在日パチンコ家族4世代の物語にアメリカ人が共感する理由 | 渡辺由佳里 | コラム | ニューズウィーク日本版 オフィシャルサイト
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在日パチンコ家族4世代の物語にアメリカ人が共感する理由
2018年03月15日（木）18時00分
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一家は戦後日本でパチンコを生業として成功する Issei Kato-REUTERS
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＜日本統治下の釜山から始まる在日韓国人ファミリー4世代の年代記『Pachinko』に、アメリカ人は移民として差別・迫害に苦しんだ祖先の苦労を思う＞
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周囲のアメリカ人から「あの本読んだ？」とよく尋ねられる本が毎年何冊かある。韓国系アメリカ人作家ミン・ジン・リーの長編小説『パチンコ（Pachinko
）』もそのひとつだ。韓国と日本を舞台にした、在日韓国・朝鮮人の4世代にわたる年代記なのだが、アメリカでベストセラーになり、2017年の全米図書賞の最終候補にもなった。私の周囲だけでも、義母、娘、娘の婚約者の母親が同時に読んでいて、まるで「読書クラブ」のようだった。それほど、多くの人に読まれている作品であり、読者の評価も高い。
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小説は1910年の釜山からスタートする。大日本帝国が大韓帝国との間で日韓併合条約を締結して韓国を統治下に置いた年だ。釜山の漁村に住む漁夫の夫婦は、その運命を黙って受け入れた。「泥棒相手に国を失った無能な貴族と腐敗した母国の統治者」には、それ以前からすでに諦めの気持ちを抱いていたのだ。動揺するかわりに夫婦は身体に障害があるが利発なひとり息子フーニーの将来を考えた。夫婦は息子に学校で韓国語と日本語を学ばせ、仲人を使って見合い結婚をさせ、労働者用の宿屋を経営させた。
フーニーの若い妻ヤンジンは何度も流産を繰り返した末にようやく健康な娘スンジャを得た。そして、働き者のフーニーが亡くなった後も、未亡人は娘の助けを借りて評判の良い宿屋を営み続けた。
スンジャは働くことに生きがいを見出す生真面目な少女だったが、16歳のときに年上の裕福そうな男コー・ハンスーから誘惑されて妊娠してしまう。相手が既婚者だと初めて知ったスンジャは、自分の過ちを恥じ、「結婚はできないが面倒は見る」という申し出を拒否して別れる。
田舎の漁村で未婚の女が妊娠するのは醜聞だ。結核で倒れたときに母娘に看病してもらったことに恩義を感じる若い牧師イサックは、これを神が自分に与えた機会だと考えてスンジャに結婚を申し込む。若い2人は、イサックの兄ヨーセブの誘いで1933年に大阪に移住する。
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イサックとヨーセブの両親は裕福な地主だったが、韓国社会の不安定化で経済的な余裕はなくなっていた。大阪では韓国人牧師のイサックが得られる収入はほとんどなく、2組の夫婦は会社に務めるヨーセブの収入に頼ることになった。そのヨーセブにしても、雇ってもらっているだけで感謝しなければならない状況で、そこに付け込まれて日本人より安い賃金で倍以上働かされていた。//
