Lost Names by Richard E. Kim

[Anonymous]

I was told about these things when I lived in Korea for 3 months. Also, my father grew up during this time and he remembers speaking Japanese and hiding from soldiers under the floor boards of their home.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing about this. I'd heard about this from relatives and such, but it's good to have some literary resources to refer to, as well.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I am currently reading Lost Names by Richard E. Kim. It is a great novel regarding japanese imperialism in the early 1900s. The book is told from the perspective of a young Korean boy growing up in Korea during the time of Japanese rule. He explains how he is only allowed to read and write in Japanese in school. He also discusses how the children are forced to pay respect to a shrine dedicated to the Emperor of Japan. Ceremonies are conducted in Japanese, and the students are told to respect and honor the Japanese soldiers. The most devastating part of Japanese rule the boy explains is when the Japanese forced the Koreans to adopt Japanese surnames and lose their Korean identity.

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