Freedom Quote 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…

— 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…

— 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 . . .…

— 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,…

— 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…

— 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.”

— 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…

— Masaji Ishikawa

“So we became masters at faking it. Everyone did. To do anything else could have gotten us killed.”

— 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…

— Masaji Ishikawa

“But that’s the trouble with propaganda. It constantly contradicts itself.”

— 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…

— Masaji Ishikawa

“We were nothing but a bunch of ravenous ghosts. The barely living dead.”

— Masaji Ishikawa