Jjok-Baris Village (Lit. a Village of Japanese) (by Kimio Shiino)

　
A Summary

Mr. Kimio Shiino was born in 1934 in Japan, and when he was a fourth grader at elementary school, his father was transferred to the northern part of the Korean peninsula, and therefore, Kimio together with his mother, sister and bother accompanied him there.

It must be remembered that the Korean peninsula had been a colony of Japan and immediately after it lost WWⅡ, the north part of Korea was　occupied by Russian troops (present-day North Korea), while the southern area was controlled by American soldiers.
And this is why, the Japanese who were living in the north wished to flee to the south.

In 1945, Japan lost the war, and from that day on their painful life started. And the next summer---








Photo

Spring 1943
At the entrance of our company house
The person who contributed this reminiscence is to the far left at the back, wearing a fur hat.
Photo by contributors father.


Finally, the time had come to carry out the escape plan

The ominous War Memorial Day of 15th August had passed and the summer was about to end.
One day, we received information concerning repatriation.

The content was as follows:

(1) The scheduled departure day was to be September 7.
All members, except those by themselves and some engineers, were to be divided into two groups.
Then, both groups would travel first of all to Dasado Island.

(2) The first group would leave at 9:00 am, while the second two hours later.

(3) Concerning transportation, five factory trucks would separately take the groups halfway between Dasado Island and Yongampo, and from there, they would go on foot.

(4) When the 2 groups got to Dasado Island, they would have to wait until the sun went down, after which two boats would pick them up separately.

(5) Until they left the island, the factory would guarantee all their activities and there would be an unspoken understanding with the police, as this travel was not permitted officially.

(6) Even though the police knew about this, the local Korean people didnt, and so the groups had to act inconspicuously.

(7) The engineers, who remained, would be safe until they transferred their technological skills to those in charge, after which they would be guaranteed a secure return to Japan.

I think that this plan was extremely well thought out and I can understand how the negotiating party must have worked hard on it.

At that time, I did not know how my father was related to this negotiation group, because he did not say anything about it until he safely reached the southern part of Korea.
However, it seemed as though he was doing a considerably important role in this project, because he told us afterwards that he had had a very hard time with the negotiation.

However, it seemed also that the project had been completed in utmost secrecy, and I assumed that considerable money had been paid to the other side.
However, my father never said anything about this at all, and so I didnt know how the money had been raised.

The amount of money, which could be obtained from our household things, we had brought from Japan, before being driven away from the company house, would have worked advantageously in such negotiations.

Many people had left most of their property in Japan, but we had brought everything with us including antiques and swords, as we truly believed that we would return safely to Japan, and therefore, our property was worth a great deal.

My fathers property included swords and several cameras, which he regretted parting with and because of this, he would often reminisce about their loss for a long time to come. Therefore, I think that he had been a member of the negotiation group, and so he had probably emphasized those items value.

On the other hand, as I think about the other party's standpoint: at that time, the factory produced mainly pans and pots and therefore, the manpower was greater than needed to produce a small amount of those goods, except for the future production plan.
Under such circumstances, it seems that the factory had no room to look after us: nearly 200 people including the workers families.
And I imagine that the North Korean administration did not know what to do with us either.

Therefore, though it is only a personal view, I feel that the strategy of the Japanese Association was appropriate: in addition to a certain amount of money, which contributed to the factorys restructuring policy and its future plan.

Though I didnt accurately know how many members of the Japanese Association there were at that time, the number of elderly people and children who died of sickness and those lynched that year were presumed to be about 180. Anyway, it was a quite a few.

As this projects accomplishment had been very difficult, it was thought that the 2 groups would be able to return safely. It could be said that it was looked upon as "a miracle.
However, the adults should have thought more on relying on a miracle, rather than feeling that they would die in vain in Korea.
However, a serious decision must have been necessarily made, not only for the chief negotiator but also all the other adult members.

Honestly speaking, I, myself, was doubtful, but I still thought that it would turn out all right.
Other people might also have thought the success rate to be 50-50, and if it were to get better, it would increase to 70 or 80%.

As the departure date had already been delayed nearly one month, we began to worry about typhoons, which occasionally came to the Yellow Sea district and therefore, about the possibility of its causing trouble as we planned to escape by sea.

However, those who were able to return were fortunate enough, even if they were ready to face death.
I can imagine how those who were forced to remain must have felt. They must have been uneasy and dissatisfied even if they were guaranteed a safe return.

And even children like myself felt extremely sorry for those who had to stay behind. I can imagine that our parents would have felt for them even more, and worshipped them like gods or buddhas.

As the departure day drew nearer, uneasiness about our escape gradually grew.
I waited for that day, and tried to think about a positive ending to the whole matter.
However, I was so excited the previous night that I was unable to go to sleep easily.


The Day We Left the Pigsty or The Crude Hut

September 7th was a beautiful day, just like autumn weather in Japan.
We felt as though this nice weather could blow away our long lasting days of hardship.
As for each family, all the preparations had been completed the day before.
And everyone exchanged words of pleasure, such as Oh! We have been able to wait for this long-awaited day finally in bright voices.

Though we were part of the second group, and our departure time was 11:00 am, we finished breakfast at seven and after checking our luggage again, which had been prepared the previous night, we went to see the first group off, who had gathered earlier with one rucksack and two bags each: according to the luggage limitation specified beforehand.

Some group members were sorry to part and threw themselves onto each other's shoulders in a midst of tears.
I chatted with several of my friends, saying that we would see each other sooner or later.
Then Manabu, one of my friends came along, dragging his foot, which was greatly bandaged up.
I asked him what was wrong. He mischievously replied winking that he had trodden on a nail, and though his foot was still a little painful, it wasnt that bad.

At first, I thought he had just been careless because he got hurt on such an important day, but anyway I thought I should not criticize him as he hadnt done it on purpose.
Judging from his appearance, it seemed we didnt need to worry about him.
However, my mother who had some nursing experience told him not to walk too much, saying that if the nail had been rusty, he could contract tetanus. When she looked at his wound, however, she assured him that he neednt worry, which made him seem relieved. But she also told him that if he felt bad, he should inform her immediately.

After we saw off the first group, we returned home right away, and waited for the five trucks that were scheduled to return before 11:00 am.

I repeatedly looked around our house. I was very emotional thinking how I had been able to stand such a miserable environment for one year. For example, when the Rosuke had pillaged our village (We called the Russians Rosuke); the night I had got rid of bedbugs and lice; the day I had had to clean the local police stations lavatory; and the day a Korean neighbor criticized us for eating eel which was at that time too luxurious for the Jjok-bari.
I recalled one event after another.

The five trucks came back a little before 11 o'clock.
The first group seemed to have arrived at their first destination safely.
OK! Then it was our turn.

After 15 to 20 people climbed on the back of each truck, we departed.
Our destination was Japan, but we had to reach Incheon before that, and ahead of that Dasado Island.

The trucks started up noisily.