Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood

by Richard E. Kim

In this classic tale, Richard Kim paints seven vivid scenes from a boyhood and early adolescence in Korea at the height of the Japanese occupation, 1932 to 1945. Taking its title from the grim fact that the occupiers forced the Koreans to renounce their own names and adopt Japanese names instead, the book follows one Korean family through the Japanese occupation to the surrender of the Japanese empire. Lost Names is at once a loving memory of family and a vivid portrayal of life in a time of anguish.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, School, Read For School, Asian Literature, Historical, Asia

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

from my Amazon.com review

I collect books about Korean, and have read many novels, poems and non-fiction works, but Lost Names is certainly one of the best.

Small details and major characters both help to build an accurate, emotional depiction of Koreans and the struggle to live during the brutal Japanese occupation of World War II. I read this book in one sitting, mailed it to one of my sisters, and have bought a copy for another sister.

Some passages are humorous, and others are painfully sad...but the author infuses the entire work with hope and forgiveness. The main character's father is a memorable study of dignity, wisdom and strength. My 13 year old son has read this book four times! It is slightly mature for a young reader, but if you or your child have any interest in Korea, you'll love it.

A must-read for any Korean-Americans wanting to understand the deprivation, tenacity and social conditions forced upon their parents or grandparents, who survived the harsh conditions of life in Korea during WWII.

[Hira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to take a break from this book for a few days because an early chapter made me cry and I was deeply UPSET. This year has made it really hard for me to read sad things. I should’ve known since it’s a book about an oppressed country during World War II but like...just when you think you’ve read it all...

The imagery in this book was beautiful. Descriptions of summer days and night skies and feelings of triumph and overwhelming relief are all depicted so strongly. People complain that it’s written childishly but it is from the point of view of a child after all. This book showed a side of Korean life during WW2 that I’ve never seen before.

[Chrissie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, humph, what can I say? I am glad that is over. It reads like a child's book. A boy with tremendous wisdom, honor and valor saves the day when the family's Korean town is liberated from the Japanese at the conclusion of WW2! And the conclusion of the book. The adults in the village listen to the wise advice of the thirteen year-old as he explains how the liberation can most effectively be carried out in the town:

The police can be isolated, sir. Most of them are inside the station right now, anyway. We should try to keep them in there and just make sure they don't come out in force. We can always deal with two or three of them at a time, but I doubt if the police will be stupid enough to send anyone out at a time like this. There are Korean policemen, too, sir, and we should talk them into coming out and giving themselves up. But, sir, really, the first thing we should do is to take over everything else,that is, the railway station, the fire department, the government warehouses, and that sort of thing. Cut the telephone wires to and from the police station, cut off their water by locating the water pipes to the station and destroying them, cut off the electric supply, and so on. Then surround the station and send in an ultimatum, asking them to lay down their arms and turn the station over to us. It is really very simple, sir. (page 179)


The horrors of Korean occupation by the Japanese reads like an adventure story. The boy is righteous, always hardworking, kind and forgiving. I would only recommend this book to a young boy who is interested in history AND loves adventure stories. Correct historical facts are sparsely thrown in. They are presented in a simple manner. You do learn about life of a Korean family under the Japanese occupation.

The title refers to the fact that the Japanese demanded that the Korean take Japanese names. This chapter was moving.

Is this fiction or is this autobiographical? I am unsure.... There is an author's note. The author insists that this is a book of fiction, but then he says ambiguously:

Perhaps I should have included a disclaimer: all the characters and events described in this book are real, but everything else is fiction. (page 198)

What?! He says he is happy that everyone thinks it is so convincingly written that they assume it must be true.

So is this a good book to teach a child about Korea during WW2? Perhaps. Although I do not usually fall head over heels in love with YA literature, I have read some that are excellent; there are books that are good for all ages. I do not rank this in that category.

[Cheryl Gatling]

First the Japanese occupied Korea. They forbade the teaching of Korean language and history. They phased out Korean language newspapers and magazines. The Thought Police imprisoned and beat dissenters. They impressed young Koreans into the army (as "Special Volunteer Soldiers"). They forced farmers to sell their rice to Japan ("voluntary contribution to the national war effort for the glory of the emperor"). They forced schoolchildren to worship at a Japanese shrine to pray for the health of the emperor. They sewed the children's pockets shut so they couldn't put their hands in their pockets, because a slouching posture would weaken them, and prevent them from effectively serving the emperor.

