How one character deals with this reminded me of ‘ The vanishing half’ by Brit Bennett, another recent book I read about race. They are discriminated against, stereotyped and never properly accepted into a Japanese society which is very rigid. Even when they return to Korea, they are scorned – they are a new people, the Korean Japanese. They are always outsiders, not even able to become citizens despite being born there. ‘Pachinko’ is a book very much about identity and I was shocked at the treatment of the Korean people in Japan. With compassion and resilience they endure, looking after each other, dealing with whatever life throws at them.
These events might be happening around them, but their focus is always on their family. ‘Pachinko’ is the story of the plight of the Korean Japanese people. There are also competing ideologies during this period, with Christianity and communism, Buddhism and Confucianism all vying for the hearts and minds of the population. After Hoonie dies, a wealthy fish broker appears first on the scene, followed later by a young pastor, and the story really gets going, shifting to Japan, and ends in Tokyo in 1989.ĭuring this time you have the Japanese occupation of Korea, WW2, Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the Korean war. Their son is called Hoonie, and he marries Yangjin, and they have a daughter called Sunja. In a small fishing village, a couple take in lodgers to make some extra money, as times are hard. ‘Pachinko’ by Min Jin Lee starts in 1911, when Korea has been annexed by Japan.
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