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Korean-Japanese writer, Yu Miri overcoming Korea and Japan
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KOREAN-JAPANESE W RITER, YU MIRI
OVERCOMING KOREA AND JAPAN
by
Rebecca Sookhee Ahn
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(East Asian Languages and Cultures)
August 2000
Copyright 2000 Rebecca Sookhee Ahn
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UMI Number: 1405229
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U N IV E R S IT Y O F S O U T H E R N C A LIFO R N IA
T H C 'GRADUATE SCHOOL
LTNIVCRSITY RANK
LO S A N O C U I . CALIFORNIA 1 0 0 0 7
This thesis, w ritten by
K W h CCA SOOKJ-JE& / i / j t J ________________
under the direction of hJkR— Thesis Com m ittee,
and approved by a i l its members, has been p re
sented to an d a c c e p te d by the D ean o f The
Graduate School, £n partial fulfillment o f the
requirements fo r th e degree of
Mastear of Arts
D a te A u g u st 7 , 2000
CO TH]
/ V s c
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................ iii
ABSTRACT....................................................................... iv
1 INTRODUCTION: Korean Writer in Japan.............. 1
Y i Miri in Japanese Literature.......................................... 2
Yu Miri and “From the Bookstore With a Window 6
Chronology........................................................................... 10
2 “FROM THE BOOKSTORE WITH A WINDOW”
(MADO NO ARU SHOTEN KARA)
In Korea................................................................................ 16
Inconvenient Words............................................................. 20
To “Overcome ‘Han’” ......................................................... 23
Diary....................................................................................... 28
Father...................................................................................... 32
BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................... 39
ii
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my committee members: Dr. David
T. Bialock for patiently reviewing my work, Dr. George Hayden and Dr. Jinhee Kim
for supporting me kindly. Also, a special thanks to Puck Brecher for checking my
first draft, and Mona Nazir for generous conversation at the coffee house.
1 1 1
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ABSTRACT
KOREAN-JAPANESE WRITER, YTJ MIRI
OVERCOMING KOREA AND JAPAN
Rebecca S. Ahn
Yu Miri (1968- ), a renowned Korean-Japanese female writer, has received
accolades for her literary and dramatic writings in both Japan and Korea. Her
work focuses on the traditional outcast, the “shame,” o f modem Japanese society.
Japanese critics have praised her work for its penetrating analysis o f the Japanese
family structure and social taboos related to ethnic minorities.
This thesis will introduce five o f Yu Miri‘s autobiographical essays which
explore her identity as a Korean-Japanese, a people who are still seen as pariahs in
Japan. The introduction examines the reception of Yu Miri’s literary work among
Japanese literary critics today and provides context for and analysis o f five essays
from “Bookstore with a Window.” The second part consists o f translations of five
essays which depict her life journey as a Korean woman in Japan.
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION: A KOREAN WRITER IN JAPAN
Yu Miri (1968 - ), one o f the most controversial “Zainichi sakka” or Korean-
Japanese writers in Japan today, has been lauded in Japan for her literary output in
essays, drama, and fiction.1 H er wealth o f experience has infused her writing with a
semi-autobiographical poignancy that is free o f the usual sentimentality. Praised for
her vivid and direct depiction o f social shame (haji) and social outcasts (ibutsu),
traditionally regarded as “taboo” subjects in Japan, Yu has raised a cloud of
controversy since she began her career at age 20.2 Invariably she sets her stories and
autobiographical essays within the family unit, and all events take place in the harsh
light of day, as opposed to the veiled manner that is traditional in Japan. For her
journalistic style coupled with her non-conformist choice of subject, Japanese critics
have often labeled Yu an “ishoku sakka” (odd/strange writer).3 However, another
school o f critics has praised Yu precisely because o f her non-conformist style,
believing that it is non-conformity like Yu’s that helps to extend the world of
Japanese literature into a universal realm.4 As a Korean-Japanese writer, Yu is
unique in that she has not confined herself to traditional Japanese subject matter and
has even developed an avant-garde style that has earned her much notoriety.
In the literary journal G unzo, the critic Takeda Seiji has drawn a clear
distinction between two literary approaches to the theme of the family. In one
approach, the author sets out to resolve family issues and in the other the author
adopts an attitude o f acceptance. According to Takeda, Yu adopts the second
1
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approach.5 Accepting Takeda’s distinction, I will argue that in Yu’s w ork “zainichi”
status has become, like any other set o f unfortunate circumstances into which a
person might be bom (as, for example, a dysfunctional family in American society), a
suitable theme for expressing the universal themes o f literature. In other words, Yu
has thwarted her critics’ expectations. Taking the theme o f her Korean-Japanese
status, she has given them not just another story about Japan’s ethnic minority, which
they probably expected, but a subtle literary reflection on the dilemmas o f a Korean-
Japanese living in modem Japanese society that becomes a metaphor for the Japanese
people as a whole.
The remainder o f this introduction will focus on the factors that have
motivated Yu to produce such a compelling body o f work. After first reviewing the
critical reception of her work, I will examine Yu’s autobiographical collection
“From the Bookstore with a Window,” providing context for and analysis o f the five
excerpts that have been translated and included in chapter two of this dissertation.6
M uch o f the philosophy underlying Yu’s work can be summed up in her use o f the
word “han” (fate/destiny). In her work, Yu applies this word to her own social
position as a second generation Korean, bom in Japan, writing in Japanese (her
mother tongue), and living very much as a member of a tiny minority. Yii succeeds
in expressing this “fate” with a voice o f great emotional intelligence.7
Yu Miri in Japanese Literature
Although non-conformist writers like Yu have contributed to the creation of
contemporary Japanese literature at different periods of its development, none of
2
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them has escaped criticism for their peculiar style and approach. Yu Miri, today’s
“odd writer,” is no exception. Literary opinion has been starkly divided, and Yu
Miri has suffered her share of scorn and derision, branded an ethnic writer with “poor
vocabulary,” “failed similes,” and a theme lacking in human interest. Ironically,
this criticism has served Yu Miri and the message that she wishes to communicate
quite well. For by focusing so much attention on the largely unimportant realm o f
grammatical competence, her critics have given her notoriety and brought her
writings to the attention o f a much wider audience.
Among her critics, Ishihara Shintaro has stated that Yu Miri’s work “Family
Cinema” (Kazoku Shinema) is too theatrical in its setting and lacks an attractive
literary style.8 Kanai Mieko criticizes her as “an amateur writer who can be
categorized as a ‘Tokyo style’ playwright.”9 According to Kanai, there is no
convincing social or humanistic message in Yu’s work, which she characterizes as
complacently depicting the kind of every day stories typical o f family, school and
work. Another critic, Takahashi Genichiro, criticizes Yu’s style and technique for
utilizing too many figurative expressions, which all fail to work anyway.1 0
Takahashi feels that Yu’s work lacks “vocabulary” and is not “eloquent.”
Mitsueda Kazuko, on the other hand, feels that Yu’s work is experience-oriented,
powerful, and youthful, all o f which compensate for her poor writing skill.1 1 Thus,
even compliments are left-handed criticisms.
What then has placed Yu at the center o f such a furor, a controversial
crossfire of criticisms, topped by Japan’s most prestigious literary awards? It has to
3
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do, no doubt, with her personal association inside the issues she writes about; in other
words, she is no casual observer, writing haphazard soap operas for the consumer
public. Her angst and intimate association with all that she describes are both her
motivating force and the reason for her notoriety.
A major theme o f Yu’s work is the portrayal o f Japanese social “shame.”
Japanese society and government treated Koreans as the shame (haji) of their society,
yet from her perspective as a Korean-Japanese, Yu has been able to reveal the reality
and impact o f “shame” not as a hereditary or ethnic phenomenon, but as a universal
norm that is not dependant upon the blood of ancestors.1 2 Thus Yu is discussing the
universal need for self-acceptance that transcends ethnic heritage.