But the greatest humiliation was that all Koreans were forced to take a Japanese name. All the men of the town line up wearing black arm bands to grieve the loss of their names, and then all the family members visit the graves of the ancestors to apologize to them, and cry. There is a lot of crying in this book, but it is not as dismal as it might be. Although the father ends up being sent to a detention camp, and the son, at 13 years old, is sent to a work camp, where he digs until his hands are covered with blisters, and grows weak with dysentery, there is much beauty. The boy's family is loving. Neighbors are respectful. At school other boys want to be his friend. There is a constant undertone of fear, but home in the family's apple orchard is as warm and nurturing as it can be.

This book is about how people survive, and about how people make hard decisions about how much of themselves they can give up. What can they change? What must they accept? Everyone in the book struggles with these questions, but the boy and his family handle them with dignity and quiet pride. There are tears, but mother, father, grandparents and siblings always support each other. Perhaps, the mother says, the tears are "for wounded souls everywhere." More poignant than bitter, this is a very quiet look at a very bad time.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...we had lost even our names to the Japanese, who had forced us to adopt Japanese names. I would ask you to consider that extraordinary, historically unprecedented chapter in all histories of colonial experiences: a symbolic and quite ritualistic effort on the part of the colonizers, the oppressors, to alter the identity and destroy the self-respect of the colonized, the oppressed."

I had watched the 2016 Korean film "The Last Princess" starring one of my favorite Korean actresses, Son Ye-Jin, recently and was surprised to learn that the Koreans were forced to adopt Japanese names. I knew I had to learn more about this topic.

This discovery led me to the book 'Lost Names' which chronicles key moments in the author's life from the time he was born in 1932 to when he turned 13 in 1945 and helped his father to organize the formal takeover of their town in Korea upon learning of Japan's surrender.

It is both a memoir and an autobiographical novel. And it is through the eyes of one Korean boy's experiences during the Japanese occupation of Korea during WWII that I gleaned much cruelty suffered, hardship endured, and fortitude forged of the Koreans, under the thumbs of their Japanese aggressors.

I would need to come back to this book again some other day. One reading of it perhaps does not do it justice.

[Emma M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this far more than I expected. I read this for a class where we are studying the Japanese occupation, so reading this alongside articles and other first person accounts really brought me into the narrative and helped to complete the picture of the time period for me. I really got invested in the narrative.

[Johnathan Sorce · Rating 5 out of 5]

My goodness, this book was *fantastic* - I cannot recommend it enough. 10/5 stars - Maybe only a slight exaggeration. Truly though, this is a very underrated book that I wish more people knew about. In short, it's a story about a Korean boy who grows up in Japanese-occupied Korea before and during WWII. It captures very well a lot of the mood of the occupation, as well as being written really, really well. I've griped in the past about modern literary fiction - *this* in my opinion, is what modern literary fiction *should* be.

[Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thoroughly enjoyed how the book was consistently written through the lens of a young boy. it made the story translate well into the perspective of someone who doesn’t know *everything* that’s going on during wwii (“only the grown-ups should hear and talk about it”), but knows enough to recognize how it impacts him. it’s an interesting dynamic that i’m not sure how to describe. overall, it’s a very easy read.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kim's earlier The Martyred is a stronger narrative, exploring military and religious communities in the Korean War. Here, though, Kim tracks a male youth who comes of age in a time of Korean submission and underground resistance to Japanese military rule, moving from the loss of birthnames (having to adopt Japanese names instead) to the growing realization that Japan will lose the war. It's sometimes effective and sometimes more useful as cultural history

[Miriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summer reading so I'm not gonna bother with a review. Ugh.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous writing and a fascinating depiction with of a little known part of history.

[lorena · Rating 5 out of 5]

phenomenal book describing Japanese occupation in Korea. provides another perspective of WWII, one that's often overlooked by the western world.

[Tash Stocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m sobbing, this book was so beautiful. Such a heartfelt story from this point in history. It’s such an amazing read!!

[Peyton Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic novel with vivid, detailed writing in a memoir style.

[Anne Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beauty from the ashes of a dark time in Korean history.

