Today I am going to be continuing and hopefully finishing the story of Masaji and his family in North Korea. And let me just tell you, he definitely isn't doing good. Soon enough the book skips past a few years of Masaji's life in North Korea and he isn't faring much better than when he was a kid. Basically, Masaji is now having a wife and children. At the end of the book he already has 3 children and his sisters are in a very bad situation. Masaji has a problem with the North Koreans and how they are pressuring him to work too much. You see because he's Japenese he has the worst job out of all the other citizens in the country. And apparently, farming is considered the lowest paying work you could find. Kim II Sung has created a farming method called, "Juche" where you plant the plants right next to each so they can create more harvest.
However, the farmers that work to make the harvest know that isn't the correct way. Unfortunately, if they defy his rule they will be severely punished, possibly executed in front of everyone. And obviously, the crops all failed and North Korea had fewer food rations to give to their citizens. The ironic thing is that "Juche" means "Freedom" and Masaji recognized how that was the exact opposite of what they were given in this devastating country. Now, let's go back to a few years ago when Masaji was about to finish school. He suffered through the loss of food, his hungry family, and unfair treatment from the officials. But he thought that one way to support his family would be to earn a reputation in the high ranking party and have a decent paying job. So he did what most kids would do, he studied and devoted all his time to Physics.
But of course, his dream was suddenly shut down. The teachers gave all their students a paper to write what job they wanted to have after graduating. There were three choices, the top one was to go to a university and if you graduated from that join the high party. This is the one that Masaji had his hopes set out for. Then, there was the second choice, you would be somewhat important towards the North Korean government and get a job as a factory worker. Finally, the last choice was to become a person who works on a farm and gets a very loose amount of change every day. I bet you can guess which one Masaji got (he got the third choice in case your dumb and haven't read the last paragraph). Masaji was devastated and very sad when he got the letter stating he got the lowest paying job. After that, he never had any other hopes except to continue living on until the very end.
Later on, he was promoted to the second choice and worked in a coal mine with a bunch of other kind folks. Sure, it wasn't healthy at all because of the poisonous gases and whatnot but he made some great companions that seemed to understand what he was going through, especially since they weren't much better off themselves. Let me just skip to the very end, Masaji's mom and dad both died and they both wanted him to somehow reach Japan. His father's last words were, "Make it to Japan and talk to some of my old friends, they'll help you out". He buried his mom and dad on the same mountain, his mom's grave facing Japan and his dad's facing South Korea (his father's native country). Masaji now understood the graveness of his situation and told what was left of his family (sisters, wife, children, sister's husband) that he was going to escape to Japan.
They understood Masaji and knew he was doing this in hopes of making more money and sending it back to them. Then, one day he will try to bring them to Japan as well and they could get out of that hell of a country. Masaji was able to sneak past the guards while they were switching posts and even crossed the river, that was when he hopped onto a train and arrived in China unconscious. A Chinese man saw him but didn't return him to the police, instead he brought Masaji to his house and fed him until he was ready to head towards Japan. He called the Japanese Red Cross in hopes that they would save him and fortunately they did. Masaji thanked the man and his two brothers for giving him money to live on before leaving. That's how the story ends, I have not read the epilogue yet but when I do I'll be sure to tell you what happened.
However, the farmers that work to make the harvest know that isn't the correct way. Unfortunately, if they defy his rule they will be severely punished, possibly executed in front of everyone. And obviously, the crops all failed and North Korea had fewer food rations to give to their citizens. The ironic thing is that "Juche" means "Freedom" and Masaji recognized how that was the exact opposite of what they were given in this devastating country. Now, let's go back to a few years ago when Masaji was about to finish school. He suffered through the loss of food, his hungry family, and unfair treatment from the officials. But he thought that one way to support his family would be to earn a reputation in the high ranking party and have a decent paying job. So he did what most kids would do, he studied and devoted all his time to Physics.
But of course, his dream was suddenly shut down. The teachers gave all their students a paper to write what job they wanted to have after graduating. There were three choices, the top one was to go to a university and if you graduated from that join the high party. This is the one that Masaji had his hopes set out for. Then, there was the second choice, you would be somewhat important towards the North Korean government and get a job as a factory worker. Finally, the last choice was to become a person who works on a farm and gets a very loose amount of change every day. I bet you can guess which one Masaji got (he got the third choice in case your dumb and haven't read the last paragraph). Masaji was devastated and very sad when he got the letter stating he got the lowest paying job. After that, he never had any other hopes except to continue living on until the very end.
Later on, he was promoted to the second choice and worked in a coal mine with a bunch of other kind folks. Sure, it wasn't healthy at all because of the poisonous gases and whatnot but he made some great companions that seemed to understand what he was going through, especially since they weren't much better off themselves. Let me just skip to the very end, Masaji's mom and dad both died and they both wanted him to somehow reach Japan. His father's last words were, "Make it to Japan and talk to some of my old friends, they'll help you out". He buried his mom and dad on the same mountain, his mom's grave facing Japan and his dad's facing South Korea (his father's native country). Masaji now understood the graveness of his situation and told what was left of his family (sisters, wife, children, sister's husband) that he was going to escape to Japan.
They understood Masaji and knew he was doing this in hopes of making more money and sending it back to them. Then, one day he will try to bring them to Japan as well and they could get out of that hell of a country. Masaji was able to sneak past the guards while they were switching posts and even crossed the river, that was when he hopped onto a train and arrived in China unconscious. A Chinese man saw him but didn't return him to the police, instead he brought Masaji to his house and fed him until he was ready to head towards Japan. He called the Japanese Red Cross in hopes that they would save him and fortunately they did. Masaji thanked the man and his two brothers for giving him money to live on before leaving. That's how the story ends, I have not read the epilogue yet but when I do I'll be sure to tell you what happened.
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