Zainichi Recognitions: Japan’s Korean Residents’ Ideology and Its Discontents

Folks,

If you're local in the Bay Area, you may have heard, ER will host a quarterly film series through 2009, starting on January 30 @ the East Side Arts Alliance in Oakland - one of the films we hope to show is GO, which Prof.Lie mentions below. The below is just an excerpt - do check out the link to Japan Focus, though, he's one of the most prominent scholars on the zainichi in the US (and probably beyond, but we can't speak authoritatively to matters pertaining to the academy)...
-ER

P.S. if you want to keep posted on our film events & others hosted by ER, join our listserv, at http://groups.google.com/group/eclipserising

Zainichi Recognitions: Japan’s Korean Residents’ Ideology and Its Discontents
by John Lie

In Kaneshiro Kazuki’s Go (2000), the protagonist, Sugihara, opens the novel with a description of his communist, North Korean father, the Japanese colonization of Korea, and the family’s desire to visit Hawaii—a vacation that requires switching their nationality from North Korean to South Korean (and shifting their membership from North Korea-affiliated Sōren to South Korea-affiliated Mindan). The stuff of the novel’s first five pages has been recounted countless times by Japanese and Zainichi writers, but no one would have imagined that it would make a best-selling novel. Reciting Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”—though observing that Springsteen grew up in a poor family whereas his family is well-off—Sugihara sings his own refrain of “Born in Japan.” At once erudite and violent, he is highly individualistic and antiauthoritarian; he is the proverbial nail that should have been hammered in. In the 1960s and 1970s, Zainichi was all seriousness and suffering: as the pejorative slang would have put it, “dark” [kurai]. The unbearable burden of Zainichi being traumatized, Zainichi life-course and discourse. Instead, Kaneshiro’s prose and protagonist exemplify a striking mode of being cool [kakkoii] in contemporary Japanese culture.

[more at www.japanfocus.org~]

Records link Japan premier's family to POW labor

One of the members of Eclipse Rising was told by her parents while growing up in Fukuoka that her grandfather was made to work under horrendous conditions in one of Aso's coal mines during WWII, after he joined the massive peasant migration efforts to Japan to get "a job" and survive. In the zainichi community, we've always known through our families' oral histories that Aso family's coalmine operations exploited countless many of our ancestors and treated them as subhumans on grounds that they were Korean. Now, after all these years, finally "evidence" has been unearthed - no one can deny the truth of what we had been saying all along - Aso family must own up to its tarnished past, and take full responsibility NOW!
-ER

Records link Japan premier's family to POW labor

By Mari Yamaguchi

Associated Press

TOKYO - Japan has acknowledged that Allied prisoners of war were put to work in a coal mine owned by Prime Minister Taro Aso's family, reversing previous denials, after newly found documents provided proof.

The Health and Welfare Ministry said yesterday that the wartime documents showed that 300 British, Dutch and Australian prisoners worked at the Aso family mine in Fukuoka, southern Japan, from April 1945 through Japan's surrender four months later. It was the first time the government had acknowledged the use of prisoners at an Aso mine.

Two Australian POWs died at the mine, according to a government official who verified the authenticity of the documents.

The disclosure could deal a further blow to the embattled prime minister, whose approval rating has plunged to about 20 percent in just three months since he took office. Aso has repeatedly come under fire for gaffes and for lack of leadership through the global economic crisis.

The acknowledgment of the Aso wartime legacy came in response to questions submitted last month by opposition lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita, along with a copy of the documents, which contained records from the prison camp at the mine. Fujita demanded that the government verify their authenticity and the use of Allied POWs at Aso's family mine - a practice the government has long denied.

Aso has kept mum over the latest embarrassment. Earlier this year, he distanced himself from revelations in other wartime documents that Korean forced laborers were used at his grandfather's mine.

"I was only 5 at the time, and I have no personal memory of that," Aso said at the time. Aso briefly served as president of the family company - now called the Aso Group - before becoming a lawmaker.