One o f Yu’s strong advocates is Lee Kaisei, the most prominent Korean-
Japanese writer in Japan today. Praising Yu’s aspiration to deal with family
problems, he has stated, “This is what we have been waiting for (in Japanese literary
society).”1 3 For Lee, Yu is the first Korean-Japanese w riter to successfully dissect
family problems.1 4 Yu explains her approach to the theme o f the family like this:
“The family can be affected by the given social or political circumstances; it breaks
down easily... so if I write about the family very thoroughly, I have a feeling that I
may be writing about distortion and problems of the nation at same time.”1 5 As this
statement implies, Yu’s approach to conveying social or humanistic messages is not
direct, but exists only as an extension of her story, or in. her own words: “Social
conflicts and contradictions should be depicted as they a re ...I want to write chaos.”1 6
In Yu’s philosophy, the word “forgiving” or “forgiven” does not apply in families.
4
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She feels that, in spite o f the roles and responsibilities that parents have failed to
perform, one must still respect them as individuals who shared the time and space
with their children in the manner that their “han” had allowed them to. Her theme
is not to resolve family problems, but to accept and to overcome them, together with
the shame associated with such problems.
Kanai Mieko’s criticism o f "Y u as a “Tokyo style” playwright who “delivers
no social message” thus appears to be partially accurate, although perhaps not in the
way she intended. It is true that Yu Miri does not pontificate; however, this may be
irrelevant since Yu clearly expects society not to repent but to accept and respect the
“family” and its imperfect human relationships. In Yu Miri’s w ork social shame is
anything that is not socially acceptable in Japan. Despised “Korean-Japanese”
status had never before been an issue for the Japanese as a whole society, since such
issues have always been segregated and marginalized. Through her
autobiographically inspired works on the broken family and Japanese family
conflicts, Yu has been able to convey the message that such family problems are the
results o f sociological circumstances rather than the compartmentalized failures of a
particular race.
Although people have kept silent about social shame and spoken o f Japan as
a homogeneous nation, it is in fact a diverse country and permits a dynamic array of
conflicts and social tensions. By unveiling the “shame” of Japanese society, Yu has
exposed the presence o f incorrectness in Japanese society and propaganda. Yu is not
attacking shame; she is merely altering the classification of it. In other words, Yu
5
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has encouraged social shame to remain as it is and has promoted a more natural
attitude toward it. To "Y u Miri, “han” is an unavoidable destiny that we must all bear.
Whether we are Korean-Japanese or “pure” Japanese, “han” is a phenomenon
common to us all. Yu’s effort, therefore, speaks not only to Koreans in Japan but
also to all that live and carry the burden o f social shame.
Yu clearly denotes the struggles and heartbreaks o f the generations of
Korean immigrants that preceded her. First generation Korean immigrants had little
time to consider the injustice of their position, since they were people in crisis. It
was left to their children to become the voice o f reform. Yu Miri was such a child.
As a second generation Korean-Japanese who is more Japanese in outlook, and
connected to Korea only through her parents, Yu feels the struggle intellectually as
well as emotionally, and has produced plays and novels of controversial force and
literary power.
What makes Yu so relevant as a writer is her ability to depict her family
traumas by showing the arbitrariness o f their Korean-Japanese setting, thereby
disengaging them from long held cliches about race and class. She takes misfortune
and shame out of the ethnic setting, and shows that these phenomena are a result of
circumstance, position, character and misfortune, in short, a result o f “han.” Her
solution to this is to accept “han” and then move forward individually.
Yu Miri and “From the Bookstore With a Window”
“From the Bookstore with a Window” is a compilation o f Yu’s personal
essays published from 1993 to 1996 in various literary magazines and newspapers, in
6
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which she plays on the ambiguity between autobiography and fiction as she explores
the dilemma o f Korean-Japanese identity. I have chosen five excerpts that develop
this theme with particular force: “In Korea” (Kan no Kuni nite), “Inconvenient
Words” (Fujiyu na Kotoba), “To ‘Overcome Han’” (“Han o Koeru” to Iukoto),
“Diary” (Nikki no Maki), and “Father” (Chichi no Maki).1 7 In each essay, Yu
communicates to her audience how she came to grip with her “han” as a Korean-
Japanese. The journey to accept her “han” starts in Korea.
“In Korea,” Yu explores the harsh reality o f being treated cruelly by her
motherland, for whom she is a “Japanized” being. Although deep in her heart she
manages to identify with the Korean people’s longing for Korean unification, in her
outward manner she remains Japanese. However many times Yu tries to explain to
Korean people her angst and struggle as a Korean-Japanese, she is not successful.
Is Yu really a Korean? Resented by her own people, Yu’s inner struggle became
apparent in Korea.
Particularly in the case of Korean-Japanese identity, language can be viewed
as a measurement of one’s attachment to the culture. In “Inconvenient Words,” Yu
expresses her uncomfortable position with both the Japanese and the Korean
languages. Yu shows her frustration when dealing with fellow writers from Korea
due to her lack o f ability to speak Korean. “When the writer Mr. Baku Koil asked
me, ‘Why don’t you study Korean?’ my tension reached its peak. I reasoned that it
never occurred to me not to learn, but I am stubborn.”1 8 This represents the internal
struggle and awkward position commonly felt among Koreans bom in Japan who can
7
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no longer communicate in their ancestral language. "Y u resolves this awkwardness
of being Korean in Japan in the word “han,” one’s fate or destiny.
In the essay “To Overcome ‘Han,’” the reader encounters how Yu Miri came
to reconcile her Korean background with her Japanized being. Surprisingly, it was
the Korean nationalistic movie, “Over The Windy Hill,” that taught Yu to accept her
fate and gave her the answer to her identity crisis.1 9 Yu Miri states: “The phrase,
‘To Overcome Han’ has been a big issue for me as a Korean-Japanese and as a writer.
I must overcome Korea and Japan, although I am a descendant of wanderers.”2 0 To
put the point in nationalistic terms, Yu Miri is herself a Korean descendant. She
may claim that her values are sanctioned by Japanese society, but paradoxically none
of the Japanese movies manage to represent her values so effectively as this one
Korean movie.2 1 Therefore, she must accept her insufficient Korean-ness,
“panchoppari” (Japanized Korean), as well as her insufficient Japanese-ness, as the
“haji” (shame) o f Japanese society.
In “Diary,” Yu comes to realize that her hatred and unfortunate
circumstances are no longer the same as she once thought them to be. In this essay,
"Y u Miri reaches the conclusion that diaries by Kawabata Yasunari, Ozu Yasujiro and
Patricia Highsmith are in fact fictions, because the so-called authors’ real life stories
were created by authors themselves. Yu comes to conclude that her own
unfortunate childhood stories can also be treated as “fictions,” since they occurred as
a result o f incorrect beliefs and indoctrination.2 2
8
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This process o f accepting her unfortunate circumstances is depicted in the
essay “Father.” Yu discusses two essays from Sawaki’s non-fiction work,
“Elephant in the Sky.” To Yu, Sawaki’s essays are “extremely dynamic and heavy,”
because while Sawaki is loyal and careful in his depictions o f “flawed” characters, he
manages to treat them w ith love and compassion, and markedly refrains from
judgmental statements. Yu could not resist Sawaki’s effort to depict the vulnerable
humane side of terrible fathers and uncontrollable sons. Yu learns to accept her
father for who he is, in spite o f all his shortcomings. Her father is no longer the
“shame” that he once represented in her perception of Japanese society. The essay
closes with Yu being completely liberated from those feelings of self-hatred and
contempt that she had nurtured and kept inside her while growing up in Japanese
society, and she finally learns to adore her father. Yu discovered this satisfaction—
the secure relationship with a parent who once seemed completely inadequate-in
conjunction with a deeper understanding of her father’s people.
