Life in Korea during the period of the Japanese Occupation differed greatly than life beforehand. Everything in Korea was made to match the ways of the Japanese. From schooling, to language, to jobs, to just about every other aspect of daily life, the Japanese created an iron fist around the Koreans and forced them to change. “Lost Names” by Richard E. Kim goes into detail about these changes to the lives of the Koreans. Beyond the Occupation Period, there were also lasting effects on Korean life as well.
In the book, the author goes from a Korean education to a Japanese schooling style. The Japanese required all students, no matter their nationality, to wear the same uniforms and speak only Japanese. This is even despite the fact that Japanese students and Korean students are taught separately. Speaking Korean would surely result in punishment; the author of the book learned that lesson the hard way. The overall education style of the Japanese was used, which aimed to assimilate Koreans into Japanese culture and strip them of all things Korean. No Korean history was taught during this period of time. In the book, the author was lucky enough to learn about Korean history from his father.
Overall lifestyle of the Koreans was also drastically changed during the Japanese Occupation. Even outside of school, children and adults alike were supposed to speak only Japanese. They also had to adjust to the Japanese customs like the Japanese bow, and wearing a Japanese kimono. In the book “Lost Names” there is a point where the author complains about his heels hurting from bowing the “Japanese way”. Yet another change that the Koreans had to make during the Occupation was that farmers were forced to yield their crops to the Japanese gover...
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...with these women.
As it’s clear to see, life in Korea was vastly changed because of the Japanese Occupation. Many of the effects were most significant during the wartimes, but many of them are still evident and/or prevalent to life today in Korea. “Lost Names” by Richard E. Kim recalls many of the changes during the Occupation, but surely leaves many out. One happening left out in the book was the Comfort Women, which is an effect of the Occupation that has outlasted the wartimes and remains prevalent today.
Works Cited
Felden, E. (2013). Former comfort woman tells uncomforting story. Retrieved from http://www.dw.de/former-comfort-woman-tells-uncomforting-story/a-17060384
Lee, C. (2008). Comfort women wanted. Retrieved from http://www.changjinlee.net/cww/index.html
Lewis, J. J. (2013). Retrieved from http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/comfort_women.htm
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