Health and Welfare Ministry official Katsura Oikawa confirmed Thursday that the 43 pages of documents that Fujita submitted - after they were found in the ministry storage - were genuine. Oikawa told a parliamentary committee that the documents had been overlooked for decades because the government had put little effort into examining wartime records.

Japan has acknowledged it used prisoners for forced labor in mines, shipyards and jungles during World War II.

"Many other mining companies had used such prisoners as laborers," said Hiroshi Kawahara, a political scientist at Tokyo's Waseda University. "And the latest revelation could trigger a wider probe into Japan's treatment of prisoners during the war."

An eloquent speech by a zainichi Korean high school student

Such an eloquent speech by a zainichi Korean high school student in Japan addressing her personal feelings about the hate crimes against Korean high school students. Although the translation repeatedly says "North Korean" she is in fact referring to herself as a Chosen-jin, or person of Korean nationality - a term used before the division. Zainichi Koreans with Chosen-nationality actually don't have a nationality in the sense that Americans have US citizenship. They are in total citizenship limbo. While it is true that all Korean schools in Japan are affiliated with the North, some students, including my cousins, hold South Korean nationality. They attend the Korean schools in order to retain their Korean identity and language. Sadly, because the school uniforms for the Korean schools are so easily identifiable, Korean school students are the first victims of hate crimes in Japan whenever some news comes out about North Korea.
http://maint.veoh.com/videos/v798038dwJjjMXb?rank=1&

Eclipse Rising member, Miho Kim, gets Yayori Award

Eclipse Rising member, Miho Kim, will be the first zainichi Korean woman to receive Japan's prestigious Yayori Award, this Sunday, December 7, in Tokyo, Japan.
Go Miho!
Click the title for the link to Yayori's Women's Human Rights Award website.

The Fourth Women's Human Rights Activities Award
(2008 Yayori Award)

the recipient of the Yayori Award

Miho Kim

Profile

3rd generation zainichi Corean from Fukuoka, miho grew up a forgotten daughter of a divided Corea under ongoing Japanese colonial apartheid, intimately familiar with interpersonal and institutional violence and colonization than love and respect for her identity. Denied access to education in Japan due to her nationality at age 13, she wasseparated from family―and permanently lost legal status in Japan. Miho, now based in California, works to build the capacity of Hisabetsu Nikkeicommunities, particularly women, to dismantle colonialism and militarism by holding those responsible fully accountable, and deliver collective healing, empowerment and genuine liberation for all．


Note: The term "Corea" is used intentionally by the nominee to refer to what in Japanese is known as "Chosen"―a distinct ethnicity derived from a nation of peoples sharing common language and cultural heritage etc., for 5,000 years, prior to the division of less than a century ago. And "Korea" on the other hand refers to the nation-state entities or the peninsula of geopolitical significance (such as S. Korea, N. Korea, and so on). There are also instances in which a preexisting term "Korea" is onomastically used, and simply repeated faithfully as is in this document.

ER Holiday Party

December 19th Eclipse Rising Holiday Potluck and North Korea Report Back

Join us for good food, celebration and a report back of our trip to North Korea through zainichi perspective

Host:
Eclipse Rising and JPRN

Type:
Party - Holiday Party

Time and Place Date:
Friday, December 19, 2008
Time:
5:00pm - 8:00pm
Location:
Asian Resource Center
Street:
310 8th St. First floor conference room
City/Town:
Oakland, CA

Email:
eclipserising@gmail.com


Join Eclipse Rising and JPRN for holiday fun with lots of good food, discussions and a unique report back by two zainichis who went to North Korea.

slide show
music
food
alcohol

This event is free and open to the public

This is also is a potluck event, so please bring food or drinks

Article on So Im Lee

http://www.koreasociety.org/contemporary_issues/contemporary_issues/koreans_in_japan_ethnicity_citizenship_and_education.html

North Korea report back by two Eclipse Rising members

Two Weeks in North Korea

In summer of 2008, eleven Korean Americans, Korean Canadians, and zainichi Koreans of Japan embarked on a peace delegation to North Korea. Four of us--including anti-militarism grassroots peace activists, a Korea policy expert, an art teacher, and a postdoctoral researcher--will share our stories.

