The children, gathered in rows on a school field in Tokyo, crouch and then reach up in unison, waving red, white and blue banners to form a North Korean fl
The children, gathered in rows on a school field in Tokyo, crouch and then reach up in unison, waving red, white and blue banners to form a North Korean flag as the school band plays an emotional rendition of a song for their “motherland.”
They are third- and fourth-generation descendants of Koreans, including many who were forcibly taken from their homeland to labor in mines and factories during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 until its 1945 defeat in World War II.
Though many have become citizens of Japan or South Korea, the students’ families remain loyal to their heritage, choosing to send their children to one of some 60 private schools aligned with North Korea, teaching the culture and history.
Despite recent North Korean missile launches, including two that flew over Japan, students and graduates of the schools say they take pride in their community and view it as a haven from the discrimination they face in Japan.
“We do things together, and we help each other,” Ha Yong Na, a 16-year-old mix of giggles and poise, said as she demonstrated her Korean dance moves with a classmate.
Here, portraits of the late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hang on classroom walls. Teachers instruct in the language of their ancestry, and Japanese and English are offered as foreign languages. The cafeteria serves kimchee for lunch.
About 450,000 ethnic Koreans live in Japan, and several thousand attend such schools.
Schools like the North Korean Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo underline the deep divide in a country often portrayed as homogenous. North Korea’s missile launches and nuclear weapons tests have deepened the complexity of the situation.
Ha and her classmates said they cherish their shared heritage and friendships and are happy they don’t have to worry about being picked on for not being Japanese.
“We want graduates of our school to go out into Japanese society, and the world, with pride, as Koreans in Japan, and be able to confidently express themselves,” said Kim Seng Fa, a graduate, teacher and academic affairs director at the seven-decade-old school.
In the U. S., being born there makes one an American. In Japan, citizenship must be acquired for immigrants through a government system. Some have complained the process forces people to give up their loyalties to the cultures of their origin.
Many Koreans seek to avoid hassles by taking on Japanese names and blending in. But others, like Myoung-joo Boo, a 45-year-old actor, prefer to embrace their ethnic heritage, although he stresses he never tries to get into an argument on cultural pride.
“People who don’t like Koreans don’t have to come near me. And I will live with those who don’t care about such things,” said Boo, a graduate of the North Korean schools.
