From December 14, 1959 (Showa 34) to September 1981 (Showa 56), with a three-year interruption, the repatriation project for Koreans residing in Japan (return to North Korea) was carried out, during which a total of 93,293 people migrated from Niigata Port to North Korea. Among them, approximately 6,000 held Japanese nationality, and about 1,800 Japanese wives married to Koreans residing in Japan. The majority of these individuals are untraceable and their whereabouts are unknown; even if they have communicated, their lives are marked by a lack of freedom and severe poverty, with shortages of food and clothing beyond imagination. Their cries to return to Japan are heartrending.
This book is a compilation of various tragedies surrounding families left behind in Japan, centered on letters from Japanese wives received from North Korea. It is a reprint of the book originally published in 1976 under the title "Return the Japanese Wives!" For the reprint, several materials and a newly written "Preface" have been added.
The editor, Ms. Fumiko Ikeda, states: "Our relatives in Japan also think of their daughters, mothers, and sisters in a foreign land, and not a single day passes without worry. Therefore, on April 7, 1974 (Showa 49), we established the 'Japan Wives Free Correspondence Movement Association,' and since then, based on humanitarian principles, we have been actively petitioning for the safety and return of Japanese wives in North Korea."
We must never let the authentic voices of Japanese wives fade into oblivion. We sincerely wish to pass their stories on to new generations.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Letters from Japanese Wives- 1. It’s regrettable that I have no wings.- 2. My husband suddenly disappeared; I have given up on everything.- 3. I cannot write what I want to write.
Chapter 2: A Voice from North Korea after Eighteen Years from the Husband- I truly regret my shallow thoughts when I was in Japan, and I now realize it too late.
Chapter 3: Parents praying for their safety with no word for a long time- 1. Three daughters traveled abroad. They wait for news at a senior home.- 2. Contracted leprosy, and could not stop their daughter.- 3. Without parents, concerned about the safety of two sisters.
Chapter 4: Urgent petitions for repatriation on humanitarian grounds- 1. If only a dove could carry me to my daughter.- 2. I want to live until I can meet her.- 3. Struggling with a sick body, alone in Japan.
Chapter 5: Please send money from Japan
Epilogue
Fumiko Ikeda, Representative and General Organizer of the Japan Wives Free Correspondence Movement Association