Reflecting and Learning Identities

[Yuka]

Even it's already September, I was so thrilled to see the TW Book Club's August book is Pachinko! I actually read this book in summer 2018 and picked this book for my grad school assignment to learn culture. I remember how much I enjoyed reading and knowing the family in this book. How tragic moments they survived and had to embrace.

Honestly, I was so scared to read and face the historical and political aspect of Korea and Japan as being Japanese myself. My first thought was there is no hate in this book, which was pleasantly surprising. The characters struggle their identities- and will keep struggling. I believe one of the strong theme in this novel is identity. In real world of Japanese society, we try no to see and won't discuss. There is expectations that we, Japanese are mostly the same and you can be judged when you have different cultural traits: Although, are we all the same even we share the same ethnicity and nationality? Aren't we have unique and different stories on each of us? I hope my country's people and society see their own uniqueness and celebrate the differences. I hope that will be the new way of forming "harmony", one of the crucial values in Japan.

It is beyond the novel and this story, but this book gives me an opportunity to reflect my country's past, present and future with the relationship with Korea and Zainichi people. Now I am stronger than before to face the social issue lying in my country.

#TWBookClub