Miyazawa Tsuyoshi has discussed the importance o f “zainichi” (Korean-
Japanese) literature for the important role it can play in enriching Japanese
literature.2 3 Yu Miri’s w ork has certainly performed this role. By demarginalizing
“zainichi” literature in Japanese literary society, her writing has begun to break down
existing Japanese social boundaries and is extending Japanese literature into a new
and more universal realm. She is one o f the standard bearers in the cultural
revolution that is taking place in social awareness in today’s Japan.
9
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Date
1910
1919
1931
1937
1945
1950
1965
1968
1981
1984
1988
1992
1993
1995
1996
Chronology
A uthor’s L ife H istorical Event
Korea Annexed by Japan2 4
“ M ilitary R u le” period2 5
March First Movement2 6
“C ultural R u le” period2 7
Manchurian Incident
2n d Sino-Japanese War2 8
W artime M obilizationt2 9
Korea liberated/WWII ends3 0
Korean War (- 1953)3 1
“Normalization Treaty”3 2
Bom in Kanagawa3 3
“Tokurei Eiju” Law passed3 4
Drops out of High School/Joins “Tokyo Kid Brothers”3 5
Forms “Seishun Gogatsu To”3 6
‘Testival o f Fish” receives Gulf War/World recession
Kishida Kokushi Award3 7 affects Japan’s “bubble” economy
“Over The Windy Hill” released
“Shimon Onatsu” law abolished3 8
“A Family Specimen” & “Fuil House” published3 9
‘Tull House” receives Senkyoka Award & Noma Award4 0
“From the Bookstore With a Window” published
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1997
1998
‘Tamily Cinema” receives Akutagawa Award
“Tile” published4 1
“Gold Rush” published4 2
S .Korea economic crisis
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NOTES
1 “Zainichi” (Korean-Japanese) is the biggest minority group in Japan.
Current population of Japan is 126,686,000. “Zainichi" represent about 0.5%.
Statistics B ureau & Statistics Center, Management and Coordination Agency,
“Statistics Census of Japan. Change in Total Population,” Annual Report on
Current Population Estim ates As of October 1999 available from
http://www.jinjapan.org/stat/ 01CEN21 .html: Internet: accessed 17 May 1999.
2 “Ibutsu” literally means “ foreign substance” or “weird things.” When Yu
was 20, she formed her own drama group “Seishun Gogatsu Td” (The Party of "Youth
in May). She was both a director and a playwright and performed twice a year.
3 “Ishoku sakka” literary means “different color writers.” Ever since Yu
first received the most prestigious Japanese literary award, the Akutagawa Award in
1996, she lias been categorized as an odd writer. Yu Miri was criticized by some
Akutagawa Award Committee members as being more of a play writer than a
novelist.
4 Kawamura So, “ Akutagawa ShS Sempyo o Yomitoku” (To Analyze the
Selection Process of the Akutagawa Award Winner), B ungakkai, (July 1999): 218-219.
5 Takeda Seiji, “Ibutsu Toshiteno Sei — Yu Miri Kazoku Shinema’ ” (“Ibutsu”
as a Quiet Being— Yu Miri “Family Cinema”), G unzo (April 1997): 396-397.
6 Yu Miri, From th e Bookstore W ith a W indow (M ado no A ru Shoten k a ia )
(Tokyo: Kadokawa Haruki, 1996), 5-19; 20-24; 48-54; 87-92; 93-97.
7 “H an” (1fi) is fate or destiny in Korean. The Chinese character “ han” can
be read as “uram i” (grudge) in Japanese, however it refers to “saga” (fate or destiny)
rather th a n “urami” according to " Y u ’ s explanation from the text.
8 Yu Miri, F a m ily Cinema (K azoku Shinem a) (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1997).
Kawamura So citing Ishihara Shintaro in “Akutagawa Sho Sempyo o "Yomitoku,”
B u n g a k k a i53:7 (July 1995): 218.
9 K anai Mieko, Mituseda Kazuko, and Takahashi Genichiro, “Sosaku Gohyo”
(Critiques of New Books), G unzo (October 1994): 409-410.
1 0 Ibid, 412.
1 1 Ibid, 411-412.
1 2 See Yu Miri, K azoku no Hyohon (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1995). The
entire book is dedicated to dysfunctional family stories which never were talked about
publicly in Japan. Domestic violence and physical abuse are believed to be very
common in Japan. However, this kind of topic is not acceptable socially. And the
government does very little to help deal with domestic violence.
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1 3 Lee Kaisei, and Yu Miri, “Kazoku, Minzoku, Bungaku” (Family, Ethnicity,
Literature), G unzo (April 1997): 127. Lee Kaisei (1935 - ) is a famous Korean-
Japanese writer.
1 4 Ibid, 127.
1 6 Ibid, 128.
1 6 Ibid, 137.
1 7 “ In Korea” was first published in One Korea, October 1994.
“Inconvenient Words” was first published in Subaru, April 1996. “Overcoming Han”
was first published in B ungakkai, September 1994. “Diary” and “Father” were first
published in Tbsho Sbinbun, 1993-1996.
1 8 Yu Miri, From th e B ookstore With a Window, 21.
1 9 Ibid, 48. “Over the Windy Hill” was produced in 1993 by Taeheung
Production, LTD.
2 0 Ibid, 54.
2 1 See p.26 from Chapter 2.
2 2 See p.27 from Chapter 2.
2 3 Miyazawa Tsuyoshi, “Lee Kaisei Kanako no Tameni’ Ron” (Lee Kaisei s
Theory on “For Kanako”), N ihon B ungaku 48 (January 1999): 42-43.
2 4 When Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910, Korean migration to Japan
began. Koreans in Japan increased from 48,774 in 1921 to 419,009 in 1980, and
881,345 in 1938. Census taken by “ Kokuzei Chosa.” See Baku, Chosenjin K yosei
R enko no K iroku (Records o f Forced M igration o f K oreans) (Tokyo: Miraisha, 1965).
2 5 Japanese military police increased and all publications, except of Colonial
Government publications, were shut down in Korea.
2 6 When King Kojong (dethroned in 1907 by the Japanese Imperial
Government) died, the Korean people gathered and declared their independence on
March 1, 1919. Although it was intended to be a peaceful movement, it ended up
with much violence, because Japanese military police used armed force to stop the
movement. More than 2 million Koreans directly participated, 46,948 arrested,
7,509 killed, and 15,961 injured. This day is commemorated in both North and
South Korea today. See Ki-baik Lee, A N ew H isto ry o f K orean (H an 'guksa sillon),
(Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1984), 338-345.
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2 7 After March. First Movement, Japan changed its colonial policy in Korea to
the “enlightened administration.” This was a policy focusing on cultural and
economic advancement rather than strict military rule.
2 8 In Asia, 2nd Sino-Japanese War marks as the beginning of WWII.
2 9 After the WWII started, the Japanese government was in need of many
workers. Korean men and women were shipped to Japan as workers. Accurate
figures of how many were brought into Japan are not available, but it is estimated
th a t between two to three million Koreans were drafted as forced workers. See
Harajiri Hideki, Z ainichi C hosejin no S eika tsu S ekka i (Life a nd W orld o f K oreans in
Japan) (Tokyo: Kobundo, 1994), 42.
3 0 As of December 31, 1945, SCAP records showed th at a total of 929,772
Koreans had been repatriated, leaving 550,000 to 600,000 Koreans in Japan.
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, H istory o f th e N on-M ilita ry A c tiv itie s o f
th e Occupation o f Ja p a n /S ta tistics a n d R eports Section, G eneral H eadquarters,
Suprem e Comm ander fo r th e A llie d Powers. (Tokyo: SCP, 1952), vol.6, p art 4, 16.