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first few chapters! So simple yet so beautiful and sad. Lost names is so powerful that I wanted a bit more out of it. The book covers over ten years of Kim’s childhood, but because the story is told in only seven scenes, it can feel as though some details are extended while others are skipped over entirely. Although, maybe this was just my gut reaction because I was expecting a more fluid narrative. I will say that I only noticed and appreciated this structure after finishing the book.

The supporting characters could feel a little bit flat at times. I wanted to know more about his friends (whom he refers to but rarely describes) and about his day-to-day social world (beyond just his interactions/tussles with authority figures.) I also wanted to know more about his father. His father is regularly mentioned, often in reference to his activism and the power of his notoriety among the Japanese. However, his actions and his story still felt somewhat shrouded in mystery (“someday, you will understand”; “I can’t tell you this”). He’s such a strong character! I wanted to know more about his life before kids, his activism, his motivations!

I loved the writing. Straightforward description sprinkled with moments of really thoughtful analysis. I think the earlier chapters can feel a bit confusing as he balances writing from a child’s perspective with providing broader, more mature context.

[Danata · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my history of East Asia class, - which often ends up being a bad thing, - but not in this case.
Richard Kim's biographic story reveals the hardships, the extent of Japanese oppression in Korea during WWII. It does so emphatically, vividly, through small, but important details of everyday life. You will not grow to sympathize with the nameless characters, but you will grow to understand that there is no "Good" or "Evil". There is just life, and sometimes it can be extremely hard. Sometimes we make it extremely hard for others. For groups, for populations, for even countries.
This is a great book for anyone interested in the region of Korea and it's history. Not great, but as it is a biographical and historical work, the author honestly does not try to embellish the story with extra literary tropes. Which is also a good thing, in this particular case.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was required reading for my college course: East Asian History. It was a class to fulfill a requirement, and I did not enjoy my professor at all. I didn't learn a thing, except from the required reading. This book is beautiful. It is not widely read nor is it a bestseller to my knowledge. However, it is a wonderful portrait of life during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It is very well-written, and it is also a surprisingly quick read. The book, as indicated by it's subtitle, follows a young Korean boy. But through the boy's story, the reader sees three different generations of Koreans and how they are affected differently by their Lost Names.

[Amik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certainly a semi-biographical account worthy of a read by anyone interested in the Japanese occupation of Korea and Manchuria. For those with good knowledge of the events surrounding WWI and WWII, the book gives a unique perspective to many events and provides an engrossing read. You will find yourself thinking through history and re-positioning your perspective again and again throughout the book and finally find yourself in shoes that you never expected to be in. A wonderful journey of a book that will transport you through time and put you in the middle of it all in the best way possible!

[Tyler Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

At once a beautiful series of interconnected stories forming a 13 year narrative and a historical record of life on the ground during the war-time occupation if Korea by Japan, this work by Richard Kim is accessible, touching, agonizingly human, and a terrific read for a chilly night of rest. I'm mesmerized by Kim's ability to convey such complex emotion and thought in his brief and colloquial style. Anyone interested in Korean history or in tales of survival and blossoming under oppression should read this book.

[Sooho Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without giving a single name, Kim tells an enriching and personal story of one Korean family during the Japanese occupation to their liberation. One generation’s failure is another generation’s burden. But it is in bearing each other that a generation can reroute the perpetuate cycle of imprisonment.

cf. www.sooholee.wordpress.com for more book reviews.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was meaningful to read since my grandfather grew up under the Japanese occupation; but besides the main character, the other people in the story weren't developed sufficiently enough for his interactions with them during critical moments to bear any lasting impression or deep resonance.

[Istvan Zoltan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book offers an account of how a child would have experienced life in Korea between the mid-1930's and the end of WWII, during the Japanese occupation. While the narrator and protagonist is the author's childhood self, his descriptions are obviously informed by the adult's knowledge and point of view, and much is revealed to the reader that could not have been as clear to the child during the events. But that's all good and well, after all it is literature and should be engaging and accessible.

The voice gets sentimental in some places, but is generally enjoyable. The measured and anti-hate, anti-rage stance it promotes is especially valuable. It cannot be commended enough today, when the state supported Russia, Chinese, Korean, and US propaganda machines spew out tons of insane stuff about each other - as well as about Japan and other countries - and one can only worry about where this will lead. Probably to antagonism and hate among nations, which will make it easy for politicians to send off masses of people to die in order to further their plans and ambitions. Kim avoids falling into a hate fueled, unconsidered position however, and this makes the book feel still very fresh. Moral stance and knowledge is not like science: each generation has to learn and shape its ethics and morality again and again, we usually cannot simply build on what others have achieved in the way it is possible to do in physics. But this makes it also important, and good ethics and literature can help people to see the possibility of points of view which foster understanding. Constructive narratives are very much needed today to help build bridges where are overly competitive company and political leaders are busy destroying them.

