Introduction

In 1976 a group of young second-generation Korean residents of Japan gathered for an informal roundtable discussion (zadankai) to consider the future from the younger generation’s perspective. The meeting was organized by the editorial board of Kikan Sanzenri, a journal published by the Korean community in Japan.1 During this meeting, in a personal account, one of the discussants revealed the complexity of his family context. Lee Un-ja described what had happened when he decided to change from a Korean ethnic school in Japan, which he had attended until the end of middle school, to a Japanese senior high school. He spoke of how breaking this news to his parents had caused tense division in his household. This was because his mother’s political affiliations lay with North Korea, his father’s with South Korea. Lee’s mother was emphatically opposed (daihantai) to her son’s decision. His father, however, agreed (sansei) with his choice. Lee chose to attend the Japanese senior high school, but did so under his honmyo¯ (Korean name) and laments that he was unable to break free of the stigma that a Korean name held at this time. After graduating from high school and working for a short period, Lee was drawn to the Korean ‘homeland’ in hope of discovering something about himself, only to be disappointed that the experience provided very little (Lee et al. 1976: 46-57).