3 1 Many Korean illegal immigrants (“mikko-sha”) came to Japan during and
after the Korean War. The number of Korean illegal immigrants is not known. Yu
Miri’s father, who could not read and write Japanese and spoke Japanese with a
heavy Korean accent in the 1960’s, probably arrived Japan around this time.
3 2 South Korea and Japan signed “1965 Normalization Treaty” and resumed
foreign relations after WWII.
3 3 Kanagawa is a prefecture west of Tokyo.
3 4 “Tokurei Eiju” (special perm anent residence) is an alien status designed
for Korean-Japanese. Since this law passed the Japanese Diet in 1981, Korean-
Japanese have more residential privilege than any other minorities in Japan.
3 6 “Tokyo Kid Brothers” is a drama group in Tokyo.
3 6 See footnote 2.
3 7 Yu Miri, F estiva l o f F ish (Uo no Sai) (Tokyo: Hakusui-sha, 1992). Kishida
Kokushi award is a prestigious playwright award.
3 8 “Shimon Onatsu” refers to the law by which all foreigners were required to
submit fingerprints annually in Japan. This was regarded as a hum iliating process
by Korean-Japanese. Many third and fourth generation Korean-Japanese did not
know that they were of Korean descent until their first visit to city hall at age 14.
See Sakanaka Hidenori, “Zainichi wa Shizen Shometsu e” (Koreans in Japan will
disappear naturally), R afu Shim po, 22 April 1999, 7.
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3 9 Yu Miri, F am iTy Specim en (K azoku n o H yohon) (Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha,
1995). Yu Miri, F u ll H o u se (Furu H ausu) (Tokyo: Bungeishunju, 1995).
4 0 SenkyOka aw ard is a smaller literary award. Noma award is a literary
award for new writers.
4 1 Yu Miri, A T ile (Tairu) (Tokyo: Bungeishunju, 1997).
4 2 Yu Miri, G o ld R ush (Gorudo R asshu) (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1998).
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CHAPTER 2
“FROM THE BOOKSTORE W ITH A WINDOW”
(Mado No Am Shoten Kara)
Tn Korea
I was in Korea from July 8 through July 12 in 1994. M y play ‘Testival o f
Fish” was being performed by a Korean theatre. I went to Korea to participate in the
promotion of the play and opening day.
My translator was On Heejong who was the same age as me and had lived in
Osaka for six years.1 Therefore, the Japanese translation was in the Osakan dialect.
“The same questions over and over...,” said Heejong, her irritation
outpacing my own. “Yes, I just repeat what I said in yesterday’s interview,” I said,
having in one day only picked up her Osakan dialect.
“What do you think about your play being performed in your mother
country?” and, “Don’t you want to learn Korean or about Korea?”
I was asked these two questions in every interview I had. Knowing what I
was going to be asked, I wrote in the pamphlet o f ‘Testival o f Fish” the following
information. It is long but I would like to include it.
In the eyes o f the Korean people, I might be a typical “panchoppari”
(Japanized Korean) and come across as a person who is indifferent to traditional
Korean culture and language.2 However, I am convinced that my life, as it is, has
become the incentive for me to write plays.
It might be hard for you the reader to understand what I am talking about,
but let me try to explain.
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Without question, drama is the art o f time and space. What creates time
and space is the stage direction and the lines of the actor. Since I can’t write or
speak my mother tongue (Korean), I must write a play in another language. But I
believe that this makes my words dramatic. Countries that enjoy the modem drama
might have the same problems with language that I have encountered with language.
Take the Japanese people and their language as an example. Today’s
Japanese population under 40, including myself, cannot read medieval literature or
Edo, and Meiji literature.3 Most people today cannot read the classical Chinese that
forms the basis for the modem Japanese language. M ost likely, it would be
impossible for a Japanese 200 years ago to understand young people’s conversation
today, just like I can’t understand the Korean language. In addition, there is a flood
o f foreign words used today. We even find writings by Japanese which one cannot
comprehend without a knowledge of English.
The greatest influence on the modem Japanese drama was “Waiting for
Godot” by Samuel Beckett.4 “The Lesson” and “The Bald Soprano“ by Ionesco
were performed repeatedly and became an influence as well.6 Ionesco’s dramaturgy
is the break-down of language. In other words, it is the loss o f language identity.
It is widely known that Ionesco gave language lessons and that this greatly influenced
his work in the theatre. This might explain the meaning o f why I wrote the play in
another language. In short, languages cannot always be apriori.
As a Korean in Japan, I was extremely careful to be true to the Japanese
language. I believe that this led me to become a playwright.
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On July 7, I received the news o f Kim Il-Sung’s death while near the
theatre.6 After the opening day was over, I expressed myself eloquently as I drank
sake poured by the actors. I spoke words o f Korean unconsciously.
“Do you intend to learn Korean?” Chong Jinsu, the producer, asked.
“Well, yea...”
“Since you grew up hearing your father and mother speak Korean, it won’t
take too long, if you really want to learn.” Mr. Chong was nodding with satisfaction.
I directed my red face from the sake and said, “It is not that I don’t know Korean, but
I think I have lost it.” But, Heejong enjoying her conversation with the main actor
did not translate my sentence.
At the party, attending news reporters would be discussing the play, and then
suddenly begin to argue about how Kim Il-Sung’s death would effect Korea’s
unification, and then again return to the topic of play. Heejong translated their
conversations bit by bit, as if providing subtitles.
Becoming irritated, I asked “When would Korea’s unification take place?”
A reporter from a Korean newspaper said, “We can be united in as early as three
years or at the latest in ten years.”
July 10. The day after Klin Il-Sung’s death was announced, Mr. Chong and
Heejong came to the hotel to pick me up. I dozed off from lack o f sleep as Mr.
Chong drove me to the Unification Observatory near Panmunjom.7 The parking lot
was full. I heard there were three times more visitors today than usual. Mr. Chong
murmured, “Maybe the people have gathered here because they couldn’t wait for the
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unification.” We had to walk more than 30 minutes of mountain road to get to the
Unification Observatory. I noticed many families, perhaps because it was a Sunday.
Children and old men alike walked up the hill at a quick pace. I noticed many
middle age women wearing Korean dresses, under the burning sun.
At the Unification Observatory, while staring at North Korea beyond Imjin
River, I began to feel that I cherished the same prayer as all the other people there,
and it gave me goose bumps on my arms and back where the sun was scorching.8
July 12. Early in the morning on the day when I returned to Japan (or
departed Korea), I appeared on the KBS morning show. A newscaster asked me a
question which was not expected.
“Why don’t you speak Korean? You must learn Korean, if you perform
your play in Korea.”
Even before Heejong translated, I understood what he said by his eyes and
tone of his voice. It was a live broadcast. I thought about objecting to his
comment, but it looked like there was not enough time, so I had no choice but to nod
my head. In the end, I said “thank you” and smiled stiffly.
As soon as the show was over the woman announcer said, “You have a pretty
face. Why don’t you wear make-up? How can you appear on a TV show without
make-up...” Her words stung. This time again, after mumbling in Japanese
“unwanted repeated advice,” I bowed my head to her, saying “Thank you” in Korean.
I had acted just like Japanese traveler who is not used to traveling overseas and keeps
repeating “Thank you” in English.
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Inconvenient Words
When I was asked by Mr. Hisama jQgi to participate in the Japan-Korea
Literature symposium, my honest feeling was, “Oh no, how can I say no to him?”9
I am extremely shy of strangers and terrible at speaking to people, and trembled just
thinking about how I should act in front of the attending writers.
