When My Name Was Keoko

This is a fictional novel but the overall events happening are the types of things that took place in Korea at that time.

Korea had been under the control of Japan since 1910. This story takes place in the years 1940 through 1945 and concerns Keoko, who is ten, her parents, her brother and various others she encounters. The story centers on how events affected the family, how cruel the Japanese soldiers could be, matters of personal pride and sacrifice and the Korean resistance movement.

The Korean culture at that time put women into second place and Keoko, being a young girl, felt herself left out of a lot.

The Japanese actions noted at the time include no Koreans being allowed to be the boss of anything, the Koreans being forced to take up Japanese names, the educational system being geared towards Japan's wants, neighborhood associations (basically forcing people to spy on each other) and Japanese soldiers beating up people. The comfort women issue is also brought up.

Keoko's uncle has to flee, the amount and quality of food at home continues to diminish and her brother ends up becoming a kamikaze pilot. The oppression by the Japanese is always present and it seeps into the family life all the time.

It's a good story and gives the reader a glimpse of what life was like under Japanese rule.

Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page