We welcome you in joining us for an illuminating evening that includes the following:

* Slide-show

* Q and A

* Perspectives on life, culture, and politics in North Korea

* Sharing of personal accounts


Please note that we will be presenting three nights (East Oakland, Chinatown, and UC Berkeley) in the Bay Area!

WEDNESDAY, 11/19
7-9 p.m.

Eastside Arts Alliance
2277 International Blvd.
Oakland, CA 94606
(510) 533-6629
www.eastsideartsalliance.com

and

THURSDAY, 11/20
7-9 p.m.

UC Berkeley
370 Dwinelle

and

a special presentation by Eclipse Rising on
December 19th, Asian Resources Center, 310 8th St., in Oakland Chinatown. Look out for event posting coming soon!
FREE and open to the public.

Brought to you by the Bay Area participants of DEEP (DPRK Exposure and Education Program) 2008

Correction on some background information about Zainichi History (on the first post: beginning of Eclipse Rising)

Correction on the following sentence in the first post:
"Although multiple generations of Koreans have been born in Japan, one was still a Korean until the 1980s when a new law allowed foreigners to apply for Japanese citizenship."

Actually, Japanese government allowed Koreans in Japan to apply for Japanese citizenship even before the change of Nationality Act in 1984. But this Act made it easier mainly by changing the way to grant Japanese citizenship to children of Zainichi from only paternal line to both paternal and maternal lines. However, this law has tighter conditions for the people to apply for Japanese citizenship.
The main purpose of this law was to have more half-Zainich children to be Japanese citizen, thus encourage assimilation to Japan rather than having them keep their Korean nationality and fight against the discrimination. Since Japanese assimilation policy and discrimination is based on nationality.

Recent trend is that more and more people in younger generation have Japanese citizenship, but cannot find their identity. Zainichi situation has become more complex than two decades ago.

Another Zainichi Blog

Please check out a fellow zainichi's blog. Mostly written in Japanese:
http://zainichilounge.blogspot.com/

BBC News: Japan Struggles with WWII Legacy

Article on BBC News about Japan's current attitude toward their actions during World War II.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7704729.stm

New Nikkei Calendar 2009

National Japanese American Historical Society created a lovely "Nikkei Diaspora Comfort Food" calendar for 2009. The zainichi Korean recipe for Horumon-Yaki is proudly part of the calendar. Visit their website for more information about the calendar.
http://www.njahs.org/

UN Human Rights Committee - Observations in Japan

Dear friends

Just for your information:

Here is UN Human Rights Committee's Concluding Observations to Japan
adopted at its 94th session. HRC is a supervisory body for the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs94.htm

Paragraph 23, 24, 25, 30 and 31 includes those recommendations to the
Japanese government which are related to Korean minority, refugees,
migrant workers or trafficking.

Masataka Okamoto
Vice-secretary General, Solidarity Network with Migrant, Japan
http://www.jca.apc.org/migrant-net/

The Beginning of Eclipse Rising

Welcome, Youkoso, Oso-oseyo

We are a brand new Zainchi Korean Women's group based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Zainichi" literally translates to "permanent residents" of Japan who have retained their foreign nationality. Koreans are the largest minority group of Japan and have lived in Japan as a result of Japanese occupation in Korea between 1910 and 1945. Although multiple generations of Koreans have been born in Japan, one was still a Korean until the 1980s when a new law allowed foreigners to apply for Japanese citizenship.

Korean and other ethnic minorities in Japan still suffer many forms of discrimination to this day. Our organization was formed to recognize the history and contributions Koreans in Japan have made and to work toward social justice for all minorities in Japan.

We would like to share information and perspective about our unique history through this blog.

This group was born in the winter of 2008. Seven zainichi Korean women from the Bay Area came together and decided to create this organization to enrich the cultural awareness of Bay Area residents.

The name "Eclipse Rising" is meant to counter the imperialist Japanese flag with the "rising sun." The Eclipse, though through few occurrences, is able to cover the sun completely and change the perspective. We would like to view the eclipse as a symbol of Koreans in Japan rising up against its oppressors.