The Identity Conflicts of Second Generation of Zainichi: The Case of Noa

To facilitate the analysis, I begin with Noa‟s background. The child‟s name, Noa, foreshadows the character‟s destiny. “Noa─because he obeyed and did what the Lord asked.

Noa─because he believed when it is impossible to do so” (147). Yoseb hopes that Noa could

be like the Biblical Noah who does not wallow in the mire of evil deeds but insists on justice.

Before Noa becomes aware of his own background, he is indeed what Yoseb expected of an obedient child. Moreover, “the Lord” here does not refer to God alone, but also draws a close parallel with Koh Hansu. Indeed, Noa obeys Hansu and is sincerely grateful Hansu for all his

assistance. However, when he learns that Hansu is his biological father and a “ヤクザ

(YAKUZA）”²⁴ engaged in loan sharking, Noa‟s pride and identity collapse completely. He has

an emotional breakdown. He severs all ties with his family and, finally, commits suicide.

When Noa is young,

[A]t school, he went by his Japanese name, Nobuo Boku, rather than Noa Baek…he

dreaded the mention of the peninsula where his parents were born and would look down at his papers if the teacher mentioned anything about the colony of Korea…the

boy (Noa) wanted to be Japanese; it was his dream to leave Ikaino and never to return (180).

As Lim Youngmi indicates in “Reinventing Korean Roots and Zainichi Routes,”

Zainichi use of Japanese aliases allows them to blend in with the Japanese in

everyday social encounters,²⁵ Zainichi use of Korean names in Japanese public spaces and conversations has the opposite effect, allowing them to stand, with or without possible disruptions in social exchanges. (93)

Judging Noa‟s behaviors from Lim‟s accounts, we observe that Noa‟s intention─when he

conceals his Korean background, expresses his preference for using a Japanese name, and his dreams of becoming Japanese and leaving the slums─is to integrate into mainstream Japanese

society and break with his past. Moreover, “Noa looked like a middle-class Japanese child from

24 YAKUZA refers to the gangster in Japanese society.

25 Lim provides some cases and points out that if the Zainichi‟s name sounds like non-Japanese origin in public, it might be insinuated as Korean or signaled “Koreanness” as well. Therefore, for the convenience of communication, most of later generations of Zainichi choose Japanese names as priority.

a wealthier part of town, bearing no resemblance to the unwashed ghetto children outside his door” (179). Here, the contrast between “middle-class Japanese” and “ghetto” highlights Noa‟s

ambition to escape his low social status.

Ironically, drawing a demarcation line with his family and the Korean background does not allow Noa to integrate into Japanese society. No matter how hard he tries, the Japanese

continue to despise what he is; thus, he lives in fears that his background will be exposed.

Although Noa didn‟t complain of it, the kimchi odor affected him the most…Noa was taunted and pushed around…the teacher himself made Noa sit in the back of the classroom…(Noa) was called garlic turd…He believed that he could enjoy going to

school if he were a regular person and not a Korean (emphasis added; 169,197).

The racial discrimination of peers and teachers has a considerable impact on Noa‟s personality formation and emerges as the major reason for his intention to purge his Korean identity and become Japanese. The teacher‟s assigning Noa to sit with the children of other poor Korean families manifests the ideology of racial superiority that Japanese imperialism attempted to impose and maintain; it also causes psychological trauma to Zainichi individuals and

communities. As Isak says “Noa. [M]uch, much braver than me. Living every day in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage” (197). Even

adults find it difficult to bear the constant racial discrimination, to say nothing of the impact on a child, like Noa.

In terms of role presentation, Lee sets up Noa as first an obedient child and then as an

independent thinking adult with a keen, critical, intellect. After witnessing his father‟s involvement in political turmoil and being subject to the discriminatory treatment due to his

Korean identity, Noa naturally expresses indignation with Japan‟s social reality. It seems that Lee‟s portrait of Noa as a cynical person critical of social and political reality, drifting away

from Korean identity and seeking to conceal his Korean background and become Japanese, leads to his identity transformation and attachment to Japanese culture. For example, he receives Japanese education and considers Japanese his mother tongue, and while obtaining a diploma in Tokyo, he participates in many social activities in order to make a place for himself in mainstream Japanese society; and yet, Japan does not fully accept him. Illustrating the point, one day Professor Kuroda, Noa‟s lecturer in the university, raises the issue of Jewish identity:

Here we have a situation where a man does not know his own identity as an outsider.

He is like Moses, the infant in Genesis who learns that he is Jewish and not Egyptian

─” As Kurodsan was saying this, she glanced at Noa, but he was not aware of it,

because he was taking notes. (emphasis added; 283)

First, even if Professor Kuroda‟s words do not clearly specify the identity of “a man” and

“Moses,” her glance at Noa indicates that she regards Noa as an “outsider” and reveals her

xenophobic attitude toward Zainichi. Thus, no matter how diligent, Noa will continue to be excluded as an outsider in Japanese society due to his Korean background. Secondly, for many years, Noa has striven to be Japanese and erase his Korean heritage, thus, we can assume that Noa disregards Professor Kuroda‟s remarks due to his refusal to accept outsider status.