さらに戦争前夜の日本の思想弾圧により、牧師のイサックが逮捕されてしまう。一家はますます窮地に陥る。男としての甲斐性にこだわるヨーセブは妻たちが外で働くことを固く禁じるが、スンジャはコー・ハンスーから受け取った唯一の贈り物である高級時計を売ってイサックの借金を返し、ヨーセブの妻が作ったキムチを路上で売って家計を支える。
イサックは、スンジャが産んだコー・ハンスーの息子のノアをわが子として愛して育てる。しかし何年も刑務所で拷問を受けた結果、結核が悪化して解放直後に死んでしまう。イサックの性格を受け継いだように生真面目なノアは、働きながらも早稲田大学で英文学を学ぶ夢を叶えるが、自分の誕生の秘密を知って絶望する。日本で受け入れられるために愚痴も恨みも言わずひたすら努力を積み重ねてきたノアは、母を罵り、家族を捨て、見知らぬ土地で日本人としての偽りのアイデンティティを使って新しい人生を生きようとする。
スンジャの次男モサズは、兄とは違って、学問にまったく興味がない。だが、商売の嗅覚があり、パチンコ店に勤務して頭角を現す。そして、自分でも店を持ち成功する。モサズは、ひとり息子ソロモンをアメリカのコロンビア大学に留学させる。それは、亡き妻が抱いていた夢の実現でもあった。しかし、日本に戻って外資系の投資銀行に勤務したソロモンは、その環境であっても自分が在日韓国人として扱われる現実を実感させられる――。
이자크와 요세부 부모님은 부유 한 지주 이었지만, 한국 사회의 불안정으로 경제적 인 여유가 없게되어 있었다. 오사카에서 한국인 목사의 이자크를 얻을 수있는 수입은 거의없고, 2 쌍의 부부는 회사에 맡는 요세부 수입에 의존하게되었다. 그 요세부해도, 고용 받고있는 것만으로도 감사해야하는 상황에서 거기에 뿌리고되어 일본인보다 싼 임금으로 두 배 이상 일하게되고 있었다. // 또한 전쟁 전야의 일본의 사상 탄압에 의해 목사의 이자크가 체포되어 버린다. 가족은 점점 궁지에 빠진다. 남자로서의 甲斐性에 집착 요세부는 아내가 밖에서 일하는 것을 엄격히 금지하지만, 순자는 코 · 항스로부터받은 유일한 선물 인 명품 시계를 판매 이자크의 빚을 갚고, 요세부 아내가 만든 김치를 길거리에서 파는 가계를 지원한다. 이자크는 순자가 낳은 코 · 항스의 아들 노아를 자기 자식으로 사랑 키운다. 그러나 몇 년 감옥에서 고문을받은 결과 결핵이 악화되고 해방 직후에 죽을 것이다.
이자크의 성격을 물려받은 것처럼 고지식한 노아는 일하면서도 와세다 대학에서 영문학을 배우고 꿈을 실현하지만, 자신의 출생의 비밀을 알고 절망한다. 일본에서 받아 들여지기 위하여 불평도 원망도 말하지 않고 오로지 노력을 쌓아온 노아는 어머니를 욕하고 가족을 버리고 낯선 땅에서 일본인으로서 거짓 정체성을 사용하여 새로운 삶을 살려고한다. 순자의 차남 모사즈는 동생과는 달리 학문에 전혀 관심이 없다. 하지만 장사의 후각이 있고, 파칭코 점에 근무하고 두각을 나타낸다. 그리고 자신도 가게를 가지고 성공한다. 모사즈은 외아들 솔로몬을 미국 컬럼비아 대학에 유학한다. 그것은 죽은 아내가 가졌던 꿈의 실현이기도했다. 그러나 일본에 돌아 외국계 투자 은행에 근무하던 솔로몬은 그 환경에도 자신이 재일 한국인으로서 다루어지는 현실을 실감 케된다 -.