I was invited probably because I was a Korean-Japanese, but I could easily
imagine myself sweating, red-faced, not able to greet the Korean authors whom I met.
But there was no way to refuse attending for such a reason.
Mr. Hisama understood what I was thinking and said, “I only want you to be
there.” I decided there was no point in making a scene here, and in the early
morning on November 17,1 got on a flight to Shimane.1 0
Right away, in the conference lobby, an incident troubled me.
Mr. Hong Youngson, professor and critic at Inha University, came to talk to
me, saying “Ms. Yu Miri” with a big smile, as if rejoicing in finding an old friend.
Immediately he noticed that I could not speak Korean. Mr. Hong asked, “Can you
speak English?” I answered, “I can’t.” Then, he looked around the lobby to find a
translator. At that moment, my feet moved backward and I had to disappear from
Mr. Hong’s world.
When my work “The Festival o f Fish” (Uo no Sai) was performed by a
Korean company from July to August in 1994,1 went to Korea for publicity and did
television, newspaper and magazine interviews, so he probably saw one o f these.1 1
Even after that he repeatedly, with his easygoing manner, tried to communicate with
me, but my body just became rigid.
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On the last day, we went by bus to Tamatsukuri hot spring to have a
“farewell dinner party.” 1 2 Mr. Hong, who sat next to me, taught me Korean,
pointing at every scene we passed, saying such words as: “umi, pada, ki, namu,
kawa, kan, kodomotachi, edul.”1 3
When the writer Mr. Baku Koil asked me, “Why don’t you study Korean?”
my tension reached its peak. I reasoned that it had never occurred to me not to learn,
but I am stubborn because I am humiliated learning a language like a child. Besides,
I don’t feel like writing in Korean, and I can’t even utilize Japanese well, which I am
learning as I write.
To be honest, however, there are more excuses. When I was a child my
parents spoke Japanese to me, but when they fought, they threw Korean words at
each other. Although I did not understand what they were saying, one could
imagine, it was such a terrible sound that I wanted to close my ears, and I prayed
everyday that I wouldn’t have to hear Korean. Because of these kinds o f
experiences, I have resisted learning Korean. I explained this to Mr. Baku.
When I was expecting him to object and ask further questions, surprisingly,
he easily agreed with me; saying, “I think that Koreans who were bom and raised in
countries other than Korea should write in that country’s language. You don’t need
to learn Korean.” Mr. Baku predicts that “the process whereby English will become
the dominant language in all levels of society will take place in the 21st century at the
latest” and that all the writers in the world will eventually write in English, the
international language.
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The next day, after the symposium was over, when I went onto Hinomisaki
Light House, I spent more than ten minutes running up the spiral stairway, which was
40 meters high.1 4 I hate to walk, an.d the only reason I did this was because I
wanted to be alone. When I finally reached the top, there was already someone
there before me. I quickly realized th a t he was a participant from Korea. It was
Mr. Kim Yonik. At the symposium, U s expression was hard, but he took out his
business card with a warm smile and looked into my eyes, just as if he were asking
me out for dinner. In Japanese, he said, “Would you like to try to study in Korea?
If you want to, please contact me.”
I did not know how to answer. When I hastily got my business card out of
my pocket to exchange cards with him , the wind blew it away together with Mr.
Kim’s business card. Mr. Kim was looking at the flying business cards in dumb
surprise. I became pale from embarrassment, and said “I am sorry, but I have to
go, excuse me.” I bowed my head and. descended the stairs like a fleeing rabbit.
I will summarize my speech at the symposium.
“I have always felt uncomfortable with both the Japanese and Korean
languages, but I am considering this awkwardness as an incentive to write novels. I
have no choice but to continue to write using these awkward and inconvenient words.
Words hurt me and make me bleed.”
To this, Ms. Shin Kyungsik replied, “I could identify with Ms. Yanagi (Yu
Miri). But I can only use the Korean language, which has became part o f my body
expression to the extent that I don’t even consider it my mother language.”
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Mr. Nakazawa Kei praised Ms. Shin’s and my speech, saying, “Your two
speeches were today’s harvest.”1 5 There was also a speech by Ms. Tsushima Yuko:
“Because we still face difficulties, no matter what language we use, we write, and
because we all struggle to express the richness of what we feel intimately with mere
words, we gather here.”1 6
I had engaged in an exchange with other writers as well, but this was my
experience o f two nights and three days in Shimane.
To “Overcome ‘Han’”
In his interview with Choe Yangil, Im Gwontek (the director o f the movie
“Over The Windy Hill”) said, “After all, we still have this idea o f our people
constantly wandering and living...This means that our people should be united and
spend actual time together, but we have not accomplished this.”1 7
The main characters in ’’Over The Windy Hill” are three traveling Pansori
musicians: a father, daughter, and son.1 8 The father had adopted an orphan girl to
teach Pansori. His son was his late wife’s son, not his own. Wherever they went,
the three sang Pansori. Even though they earned very little money they continued
their journey.
The street scenery changes from spring to summer, summer to fall, fall to
winter and winter to spring.
Why do they wander and not seek a peaceful place to live?
Each day was constantly hard for Korean people. They were invaded,
persecuted, and their language (soul) taken away. Because there were separations,
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deaths and divisions, they probably tried to attach themselves to the future rather than
the present and to a new place rather than the immediate one.
The younger brother rebels against his father, abandons his older sister and
runs away. Although he was afraid o f actual separation when they were wandering
together, the long time o f separation drove him to the deepest comer of longing to
meet his sister again. Unable to bear this feeling, unable to run away from this
feeling, and overwhelmed by it, even though he was married and had children, he
began to wander and look for his sister and her music.
The younger brother learns o f his father’s death and that his older sister was
blinded by his father’s hand. In the younger brother’s mind appears the image of
his sister, wandering with a stick, her Korean dress fluttering like a sail.
Looking at this scene, I remembered the poem “Korean Women” (Chosen
Onna) by Nakahara Chuya.1 9
“The strings o f Korean women’s dresses are twisted by the autumn wind.”
Is there a dress more suited to wind than a Korean dress? If the Japanese
dress is “Sei” (quietness), then the Korean dress is “Do’Xaction).2 0 We can even
apply this to an image o f stable living and an image o f wandering.
I wore a Korean dress on “Goshichiya” (seventh night celebration),
“Shichigosan” (celebration of ages 7, 5, and 3) and “Seijinshiki” (coming of age 20
celebration) days. Ever since I was a child my body and mind preferred a Korean
dress filled with wind over a Japanese dress that constricts your body. Maybe I
have the blood of the wanderers.
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Every country has movies that can be categorized as “nationalistic.”
Though it is unlikely that everyone will watch the movie in question (although North
Korean propaganda movies might be watched by everyone), people will still be able
to describe it. In Japanese movies, the “Otoko Wa Tsuraiyo” (It’s Hard To Be A
Man) series could be considered such a film.2 1 In the old days, it was “Kimi No Na
Wa” (Your Name Is) or “Meiji Tenno To Nichiro Daisenso” (The Emperor Meiji And
The Russo-Japanese War) and if we talk about TV series, it is “Oshin.”2 2 In
America, the great national favorite is without question “Gone With The Wind.”2 3 I
heard that already over 3 million Koreans have watched “Over The Windy Hill.” It
has been a hit just like the old saying, “Kuzen Zetsugo” (unparalleled).
For a movie to become a national favorite, that nation’s people must be in
the midst of a transition. When lifestyle or generational sentiment is about to
change drastically, the guilty feeling of abandoning the traditional culture
momentarily brings people back to the tradition. If the movie is produced in a
timely manner to suit the people’s feelings, it will be a big hit.
It is said that “Pansori” were superseded by “Enka” (Japanese folk songs)
during the colonial period and by Western music after the war.2 4 However, it does
not mean that traditional culture has been banished by a new culture. Changes in
lifestyle and generational sentiment have relegated tradition to the past.