Ironically, Noa‟s behavior betrays his refusal even as he takes Akiko‟s arguments to heart:

Akiko (Noa‟s classmate) refutes professor Kuroda‟s remarks and argues “[M]aybe the Jews

have a right to have their own state, but I see no need for Mirah and Daniel to have to leave England. I think this nobility argument or a greater nation for a persecuted people is a pretext to eject all the unwanted foreigners” (283). Akiko seizes upon the deportation of the Jews‟ to

refute Japanese discrimination against Koreans, for the Zainichi are clearly the “persecuted people” and “unwanted foreigners” of which she speaks. While Akiko argues with the courage

of her convictions, Noa finds himself writing down everything that Akiko has said, and is upset to think that Akiko‟s notes might be true, “he (Noa) admired her (Akiko) courage to think so differently and suggest such a difficult truth… Nevertheless, until he really listened to Akiko

disagree with the professor, he had not thought for him fully, and it had never occurred to him to disagree in public” (284).

This passage shows Noa struggling with identity conflicting and anxious about being considered an “outsider.” As second-generation Zainichi, Noa has been assimilated into

Japanese value system to some significant extent.²⁶ “Noa knew how proper Japanese people behaved and could imitate their mannerisms faultlessly” (307), he pretends to be an obedient Japanese student and never disagrees with others‟ opinions in public. Ironically, even

he ignores the fact of his Korean roots, his ambivalence emerges as he takes detailed notes on

26 Kashiwazaki Chikako divides Zainichi assimilation into two categories. First, the legal-institutional assimilation refers to assigning Zainichi who assimilate into Japan a certain degree of civil rights, political and social equality. The second one is cultural assimilation which instills the language, life-style and symbols of empire through the process of education and acculturation. (qtd. in Chapman 17-18)

Akiko‟s persuasive argument and reflects admiringly on her courage.

After Noa clarifies his relationship with Hansu, he returns to Osaka to query Sunja about his background. In their conversation, Lee describes Noa‟s identity conflict in detail,

All my life, I have had Japanese telling me that my blood is Korean─that Koreans

are anger, violent, cunning, and deceitful criminals. All my life, I had to endure this…and now I learn that my blood is yakuza blood. I can never change this, no matter what I do…How could you have ruined my life? How could you be so

imprudent? A foolish mother and a criminal father. I am cursed… You. You took my life away. I am no longer myself. (emphasis added; 315-316)

Sunja is astonished by Noa‟s anger. For Noa, a Korean heritage is an intolerable burden; being the son of a Korean rogue, he feels doubly cursed. Noa bitterly resents Hansu and Sunja for the indelible stain their parentage has left on his life. Soon after, Noa drops out of university and breaks of contact with his family. Hansu and Sunja‟s deceit and betrayal severely traumatize Noa. As previous chapters have suggested, the establishment of identity is based on interactions with others in cultural, political and social circumstances (Chapman 7). However, his parents‟

deceit prevents Noa from engaging with his social peers in a normal way and helps to trigger his identity conflict.

Even after Noa moves to Nagano, his fear of being discovered to be Korean

constantly haunts him, leading to constant uncertainty and emptiness (Chapman 47). Noa thus decides to retreat to a spiritual world he constructs for himself, because “he was here. He felt

safe” (331). Even after Sunja finds him, years later, he rejects her motherly concern in order to

maintain a psychic distance from a reality he rejects. Noa reminds Sunja, “[T]here was no life for us to back home, and now it‟s too late. Even for me…I‟m a Japanese citizen now, and I can

travel. I went to South Korea to visit. To see my supposed motherland” (emphasis added; 390).

Noa‟s attachment to Japanese nationality is intended to transform his identity to that of a Japanese citizen; the scorn he expresses for his “supposed motherland” suggests that Noa has adopted some of the arrogance Japanese society displays for Korea and Zainichi communities.

All the same, Sunja‟s appearance reveals the trauma Noa has hidden for many years. He

says,

“My blood father is Koh Hansu. That cannot change…I can never be clean of him…This is my curse”…

“Is it so terrible to be Korean?” (Sunja asked)

“It is terrible to be me.” …Noa had shot himself a few minutes after she‟d (Sunja) left

his office. (emphasis added; 389, 391)

Sunja‟s appearance forces Noa to squarely face a reality capable of destroying his cherished,

much dreamed of Japanese identity. Noa‟s suicide, then, is a final means of escaping Japanese society in which people like Noa and Hansu are always considered outsiders, even if they marry a Japanese spouse and become Japanese citizens. Racial discrimination will continue, and their efforts to have a Japanese identity accepted will inevitably end in failure.

Instead of interacting with a harsh society, Noa chooses to construct an imaginary world in

which he casts himself as a Japanese citizen. As a representative of second-generation Zainichi, Noa is traumatized by political circumstance and identity conflicts. Thus, his last words, “[I]t is terrible to be me,” (390) reveal a feeling of utter helplessness. Noa expects to find some

rational basis for his identity; he seeks that rational basis in vain. Finally, Noa commits suicide to hide all his painful truths, revealing how disconnected he is from reality. In conclusion, the

dislocation of reality and fantasy, the contrasts between Korean and Japanese cultures, and Noa‟s competitiveness all result for the failure of his construction of identity.