So, all in all and aside from my own political interests, the book is short, easy to read, and provides both important and interesting insights into the life of Koreans under Japanese occupation. This life was hard, sometimes very unfair and emotionally cruel, but still liveable and endurable.

It is nice to read this book parallel to Beasley's 'Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945', which provides good data and oversight of how the Japanese ran Korea, what Korea gained in terms of administrative, governmental, financial, transportation, and other improvements, but also the downsides, like the strict and often cruel military rule, the squashed local autonomy, the constraints on how much Koreans could participate in management and government, and so on.

[Helen | readwithneleh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read the classic, LOST NAMES by Richard E. Kim, during college for a Humanities course studying literature about various experiences and interpretations of what it is to be human. (For reference, WILD THORNS by Sahar Khalifeh was also assigned.) I honestly didn’t remember much about it but I did know the book had a lasting impact on me. How? Because I’ve only kept a handful of books from college and this is one of them.

The book is about the life of a young Korean boy living under Japanese colonial rule, specifically from 1932-1945. There are seven chapters in the book, each described as an episode into the boy’s life under occupation. From losing his Korean name and his language to beatings by his Japanese teacher, this book shows what the Korean children of this time went through and what they did to survive. The descriptive writing transported me to the village/country life in Korea—one I did not experience personally but did have a taste of when I was very young. My fondest childhood memories are my visits to my family in the Korean countryside (before most moved to the city)—the moonlit bicycle rides, the dyeing of my fingernails with flower petals, the smell of the wet dirt, and the sounds of the frogs croaking in the rain. These were and continue to be my happiest memories, but they came up often as I read this book, a book about the oppression of my people, of my family. It was a confusing experience.

So much of this book is about the struggle and oppression of Koreans, but it was also showed me the beauty of community, perseverance, and survival. I pictured my grandparents while I read this and as someone who no longer has any living grandparents left, I mourned them and I mourned my lost time with them. Although I know they would not share because of how painful it was, I wish I asked about their life, about their childhood. I will never know, but through this book I got a glimpse.

[Helen Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book in the bibliography for "Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea."

This is the book my mother wanted me to write about my father's experiences in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation so it was a pleasure for me to read in very readable and engaging format. The author is very aware of nature and weather and goes to some effort to provide a seeable, hearable event of all that weather does. Greatly appreciated.

My father was born in 1925 in Manchuria while Richard E Kim was born in N Korea in 1932. They had the same childhood in which the Japanese allowed only the Japanese language to be used and taught in the schools. My mother, born in S Korea, lamented throughout her life that she did not have a firm grasp of her own language because she had only been taught Japanese in school.

Both the author's family and mine share the same desire to outdo the Japanese in school with my mother telling me that my father had been voted the president of the student body but was relegated to a second position because only a Japanese student could have the same spot. Their accounts seem to differ in that Korean and Japanese students seemed to be in the same school system while Richard Kim's account seem to have the students separated in all areas of life.

Another difference lies in that my parents never spoke badly about the Japanese. They never spoke of losing their Korean names or being treated badly by the Japanese which occupies a good portion of Richard E Kim's book. My mother shyly told me that she had a good Japanese friend in school as if she knew that this was a forbidden act. But of course, my father took off for S Korea as soon as he was conscripted by the Japanese army by volunteering to steal horses for them and spent the months walking at night and hiding during the day from the Japanese forces.

My father spoke of speaking Chinese with the neighborhood children in Manchuria, Japanese in school and Korean at home. The book has a teacher who also speaks all three languages as he communicates with a Japanese teacher, a Korean student, then a Chinese shopkeeper.

These stories that are familiar to the ones my parents told me in my childhood made the book very touching and interesting for me.

[J J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads quickly and like a Y.A. novel, and stirs emotions if you're a Korean person who has very little content to read about the annexation of Korea as told through human voices.

This edition includes reflections from the author that reveal that this book was a work of historical fiction, which was weird for me, as I had read it somehow under the misinformation that it was an autobiography/memoir.

