P is for Pachinko (not an A to Z post)

'Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee is one of those wonderful family saga stories that takes you down the generations, starting in 1910 and taking us through to 1989. Hoonie and Yangjin beget Sunja, who begets Noa, and Mozasu, who begets Solomon. Life starts in Korea but moves to Japan, and the book is primarily about the family's experience of being aliens in a society that despises them. Monkey tells me it is still true of Japan to say that it's acceptance of foreigners in lukewarm (the immigrant population currently stands at just over 2%, compared to around 11% in the UK). The Koreans hate the Japanese as the invaders of their country, and the Japanese look down on the Koreans as weak and lazy. The story focusses on Sunja who falls pregnant by an older married man, thinks herself beyond help but who is offered a new life as wife to Isak, a Christian minister, in Japan, living with his brother and sister-in-law. I found the story exhausting to read because the people in it do nothing but work; life is perpetually a few steps away from destitution. As Koreans in Japan they only have each other to rely on and the women use their talents and develop a business to support their family when Isak is arrested. But behind the struggle they have moments of luck that keep them afloat. It emerges that the cause of this 'luck' is Koh Hansu, the father of Sunja's baby, who is a prominent and wealthy Yakuza, who has continued to be obsessed with her and their son, and has found ways to secretly support them (sorry, slight spoiler but I was suspicious). She wants to reject his help but sometimes the children's needs outweigh her wishes, sometimes the situation is beyond her control and then, in the end, she finds he is the only person she can turn to. Over the years she keeps the truth from Noa, but when it finally comes out the results are catastrophic. 

I so enjoyed this book, I am paying a fine because it is late back at the library as I needed to finish and could not renew it. The bonds between the women in the book are strong and I admired the way they all took care of each other. It does not read as if the author has an axe to grind about Japanese society; it's just the way it is and mostly the Koreans accept the fact that no matter how well they integrate, never mind that their children are born in Japan, they will never be considered Japanese. It reminded me of a quote I used in my review of 'Buddha in the Attic' last October. That book was about the lives of Japanese immigrants to America and they experienced the same there, but the animosity between the two countries existed even in that situation. I cared about this family. Their experience of the 20th century is in some ways the world's experience of the 20th century, with the impact of war and their fortunes changing over the years, babies are born, people die, dreams are both fulfilled and denied, and love conquers all. 

"It was  a late spring afternoon; Noa retuned home from school and found his snack, left out by his mother before she went to work, waiting for him on the low table where the family ate their meals and where Noa did his homework. Thirsty, he went to the kitchen to get some water, and when he retuned to the front room, he screamed. Near the door, there was a gaunt and filthy man collapsed on the floor.
Unable to rise, the man leaned the weight of his torso on the crook of his elbow and tried to push up to sitting, but couldn't manage it.
Should he scream again? Noa wondered. Who would help him? His mother, aunt, and uncle were at work, and no one had heard him the first time. The beggar didn't seem dangerous; he looked ill and dirty, but he could've been a thief, too. Uncle had warned Noa about burglars and thieves who could break into the house looking for food or valuables. He had fifty sen in his trouser pocket; he'd been saving it for an illustrated book on archery.
The man was sobbing now, and Noa felt bad for him. There were many poor people on his street, but no one looked as bad as this man. The beggar's face was covered with sores and black scabs. Noa reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin. Afraid the man might grab his leg, Noa stepped just close enough to place the coin on the floor near the man's hand. Noa planned to walk backwards to the kitchen and run out the back door to get help, but the man's crying made him pause.
The boy looked carefully at the man's gray-bearded face. His clothes were torn and grimy but the shape of them resembled the dark suits that his principal at school wore.
'It's appa,' the man said." (p.196)