The theme “Overcoming ‘Han’” may be suggesting that although Koreans
happened to be influenced by Western music, they had no choice but to create new
music to replace Pansori anyway.
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The scene in which the family o f three sing “Chin Shima Ariran” and walk
along the mountain road is incredible.2 5 It is a long scene— 5 minutes and 40
seconds. First, the father sings with a melancholic voice at the top o f his lungs.
You have left, my dear whom I loved.
You have left forever with the flock o f geese.
I shall ask the geese flying there.
Which way are we going?
Soon, the older sister begins to sing as she dances, and the younger brother takes
down a drum off his back and starts to play. There are neither dark nor bright
expressions on their faces.
Play and go, play and go.
Play and go, until the moon rises and falls.
Whether cold or hot, come into my breast.
Is the pillow high or low?
Make my breast your pillow.
The younger brother, looking at his sister beaten by his father, grieves and
says, “How long are we to continue this kind o f life?” Holding her bruised cheek,
the older sister murmurs, “I like singing, because I can forget everything and be
happy.” Though she says this, she becomes incapable o f singing due to the sadness
o f departing from her brother. To put her into the situation where she has no choice
but to sing, the father makes her drink a Korean herb drink and takes her eyesight.
He thinks that her voice would be revived if she lost her eyesight. The father, on his
death bed, tells his daughter that he took her eyesight to plant “han” into her heart.
What is “han”?
In the work upon which the movie “Over The Windy Hill” was based it is
described as follows: "... ‘han’ that people possess is not given by others, but
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accumulates like dust while you live out a long, so-called ‘life.’ For some people,
to live is to accumulate ‘han’ and to accumulate ‘han’ is to live...”2 5 Mr. Hayashi,
the director, says that hatred or grudges sometimes hurt or even kill others, but “han”
is directed towards the internal self, never the external.
“.. .If the daughter cannot forgive her father, her mind will be vengeful, and
‘han’ cannot reside in her singing. Because she forgave her father, the ‘han’ that
she possessed must have deepened...”
W hat is “han”?
The younger brother, who has been waiting for his sister, and the older sister,
who has been looking for her brother, meet again. But they do not speak each
other’s names, and spend all night singing and drumming songs which they learned
from their deceased father.
The moment when she was able to overcome her “han,” while singing, she
looked at her younger brother with eyes that could no longer see. This was
described in the original book: “The song and the rhythm were like fairies that play
and enjoy each other without touching. Or rather than playing they were like a
wonderful magic show. Or rather than a magic show, it was like the embrace of
song and rhythm that could never touch.” When the bus that took the younger
brother was going away, the older sister, in parting from the man who cared for her,
said, “I stayed too long, which is not what I normally do,” and once again departed
on her unknown journey. Led by the string held by the girl in a red dress, she walks
down the snowy road which seems like a road to death.
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The phrase “Overcoming ‘Han’” has been a big issue for me as a Korean-
Japanese and a writer. I must overcome Korea and Japan, although I am a
descendant o f wanderers.
People who think their home country is beautiful are immature. Those
who can identify with any country as their own already possess a strong spirit, but for
the perfect person the whole world may be seen as foreign land.
Diary
I have been writing and talking about my miserable childhood experiences.
I touched on this subject again the other day, when I was asked about it during an
interview for a women’s magazine. While speaking, I really could not feel that it
had truly happened to me. It almost feels like a made-up story. What comes out of
my mouth is smooth and painless just like skin from which a scab has came off. I
have only a dim memory o f having extreme pain, to the extent that I could not even
scream at that time.
My diary began by bad-mouthing my parents, brothers and sister, teacher
and classmates. I grabbed the pencil like a knife, and engraved the hiragana I had
just learned.2 7 I think the words that I used most frequently were ‘T m gonna kill
them.” My father pushed me into the bathtub, beat me, and broke my nose. That
day, there was one sentence: ‘T m gonna kill Papa.”
Next morning, my diary was pinned up on the front door. Underlined in
red ink was ‘T m gonna kill Papa.” My father probably used the red pencil he kept
on his ear to mark horse races.
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In those days, the words were bruises and wounds.
There is a book called “Diary o f a Sixteen Year Old” by Kawabata Yasunari
who lost his parents in early childhood and became completely lonely at the age of
sixteen after his grandfather’s death.2 8
Kawabata, at the age o f sixteen, was living with his grandfather, who was
blind and almost deaf. His grandfather had fallen ill and become incapable of
defecating by himself.
“...‘Tired, tired, ah, tired,’ feebly, he spits out his groaning in an appeal to
heaven.”2 9 In the afterword, Kawabata writes, “Later, it felt strange for me to be
composing a diary as a sixteen year old near someone who was sick and approaching
death.” And again, “When I found this diary, the strangest thing was that I did not
remember any o f these unpleasant days that are recorded in it.”3 0 If he did not
remember what was written in his diary, can “Diary o f a Sixteen Year Old” be
fiction? Even if it was fiction, Kawabata’s afterword is interesting.
Was it a diary or fiction? Anyway, writers write their diaries expecting
them to be read. In this, there is a lie.
Having written this much, I began to feel that his diary could be judged a
fiction. It was precisely because in the afterword he was overly concerned about
making his diary true. When I was sixteen, I was always in the library. The
library was chilly like a refrigerator, waiting to freeze me. My eyes, o f course, were
longing to read “Diary of a Sixteen Year Old,” but I ignored them. Who reads
“Diary of a Sixteen Year Old” at age sixteen?
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In a weekly photogravure magazine there were several photographs with the
following caption: “First Time Made Public— on Ozu’s 90th birthday. Private
shots o f Hara Setusko entitled — ‘Forever a virgin,”’ I felt surprised and thrilled just
like the feeling that one would get by looking at something that one should not.3 1
One picture was o f Hara Setsuko, who sits next to Satomi Ton, just about to
smoke.3 2 And in the other one, Ozu brings a cigarette in his mouth toward the
lighter held out by Hara. Hara’s hand is reserved and sexy. These shots bring out
the real image, the pitiful yet soothing image o f Hara, which we would never know
from Ozu’s many movies, such as “Tokyo Story” (Tokyo-Monogatari).3 3
“Ozu Yasujiro’s Diary” (Ozu Yasujiro Nikki) by Tsuzuld Masaaki may be
the best book among those on Ozu which describes Ozu as a person.3 4
I think that we can uncover the secret of why Ozu did not get married but
stayed single all his life. However, I do not intend to write about what I was
convinced o f here. It seems needless to say that the author shows his respect to Ozu
when he writes indirectly and intentionally stops hinting.
“Thursday, October 17. I dreamed in the early morning. I was drinking
tea with Kinuyo.3 5 Truly a modest dream. When I woke up, it was raining.”
Entries of this sort, which were written just before his 30th birthday, had a
strong impact on me. His diary at age 47 was also written as if it were a stranger’s
life. It was sad.
“Saturday, November 17. These days, the rumor of marrying Hara Setsuko
continues.”
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“Edith’s Diary” is by Patricia Highsmith.3 6 Edith is an ordinary housewife
with a son in elementary school. She is eager for an ordinary, or a too ordinary,
lifestyle. But the author Highsmith does not permit this. A malicious author turns
Edith, who dreams o f an ordinary life, upside down. H er daily life starts scorching
Edith like an oven, gradually burning. She takes in a bed-ridden uncle and cares for
him. H er son becomes autistic. Her husband has a love affair with a young
woman. The only time she feels happy is when she is writing her diary. She
paints a gospel world of harmony in her diary, but in reality her world is cracking.
The diary becomes the book o f gospel, and the reality becomes the book o f hell.