Two things that were in hard juxtaposition to the memoir by Helie Lee I read immediately before this were:

1. The equality of family members in a time/culture that was hierarchical and often brutal to women
2. The fortune of the family to remain together and intact in the exhilarating moment of liberation from Japan before the almost immediate horrors of the proxy war that were to follow

I looked up the author and could only marvel at his trajectory - serving for the South in the Korean War, then jumping right to college in the States - in the 1950s, no less. His record of education and distinction shows that there was always a level of certainty and focus in his will to express himself as a writer. This is one of the products of this pioneer immigrant from Korea to the U.S. - this book will stay on my shelf as a rare and nearly extinct voice of that generation and time, and I'll also be reading his other works. This was an easy gateway.

[CJ Alejo-Dickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do you like reading about unknown stories from the WWII period? If so, then this book is for you. Lost Names by Richard E. Kim takes readers on a journey through the experiences of a Korean family during the Japanese occupation. Set against the backdrop of WWII, the book looks into the struggles and resilience of the characters as they navigate through a harsh period in history.

The story follows a young boy, who grapples with identity and belonging among the chaos of war. Richard E. Kim masterfully combines elements of historical fiction and coming of age themes that paint a vivid picture of life under occupation. Through his eyes, readers witness the hardships faced by ordinary people and the strength they find in each other. Kim’s use of imagery and symbolism adds depth to the narrative, immersing reading in the sights, sounds, and emotions of the time.

Overall, Lost Names offers a compelling portrayal of resilience and hop in the face of adversity. Readers interested in historical fiction and stories of survival will find this book enjoyable and engaging. However, some may find the pacing slow at times, and the lack of resolution for certain plot points may leave them with unanswered questions. Despite these minor drawbacks, Lost Names remains a impactful and touching read for those willing to dive into the complexities of war and identity.

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Today," he says, without looking at us, holding up the piece of paper in front of him, "I must have your new names. I have the new names of most of you in this class, but the principal tells me that some of you have not yet registered your names. I shall call your old names, and those who are called will be excused from the class immediately, so that they can go home and return with their new names, which have been properly registered with the proper authorities in town." p99

"Survival son, that's what my generation has accomplished, if that can be called an accomplishment."
"You don't have to apologize to my generation, Father. You have done the best you could. We are all in it together, aren't we, Father? We share everything in our history, don't we, Father? That's our destiny as people, isn't it sir?"
"I am only hoping that your generation will have enough will and strength to make sure the country will not make the same mistakes and repeat its shameful history. I only hope, son, that mere survival will not become the only goal of your generation's lives. There must be more in life than just that."
"We will be all right, Father." p186

[Alizay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lost Names is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn more than what's usually told about WWII. This book delves into a young Korean boy's childhood as he goes through Japanese imperialism in Korea. You get to read about how he learns to perceive and establish his own identity while being forced to take on a Japanese identity. This book is described as a fiction book with references to the author, Richard Kim, and his childhood when he went through the same thing. I loved seeing the protagonist grow as he learned to survive with all the prejudice around him. As a character, he was very fleshed out, and I enjoyed reading about him. I do wish that the supporting characters were also fleshed out. Maybe not as much as him, but definitely more than they are currently. We don't get to see how the war affected his friends; we only really see how it affected his family whenever he was involved. I also find this book hard to keep up with regarding when and where an event is happening. Overall, I enjoy this book, as the main character's personality and resilience make it incredibly enjoyable.

[Sasha Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever wondered what it was like being affected negatively in a war, then this is the book for you. Living in Japan as a Korean boy heavily impacted the main character (Ikawuma) to the point where he lost his name. During this time, the boy is going through his childhood and is in his early adolescence. This book is about how a boy is reaching his early adolescence while being at the height of Japanese occupation.

In the book, the author tells us about his experience in school as well as being surrounded by Japanese culture as a Korean boy made him feel. Throughout the book, the author learns how to find himself despite the way the setting of what he was in impacted him. In this book, the author (Richard E. Kim) doesn’t use the name of his family members to emphasize the fact that they all lost their names.

As someone who doesn’t read that much, this book is very easy to be hooked onto and is very interesting. Although this book is very sad, the author does a really good job at setting the scene and making his experience feel real. This book is very heart-breaking, but it is also a book that everyone should read sometime in their life.