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在日韓国人の4世代にわたる年代記が、アメリカでベストセラーになり、しかも全米図書賞の最終候補にまでなったのはなぜなのか？
それは、場所や人種が異なっても、「移民の苦労ばなし」が普遍的なものだからだ。
読んでいるうちに思い出したのは、20世紀前半にアメリカに移住したアイルランド系やイタリア系移民が受けた差別や紀元前からあるユダヤ人の迫害だ。
ユダヤ系には金融業、医師、弁護士、科学者が多いが、それは古代のヨーロッパでユダヤ人の就業が禁じられていた職種が多かったからだと言われる。アメリカのニューヨークやボストンでは、アイルランド系移民の警察官が圧倒的に多い。これも、アイルランド系移民が初期に受けた職業差別が少なからず影響している。20世紀の日本での在日韓国・朝鮮人によるパチンコ経営は、これらに比類するものだ。
アメリカは、先住民以外はすべて「移民」とその子孫だ。何世代か遡れば、必ず移民としてのこうした苦労ばなしに行きあたるはずだ。こうしたアメリカ人のDNAに刻み込まれた記憶が、小説への共感を生むのだろう。
日本統治下の韓国での日本人による現地人への虐めや、日本人による在日韓国・朝鮮人への差別、そして単語こそ出てこないが「慰安婦」のリクルートなど、『パチンコ』は日本人にとっては居心地が悪い小説かもしれない。
しかし、これは日本人を糾弾する小説ではない。1人の人間として「読者」になれば、誰でも感情移入できるし、家族ドラマとして楽しめる本だ。私は、若い頃に観たNHK連続テレビ小説の「おしん」を思い出した。そういう雰囲気もある。//
著者のミン・ジン・リーはそんな私の意見に対して、このように答えてくれた。
「日本人の読者は洗練されているし、微妙なニュアンスも理解できる。あなたのように先入観なく、公平な視点でこの本を読んでくれると強く信じている。（英語で読んだ）多くの日本人読者は、すでにこの本をとても支援してくれて、とても感謝している。私の夫は日本人とのハーフで、私の息子は民族的には4分の1が日本人だ。現代の日本人には、日本の過去についての責任はない。私たちにできるのは、過去を知り、現在を誠実に生きることだけだ」
재일 한국인의 4 세대에 걸친 연대기가 미국에서 베스트셀러가되고 게다가 내셔널 북 어워드 최종 후보까지 된 이유는 무엇인가? 그것은 장소와 인종이 달라도 "이민의 고생 바 없음 '이 보편적 인 것이기 때문이다.
읽고있는 사이에 기억 된 것은 20 세기 전반 미국으로 이주한 아일랜드계와 이탈리아계 이민자들이받은 차별과 기원전부터 유대인의 박해이다. 유태계에는 금융업, 의사, 변호사, 과학자가 많은데, 그것은 고대 유럽에서 유대인의 취업이 금지 된 직종이 많았 기 때문이라고 말한다. 미국의 뉴욕과 보스턴에서 아일랜드계 이민 경찰이 압도적으로 많다. 이것도 아일랜드계 이민자들이 초기에받은 직업 차별이 적지 않은 영향을주고있다.
20 세기의 일본에서의 재일 한국 · 조선인에 의한 파칭코 경영은 이러한 비교할하는 것이다. 미국은 원주민을 제외한 모든 '이민'과 그 자손이다. 여러 세대 거슬러 올라가면 반드시 이민으로 이런 고생 바 없음에 行きあたる 것이다. 이러한 미국인의 DNA에 새겨진 기억이 소설에 공감을 낳는 것이다. 일본 통치 하의 한국에서 일본인에 의한 현지인에 대한 학대와 일본인에 의한 재일 한국 · 조선인에 대한 차별, 그리고 단어야말로 나오지 않지만 '위안부'의 채용 등, 「파칭코」는 일본 사람에게는 기분 나쁜 소설지도 모른다. 그러나 이것은 일본을 규탄하는 소설이 아니다. 1 명의 인간으로서 '독자'가되면 누구나 공감 할 수 있고, 가족 드라마로 즐길 수있는 책이다. 나는 젊은 시절에 본 NHK 연속 TV 소설 「오싱」을 떠 올렸다. 그런 분위기도있다. //
저자의 민 진 리는 그런 내 생각에 이렇게 대답 해 주었다. "일본인의 독자는 세련되고 있으며, 미묘한 뉘앙스도 이해할 수있다. 당신처럼 편견없이 공정한 관점에서이 책을 읽어주는 강하게 믿고있다. (영어로 읽었다)
많은 일본인 독자들은 이미이 책을 적극 지원 해주고, 너무 감사하고있다. 남편은 일본인과의 하프, 내 아들은 민족으로 4 분의 1이 일본인이다. 현대의 일본인에게는 일본의 과거에 대한 책임을 지지 않습니다. 우리가 할 것은 과거를 알고 현재를 성실하게 사는 것 뿐이다 "
とても切ない物語だが、読んで良かったと、きっと思うだろう。
「啓発的で、しかも読んでいて楽しいと（日本の読者）に感じてもらえれば幸いだ。小説が後に残るためには、そのどちらも満たしている必要があると思うから」とリーが言うように、登場人物たちのことが気になって途中で読むのをやめられなくなるページターナーだ。
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Top customer reviews
Ruggles
4.0 out of 5 starsGood read for this genre
November 6, 2017
For those who like a novel covering various characters over generations but from inside another culture and the viewpoint of someone from that culture, the story moves along quite well most of the way although as is often the case, towards the end it becomes a little more complicated tying up all the "loose ends" neatly. The experience of Koreans under Japanese rule both in Korea and Japan seen from a Korean viewpoint is a worthwhile context to be put in.
