“I’d crossed an invisible threshold, and my life would never be the same again.” — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“What were you thinking? A man whose quality of life is no better than that of a beggar! Who in their right… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“You don't choose to be born. You just are. And your birth is your destiny, some say. I say the hell with… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“My family was poor, but my childhood days in Mizonokuchi were the happiest of my life. Even now, when I think about… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“The three castes were “nucleus” (or “core”), “basic” (or “wavering”), and “hostile.” Three criteria determined your caste: your birth and background, your… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“For most displaced Koreans living in Japan at the time, the key point was a much simpler promise: “If you come back… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“We placed her in her coffin the following afternoon. I tried to hammer the lid down, but the stupid nails were inferior… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“Sometimes in life, you have to grab your so-called destiny by the throat and wring its neck.” — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“My father, however, seemed quite content with our new life. He never hit my mother. He started working as an agricultural laborer… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“People came to our house from far and wide. Party and military bigwigs, some guy known as the “combat commander,” the village headman, and… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“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… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“I was amazed we’d got through the checkpoint so easily. I couldn’t help asking about it. “Well, these soldiers, you see . . .… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“My family was poor, but my childhood days in Mizonokuchi were the happiest of my life. Even now, when I think about my hometown,… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“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… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“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.” — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“But the reality hit home late that night. I had a wife. And now two children. And however hard I worked, I would always… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“So we became masters at faking it. Everyone did. To do anything else could have gotten us killed.” — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“I still hope to rescue my remaining children. It is a terrible curse to not even know if they are still alive. But I… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“But that’s the trouble with propaganda. It constantly contradicts itself.” — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“The consul was at a loss for words the first time he set eyes on me. “My God! How could they treat you like… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“We were nothing but a bunch of ravenous ghosts. The barely living dead.” — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
