“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
“According to the Japanese government, people like me who’d moved to North Korea but not changed their nationality were still Japanese citizens.… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“Once I reached the gate, a wave of relief swept over me. It was obvious the whole thing was being stage-managed. The… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share Image
“The Japanese government actively promoted the repatriation, supposedly on humanitarian grounds. But in my opinion, what they were actually pursuing was opportunism… — 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 various hangers-on all made an appearance. Though our house was in the depths of the mountains, they somehow all managed to get there. They were no fools. They knew we had delicious food and drink to… — Masaji Ishikawa Copy Share
“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