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Kei
5.0 out of 5 stars想像以上に面白かったです
March 8, 2018
他のレビューの方もお書きになっていますが、読んで良かったと素直に思えました。日本に暮らしてきた韓国の人々の歴史や苦労などが伝わってきます。日本と韓国は政治的にいろいろあり今現在もというか現在になってから新しい問題やそれぞれの主張があります。そのような政治的な食い違いとは別に登場人物たちに感情移入できます。私は日本人ですがこの小説を読んです間は、自分の国籍を忘れます。あまり日本にいると国を意識することはないですが（笑）こういう本がベストセラーになり評価されるのはいいなーと思いました。これもアメリカの多様性なんでしょうか？文章も素晴らしく、内容も日本人にも入りやすいのでどこかの学校でもテキストに使っていただければと思いました。おすすめです！！
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渡辺由佳里
TOP 100 REVIEWER
5.0 out of 5 starsアメリカでベストセラーになった在日韓国人の年代記
February 20, 2018
Format: ペーパーバック
1910年、大日本帝国は大韓帝国との間で日韓併合条約を締結して大韓帝国を統治下に置いた。
この小説は、その時期に見合いで結婚した韓国の若い夫婦、その娘、娘を汚名から救って一緒に日本に渡った牧師、その息子二人、孫息子の４世代に渡る家族年代記である。
韓国から大阪に渡った若い夫婦は、移民に対する差別を受け、貧困に苦しみながらも、正直に生きていこうと努力する。そんな親に期待をかけられた長男は日本人になりたいという隠れた希望に押しつぶされ、早期に学問に見切りをつけた次男はパチンコ店経営で成功して裕福になる。それでも日本人になることも、韓国人として祖国に変えることもできない移民の苦しさをこの小説は淡々と読者に伝える。
日本統治下の韓国での日本人による現地人への虐めや、日本人による在日韓国・朝鮮人への差別、そして単語こそ出てこないが「戦争慰安婦」のリクルートなど、日本人にとっては居心地が悪い小説かもしれない。
だが、Pachinkoは、日本人を糾弾するトーンの小説ではない。どの国の、どの移民にも起こり得ることであり、だからこそ、これほど多くのアメリカ人から共感を得、全米図書賞の最終候補にもなったのだ。
この小説を読むときには、自分の国籍を忘れ去ってほしい。そして、ただの「読者」になってほしい。
そうすれば、彼らの苦難にひとりの人間として感情移入できるから。
とても切ない物語だが、読んで良かったと、きっと思うだろう。
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Amazon.com: 4.4 out of 5 stars 923 reviews
Laurie A. Brown
5.0 out of 5 starsWonderful characters in a family saga
September 19, 2016 - Published on Amazon.com
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Pachinko is a great big sprawling family saga set in Korea and Japan and spanning 70 years. Sunja is a teenaged girl living with her mother, who runs a boarding house in a fishing village in Korea. All Sunja knows is work, but she does not dislike this. It’s what her mother does, too. Then she meets a fish broker, a suave older man who seduces her, impregnates her, and then informs her he’s married. He says he’ll support her, but she wants nothing more to do with him. Her face is saved when a missionary staying at the boarding house says he will marry her and raise the child as his own. They move to Japan, where Koreans are looked down on. Thence starts a new round of endless working, something all the characters will know for all their lives, whether it’s physical toil or mental.