What is the diary to us? Why do we keep the diary? Edith writes in her
diary: “The gap between reality and dream is an unbearable hell.”3 7
The moment when I, an elementary school student, faced the white paper
with the pencil in my hand, I felt fear pulsing, in my temples, in my wrists, and even
between my toes.
I turned my face from the writing pad and left home aimlessly without my
wallet. It was terribly cold, but the sky was as clear as a blade. My feet directed
me to a bookstore with a window. Familiar scenery appeared and disappeared like
the scattered diary pages tom off the cover. The shutters o f the bookstore window
were closed. I realized that today was a holiday, but even so, would the bookstore
be closed on a holiday? Without understanding, not wanting to go back to my room,
I walked the street
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Now I, who have lost a home and a school to run away from and lost people
to kill, where do I run from, and whom shall I kill?
Eather
Wakened by the sound o f the railroad crossing, I put on my coat over my
pajamas and went out to buy a newspaper at the kiosk in front of the train station.
Like sandpaper, the dry wind violently rubbed my chapped lips. As I was walking,
I tore the skin off my lip. I was told by the kiosk saleslady, “It’s late, so we’re all
sold out. I am sorry.” I checked my watch. It was past one o’clock. I don’t
know why, but I did not want to return to my room without doing anything, so I went
to the bookstore with a window. When I stand in front o f the bookcase, I somehow
stand on my toes. I feel my present self shrink like a noon shadow overlapping with
that memory of my childhood.
The first book I encountered was one from The C ollection o f W orld
L iterature series that was kept in my father’s study. When I touched my father’s
book with my sweaty hands, my fingers got dirty from the dust and left finger marks
on the cover. I was the only one in my family who read books. My father stared
at me as I read and persistently said, “Read it with care. After you finish reading it,
put it back properly.”
There was also The C ollection o f Japanese L iterature series, The C ollection
o f Shakespeare, The A n alects o f Confucius, a C hinese P o etry series and over twenty
dictionaries. My father liked thick books. I can almost say that as long as it was
thick, he liked it. It was because my father could not read and write Japanese.
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When I wanted to go to the bathroom and woke up at midnight, I happened to see my
father taking out textbooks from my backpack and practicing writing Hiragana.
Pretending that I was half asleep, I crawled into my bed.
Last year on New Year’s day, I went home after a long absence and read my
father’s books. When I opened my notebook and was copying a phrase from one o f
the books, the word “thief’ came out of my father’s mouth.
“I didn’t mean to steal,” I said. “ I just thought it was a good phrase,” but
my father would not believe me.
“If you have to steal the writings of one who wrote with so much effort, it’s
better for you not to write. Just write what you have experienced.”
I gave up and shut m y mouth.
“ I think Hemingway is real. Hemingway went to the war and wrote about
the war.” I wonder if my father has ever read Hemingway. Did he read him in
Korean? Next to the bookcase, there are yellowish Korean books piled up. I don’t
know whether Hemingway is among them. Listening to my father’s unending
lecture, I stared at the Hangul characters.3 8
P atrim ony is the title of a work that Phillip Roth, a Jewish American, wrote
about his father, who struggled with a brain tumor and died.3 9 The 86 year-old
father, who only graduated from Junior High school and was an insurance salesman,
tried to conquer death and would not step out of the ring, though the towel had been
thrown in. Phillip Roth, just like a referee who would not turn his eyes from that
kind of father, wrote indifferently and clearly, controlling his sentiment. And his
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indifference reveals the reality o f his father’s death even more vividly. In this book,
all the characters were real people. The “ I " in the story was clearly Phillip Roth
himselfj but P atrim ony does not possess any sense of being an autobiographical
novel at all. The novel concludes with an episode with which the author, a few
weeks after his father’s funeral, is scolded by his father who appears in his dream
early in the morning. He screams and opens his eyes.
The dream was telling me that, if not in my books or in
my life, at least in my dreams I would live perennially as
his little son, with the conscience of a little son, just as
he would remain alive there not only as my father but as
the father, sitting in judgment on whatever I do.4 0
“Elephant in the Sky” (Zo ga Sora o) by Sawaki KotarS is a collection o f his
essays from 1982 to 1992.4 1 It is so extremely dynamic and heavy when placed in
our hand that we cannot simply call it an anthology.
In the essay titled ‘Tather and son, Mr. Oya Soichi” (Chichi to Ko, Oya
Soichi), Mr. Sawaki is fiill of self-admonishment as he writes about the corrupt world
o f journalism through the eyes of Ayumu, the delinquent son o f Oya, a leading figure
in journalism.4 2 Mr. Sawaki once looked at Oya with the same eye that Ayumu
looked at his own father. It took Sawaki about ten years to learn to respect Oya as
one whom he regarded as a journalist who gave up trying “to leave a deep mark in
history.” Certainly, this story is an example of a child who learns to respect his
father over time.
“It Starts From There” (Sokokara Hajimaru) is a small piece containing Mr.
Sawaki’s doubts about what this same Oya wrote about Yamaguchi Otoya’s father,
34
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Shinpei: “We can pick up from his words that what he is most afraid o f is his
unemployment status.”4 3 When I think about Shinpei’s petty bourgeois life in
relation to Otoya, who “died at age seventeen,” it leaves me with the kind o f taste
one feels after reading a short story.
A Korean Television program decided to do a story on me, so we went to
the “pachinko” parlor where my father works, because the director wished to film
him. On the location bus, I told the translator, “Umm..., please don’t translate for
my father. He was in Korea until he was twenty so he probably speaks Korean
better than Japanese, but, but if he stumbles over his words or uses the wrong
intonation,...”
Because my father remembers Japanese words incorrectly, he sometimes
mispronounces Japanese words. He says “unchin” for “unchi” (crap), and “rochi ga
akanai” for “rachi ga akanai” (we can only give up). My mother used to sneer at
my father, calling him “ignorant.” If he is laughed at speaking Japanese and is
laughed at speaking Korean also, ... I stared at my father’s lips anxiously. The
director asked questions. The words flowing out o f my father’s mouth were
excellent Korean. Throwing out his chest, gesturing with his hands, as if it were a
President’s inauguration speech, effortlessly__
The bookstore owner opened the window slightly. A streak of wind turned
over the pages o f the book and stroked the letters. The puff o f wind was full of
adoration, like my father.
35
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NOTES
1 Osaka is a second biggest city in Japan located in the western part of main
island (Honshu).
2 “ Panchoppari” is a pejorative term used to call Koreans in Japan.
3 Edo period was from 1600 to 1867. Meiji Period was from 1868 to 1912.
4 Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) was a famous writer, critic and playwright.
5 Eugene Ionesco (1909-1994) was a well-known French playwright.
6 Kim Il-Sung (1912-1994) was the leader of North Korea.
7 Panmunjom is the city near the 38th parallel line.
8 Imjin river rims from North Korea to South Korea.
9 Hisama Jugi (1953 -) is a well known author in Japan.
1 0 Shimane prefecture is located in the southwestern part of the main island
(Honshu) facing the Sea of Japan.
1 1 See Yu Miri, From the B ookstore W ith a Window, 15-19.
1 2 Tamatsukuri is located in northeastern part of Shimane prefecture.
1 3 Umi is ocean, ki is tree, kawa is river and kodomotachi is children in
English. Pada, namu, kan, and edul are their Korean translations.
1 4 Hinomisaki Light House is located in the northeastern part of Shimane
prefecture by the Sea of Japan.
1 5 Nakazawa Kei (1959 -) is a famous author in Japan.
1 6 Tsushima Yuko is a famous author in Japan. She is the daughter of the
well known novelist Dazai Osamu.
1 7 “Over The Windy HUT is “Suh Pyonje” in Korean and “ Kaze No Oka O
Koete” in Japanese.
