ABSTRACT
Every Wednesday afternoon, after school has been let out, twenty or so first-through sixth-graders gather in a third-floor classroom of Tohan primary school in Osaka. These are children of Korean heritage. Most of them have Korean nationality, though there are a few whose family has naturalized, or who are the offspring of an “international marriage” between a Japanese and a Korean. These mostly third- and fourth-generation Koreans in Japan gather, under the guidance of a third-generation Japan-born Korean sŏnsaengnim (teacher), to sing songs in Korean, learn something of the Korean writing system, called hangŭl, study Korean folk tales, history and geography, practice Korean folk dance and music, and learn and become acclimated to hearing their own Korean names.
