How I Acquired My Okinawan Identity: 6. Meeting a Zainichi Korean
I had lived my life without ever doubting that I was just as Japanese as my other Japanese friends, but
there was something different about me.
My way of feeling and my culture were different from theirs.
So, what nationality am I?
Okinawan??
Wasn't Japan a mono-ethnic nation?
Where did Okinawans come from?
These and many other questions kept popping up and wouldn't leave my mind.
Around 2000 or 2001, Nomo was causing a tornado of excitement in the United States. I felt proud and happy about Nomo's success, and I was the type of person who would get enthusiastic when Hidetoshi Nakata scored a goal in Italy.
Even so, I stopped feeling comfortable with the label of "Japanese."
One day, while I was still feeling conflicted and unable to find an answer to who I was,
I saw an Asian person at the pool hall who was very good, so I spoke to him to ask for some tips.
He was a Zainichi Korean.
It was the first time in my life I had become friends with a Zainichi Korean.
You don't see Zainichi Koreans in Okinawa.
I'm sure they live there, but there are no Koreatowns and no Korean schools.
Looking back now, there was one classmate in middle school with a Korean name, but at the time I didn't even know the term "Zainichi Korean," and I just thought his name was different from everyone else's,
Everyone was surprised when they heard, "He can speak Korean!"
When someone asked him, "Say something in Korean,"
he said, "Kamsahamnida,"
and we were all like, "Whoa!!" amazed that he could speak Korean (lol).
That's how rare it was to meet a Zainichi Korean in Okinawa.
At the time, even seeing Japanese people from the mainland was limited to tourists, so it was rare to have them as classmates or close friends.
The person I met at the pool hall was named Suhun.
We were both very curious about each other's backgrounds—Okinawan and Korean culture—and we hit it off immediately.
I only knew about Zainichi Koreans from reading a manga called *1 "RON."
By the way, this manga is the best in my personal history and is like a bible to me; I learned a little about the discrimination they faced through it, but that was the extent of my knowledge.
I invited Suhun to my house on the weekend, and after the four of us, including my roommate (who was Japanese), had dinner together,
the two of us drank shochu mixed with Earl Grey tea and talked.
The conversation never ended, and it lasted until the following evening.
He and I had similar interests and we really clicked.
That day, when I talked about my struggle with my identity, including the background of why I started thinking about who I was,
“Leona, you are Japanese, but aren't you more Okinawan than that?”
he said to me.
I see!!
The fog lifted and I felt clear-headed.
I felt that this explained everything—my enthusiasm for Nomo and Ichiro's success and the Japanese national soccer team, as well as my struggle with feeling different from my Japanese friends,
and I was happy to have found "my own answer at the time."
*1 RON, Author: Motoka Murakami. Famous works: "Musashi no Ken," "JIN."
An epic tale that weaves fiction and non-fiction from the early Showa era to the end of World War II, allowing the reader to experience historical facts through the life of the protagonist. The protagonist, Ron, is so amazing that I fell in love with the character.