Fujiko Iwase (b.1941 in Tokyo) met her Korean husband when she was 19 through a friend. They moved to North Korea in 1960. “When you get older, you start thinking about the unforgettable memories of the old days in your hometown. Japanese women here are also thinking about it. They want to visit their parents’ graves. This feeling is stuck like a stone in their hearts. And everyone passes away with this feeling in the end”.

About 93,000 ethnic Koreans in Japan moved to North Korea during a repatriation program organized by the Red Cross between 1959 and 1984. Among them, there were about 1,800 Japanese women who accompanied their Korean husbands. Most of them have never been able to return to Japan

Photo by Noriko Hayashi, Hamhung (North Korea)

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Fujiko Iwase (rođena 1941. godine u Tokiju) upoznala je svog korejskog supruga preko prijatelja kada je imala 19 godina. Preselili su se u Sjevernu Koreju 1960. godine. “Kada postanete stariji, počnete razmišljati o nezaboravnim uspomenama iz mlađih dana, o svom rodnom mjestu. I sve “japanske žene” ovdje u Sjevernoj Koreji razmišljaju na taj način. Žele posjetiti grobove svojih roditelja. Taj osjećaj je zaglavljen poput kamena u njihovim srcima. I sve su na kraju preminule s tim osjećajem.”

Oko 93.000 etničkih Korejaca koji su živjeli u Japanu se preselilo u Sjevernu Koreju tokom programa repatrijacije koji je organizovao Crveni krst između 1959. i 1984. Među njima je bilo oko 1.800 japanskih žena koje su pratile svoje korejske supružnike. Većina njih se nikada nije vratila u Japan.

Foto: Noriko Hayashi, Hamhung (Sjeverna Koreja)