a9/masaji-ishikawa-5495_north-korea_even-now-i-sometimes-wonder-why-my-fathe_2113428.jpg) ## More by Masaji Ishikawa > [“People came to our house from far and wide. Party and military bigwigs, some guy known as the “combat commander,” the village headman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/people-came-to-our-house-from-far-and-wide-party-and-military-bigwigs/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“This was laughable, of course, but that’s always the way with totalitarian regimes. Language gets turned on its head. Serfdom is freedom. Repression is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/this-was-laughable-of-course-but-that-s-always-the-way-with/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“I was amazed we’d got through the checkpoint so easily. I couldn’t help asking about it. “Well, these soldiers, you see . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/i-was-amazed-we-d-got-through-the-checkpoint-so-easily-i-couldn-t/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“My family was poor, but my childhood days in Mizonokuchi were the happiest of my life. Even now, when I think about my hometown,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/my-family-was-poor-but-my-childhood-days-in-mizonokuchi-were-the/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“People ridiculed me. “What on earth are you doing?” they asked. “Why are you working so hard?” They didn’t understand that driving that tractor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/people-ridiculed-me-what-on-earth-are-you-doing-they-asked-why-are/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“I mean, this was the second half of the twentieth century, for pity’s sake, and they still saw communism as the road to utopia.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/i-mean-this-was-the-second-half-of-the-twentieth-century-for-pity-s/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“But the reality hit home late that night. I had a wife. And now two children. And however hard I worked, I would always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/but-the-reality-hit-home-late-that-night-i-had-a-wife-and-now-two/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“So we became masters at faking it. Everyone did. To do anything else could have gotten us killed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/so-we-became-masters-at-faking-it-everyone-did-to-do-anything-else/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“I still hope to rescue my remaining children. It is a terrible curse to not even know if they are still alive. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/i-still-hope-to-rescue-my-remaining-children-it-is-a-terrible-curse/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“But that’s the trouble with propaganda. It constantly contradicts itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/but-that-s-the-trouble-with-propaganda-it-constantly-contradicts/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“The consul was at a loss for words the first time he set eyes on me. “My God! How could they treat you like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/the-consul-was-at-a-loss-for-words-the-first-time-he-set-eyes-on-me/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“We were nothing but a bunch of ravenous ghosts. The barely living dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/we-were-nothing-but-a-bunch-of-ravenous-ghosts-the-barely-living-dead/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“Did the International Committee of the Red Cross know anything about this? Did the United States? The UN? Yes, yes, and yes. And what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/did-the-international-committee-of-the-red-cross-know-anything-about/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“When we got back to our house, the villagers who’d had helped carry her coffin as far as the mountainside were there, partaking enthusiastically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/when-we-got-back-to-our-house-the-villagers-who-d-had-helped-carry/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) > [“Much later, I checked out the Ten Commandments of the Abrahamic religions. You know how many of them contain a reference to God? About…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masaji-ishikawa/much-later-i-checked-out-the-ten-commandments-of-the-abrahamic/) [Masaji Ishikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masaji-ishikawa/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father-different/masaji-ishikawa/#itemlist", "name": "1 Father Different Quotes By Masaji Ishikawa", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Even now, I sometimes wonder why my father was so different in North Korea from the man he’d been in Japan. I used to think it was related to his physical strength. In Japan, that was the thing that had given him real power. But in North Korea, his strength was meaningless. In fact, it was more of a liability than an asset. But I think the issue was more complicated than that. In Japan, he faced endless bigotry, prejudice, and discrimination. 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