The tale follows Sunja and her family for four generations. I found the first half, which dealt mainly with Sunja and her sister-in-law who became her best friend, more engrossing than the latter half that was about her descendants. That section was interesting, but the stark contrast between Sunja, her mother, and sister-in-law and their husbands, and the younger generations was jolting. I just found the women more interesting than the men. They are so strong, mentally and physically. But their lives are very circumscribed compared to the men. The men are city people; the women rural in outlook even when living in the city.
As Koreans in Japan, they are considered visitors even when they were born there. There were jobs they could never have; it was illegal to rent to them. When a boy turns fourteen, he has to register, be fingerprinted and interviewed, and he has to ask for permission to remain in Japan, even though he was born there and has never been to Korea. This process will be repeated every three years. And this was in the 1970s, not the 1870s. Getting Japanese citizenship was extremely difficult. But Sunja’s family does get ahead, attaining a comfortable living.
This novel is both an absorbing tale of family dynamics and a fascinating look at another culture and time. It’s a big book, but I read it quickly, unable to put it down. The characters are so well developed that I really cared about them, especially Sunja and her sister-in-law. Sometimes I wanted to strangle one or another of the characters, because they are just totally realized humans. Excellent book.
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332 people found this helpful.
Byron
5.0 out of 5 starsAbsolutely fantastic
January 21, 2018 - Published on Amazon.com
Verified Purchase
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a family saga about a four generations of a Korean family that is set in Korea and Japan. It’s a National Book Award finalist, and, in what may be an even greater honor than that, it made my Favorite Books list.
I have found that it is easier to explain why I don’t like a particular book or to point out a book’s flaws than it is to explain why I absolutely loved one. It’s like explaining why a rainbow is beautiful. I can talk about how the colors are pretty or how it made me feel, but there is something about rainbows, sunsets, and the best works of art that transcends easy explanation. You just have to experience them. Read Pachinko.
The format of the book is straightforward. It proceeds chronologically from about 1900-ish to 1989 and follows various characters that belong to one family. It never sprawls out of control – there aren’t 37 second-cousins that you will have to keep track of – and there aren’t flash-backs and flash-forwards that could potentially cause confusion. There are occasional Japanese or Korean words sprinkled around, but their meaning is apparent from the context. I don’t speak a lick of those languages, and I followed everything without ever having to consult a dictionary. The prose is simple and straightforward, generally consisting of short, direct sentences. There’s not a lot of fluff. Therefore, the book reads quickly, despite being an almost 500 page family saga about sexism, fate, hard work, destiny, chance, war, poverty, racism, familial obligations, identity, immigration, citizenship, language, education, opportunity, community, and faith.
The main characters are diverse, interesting, flawed, and generally fundamentally good people. The characters are not very Dynamic (at least in an obvious way), but they weren’t really intended to be. This isn’t a story populated with characters that have grand, clear character arcs. This made them feel more realistic to me. How many people do you know that are on a Hero’s Journey? Most people I know just try to keep their heads down, work to put food on the table, and hope for good opportunities for their children.
I’ve said before that I am a fan of history, and I was generally ignorant of Korean culture in Japan. Pachinko is not some dry history lesson, though. It’s as entertaining as a soap opera.
You should read it.
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34 people found this helpful.
James Brooks
3.0 out of 5 starsAn uneven read...started stronger than it finished
December 22, 2017 - Published on Amazon.com
Verified Purchase
I liked this book. I expected to love it, given the NBA nomination and all the great things I'd heard about it, and because I usually love multigenerational family sagas. This one started out a lot stronger than it finished, and the latter part of the book felt like it was written by a different person altogether.
I liked learning about Koreans in Japan, and I cared a great deal about what happened to Sunja throughout the story. But once her descendants came into play, there were too many people to keep up with, the story started to move along too quickly, characters unexpectedly died without much ado or impact.
Worth reading, but maybe don't expect to be blown away.
25 people found this helpful.
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