1 8 Pansori musicians are singers and drummers who perform traditional
Korean music.
1 9 Nakahara Chuya, “ Korean Women” (Chosen Onna), Gendai N ihon S b ijin
Z enshu 12 (C om pilation o f M odern Japanese P oets) (Tokyo: Tokyosogensha, 1953-
1955), 305. Nakahara Chuya (1907-1937) is a well known poet in Japan.
36
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20 The Japanese dress wraps tightly around a woman’s body, in contrast to
the loosely worn Korean dress.
21 “Otoko Wa Tsuraiyo” was directed hy Yamada Yoji, a Shochiku film series
started in 1969. It belongs to the category of annual Japanese “Oshogatsu” (New
"Year) movies that are viewed annually hy the typical Japanese.
22 “ Kimi No Na Wa” was released in 1953 by TohS Eiga. “ Meiji Tenno To
Nichiro Senso” was released in 1957 hy Toha Eiga. “Oshia” was released in 1984.
23 “Gone With The Wind” was released in 1939.
24 It is commonly understood in Japan that “Enka” represents traditional
Japanese soul and spirit.
25 “Chin Shima Ariran” is a traditional Korean song.
26 “Over The Windy Hill” was based on the hook hy Yi Chong-jun, P eople o f
N am do (ATamdo Saram ) (Seoul, Korea: 'Yejogak, 1978). Namdo is a southern
province in South Korea.
27 Hiragana is the Japanese alphabet.
23 Kawabata Yasunari, “Diary of a Sixteen'Year Old” (Jurokusai no Nikki),
Kawabata. Y asunariZ enshu 2, (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 1980), 7-43.
29 rbid, 18.
30 Ibid, 42.
3 1 Ozu Yasujiro (1903-1963) was a famous Japanese movie director. Ozu’s
90th birthday refers to the 30-year anniversary of his death. H ara Setsuko, born in
1920, is a famous Japanese actress who often appeared in Ozu’s films.
3 2 Satomi Ton (1888-1983) was a famous Japanese writer.
33 “Tokyo Story,” directed by Ozu Yasujiro, Shochiku Productions, 1953.
34 Tsuzuki Masaaki, “ O zu Yasujiro’ s D iary* (Ozu Yasujiro N ikk i) (Tokyo,
Japan: Kodansha, 1993).
3 5 Tanaka Kinuyo (1909-1977) was a well known Japanese actress who
appeared in Ozu’s movie.
36 Patricia Highsmith, E d ith 's D iary (New 'York: Atlantic Monthly Press,
October 1989). Translated into Japanese as “ Idesu no Nikki” by Kakinuma Eiko
(Tokyo: Kawade Bunko).
37
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3 7 Ibid, 112.
3 8 Hangul is the Korean alphabet.
3 9 Phillip Roth, P atrim ony (New 'York: Random House, M arch 1996).
Translated into Japanese as “Chichi no Isan” by Shibata Motokichi (Tokyo:
Shueisha).
4 0 Ibid, 237-238.
4 1 Sawaki Kotaro, E lep h a n t in th e S k y (Zo ga Sora o) (Tokyo: Bungei Shunju,
1993).
4 2 Oya Soichi (1900-1970) was a famous Japanese w riter and critic.
4 3 Yamaguchi Shinpei, who was the father of Yamaguchi Otoya (1943-1960),
worked for the Japan Self-Defense Force. Shinpei was a strict and cold father to
Otoya. Otoya joined a Japanese right wing terrorist group and stabbed Asayama
Inejiro, the leader of the Japan Socialist Party, at age seventeen (October 12, 1960).
Soon after, Shinpei committed suicide in prison. See Sawaski Kotaro, S e ttle m e n t o f
a T errorist (Ibroru no K essan) (Tokyo: Bungeishunju, 1978).
38
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Boku, Kyongsiki. C hosenjin K ydsei R enko no KiroJcu (Records o f F orced
M igration o f Koreans). Tokyo: Miraisha, 1965.
Harajiri, Hideki. Zainichi C hosenjin no Seikatsu Sekai (Life a n d World o f K oreans
in Japan). Tokyo: Kobundo, 1994.
Highsmith, Patricia. E d ith ’ s D iary (Idesu no N ikki). New York: Atlantic Montly
Press, 1989.
Kawabata, Yasunari. “Jarokusai no Nikki” (Diary of a Sixteen Year Old). In
K aw abata Yasunari Zenshu 2. 7-43. Tokyo, Japan: Shinchosha, 1980.
Lee, Ki-baik. A N ew H istory o f K orea (H an’ guksa sillon). Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1984.
Nakahara, Chuya. “Chosen Onna” (Korean Women). In Gendai N ihon S h ijin
Zenshu 12. 305. Tokyo: Tokyosogensha, 1953-1955.
Roth, Phillip. P atrim ony (C hichi no Iscm). New York: Random House, 1996.
Sawaki, K5taro. Zo g a Sora o (E lephant in the Sky). Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 1993.
Tsuzuki, Masaaki. O zu Yasujiro N ikki (O zu Y asujiro’ s D iary). Tokyo: Kodansha,
1993.
Yi, Chong-jun. N am doSaram (People inN am do). Seoul: Yejogak, 1978.
Yu, Miri. F uruH ausu (F ullH ouse). Tokyo: Bungeishunju, 1995.
_______ K azoku no H yohon (A F am ily Specim en). Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha,
1995.
_______ . K azoku Shinem a (Fam ily Cinem a). Tokyo: Kodansha, 1997.
_______ . M izube no Yurikago (A C radle by the Water). Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten,
1997.
_______ . Uo no Sai (The F estival o f F ish). Tokyo: Hakusui-sha, 1992.
39
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Journals and Magazines
Fukazawa, Kai. “’K ika’ to iu Kotoba” (The Word “Kika”), Shin N ihon B im gaku
562 (June 1995): 51-53.
Kawamura, So. “Akutagawa Sho Sempyo o Yomitoku” (To Analyze the Selection
Process of the Akutagawa Award Winner), B ungakkai (July 1999): 218-
219.
Kanai Mieko, Mitsueda Kazuko, and Takahashi Genichiro. “Sosaku Gohyo”
(Critiques o f N ew Books), Gunzo (October 1994): 406-415.
Lee Kaisei and Y u M iri. “Kazoku, Minzoku, Bungaku” (Family, Ethnicity,
Literature), G unzo (April 1997): 126-146.
Miyazawa, Tsuyoshi. “Lee Kaisei ‘Kanako no Tameni’ Ron” (Lee Kaisei’s Theory
o n “Kanako no Tameni”), N ihon B ungaku 48, (January 1999): 42-53.
Takeda, Seiji. “Ibutsu Toshiteno Sei - Yu Miri ‘Kazoku Shinema’” (“Ibutsu” as a
Quiet Being- Yii Miri ‘Family Cinema’), G unzo (April 1997) : 396-397.
Newspaper
Sakanaka, Hidenori. “ Zainichi wa Shizen Shometsu e” (Koreans in Japan will
Disappear Naturally). R a fu Shimpo, 22 April 1999, 7.
Official Documents
Supreme Commander fo r the Allied Powers. H istory o f the N on-M ilitary A ctivities
o f the O ccupation o f Japan, S ta tistics a n d R eports Section, G eneral
H eadquarter, Suprem e Commander fo r the A llie d Powers. Tokyo: SCAP,
1952.
Website
Statistics Bureau & Statistics Center, Management and Coordination Agency,
“Statistics Census O f Japan. Change in Total Population,” Annual Report
on Current Population Estimates As o f October 1999 available from
http ://www.jinj apan. org/stat/01CEN21 .html:
Internet; accessed 17 May 1999.
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Korean-Japanese writer, Yu Miri overcoming Korea and Japan
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East Asian Languages and Cultures
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