“I buried him on the far side of the mountain in Dong Chong-ri, facing south toward the sea. That way he could… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“During that time, the world seemed completely unforgiving. I was a single father at age twenty-six, divorced after a meaningless marriage that… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“After my grandmother’s death, my mother’s face quickly developed deep wrinkles. She suddenly became more weathered, worn, and frail. These weren’t the… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“Even now, I sometimes wonder why my father was so different in North Korea from the man he’d been in Japan. I… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“My mother and I feared the worst as we waited and waited for his return. When he finally staggered in around midnight,… — 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
“I was stunned when my father picked her up to soothe her. I’d never seen him show any fatherly affection before. He… — 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
