The Guardian Weekend | 13 February 2021 The Guardian Weekend | 13 February 2021 33 33of my own that I understood how she felt.’”
Careful to avoid reopening emotional
wounds , Hayashi never asked anyone directly
if they regretted leaving Japan. “ I imagine that
they went crazy when they realised they might
never be able to go back. At the same time,
when I saw how they were with their children
and grandchildren, I could see that they cherish
their lives and families in North Korea. If they
were given the chance to visit Japan again, they
would. One of them told me that even a short visit
would be enough. Then she would be able to die
in peace.”
Two of the fi ve surviving women correspond
with their Japanese families by letter; phone
calls are a n expensive luxury in North Korea, and
email access is a privilege enjoyed only by the
political elite in Pyongyang. The others, including
Minakawa, have lost touch with their siblings.
While Hayashi’s attempts to talk to the women’s
relatives in Japan were politely refused, she hopes
her portraits will cast light on a neglected chapter
in Japanese history. “These women have been
forgotten in Japan, partly because of international
political tensions,” she says. “Unless their
personal histories are documented now, their
experiences will die with them .”
Now 77, Minakawa forms a mental picture
of the country she left as a young woman
whenever she looks out her window, over the
ocean from her home in Wonsan. “I want to go
to Japan one last time, if possible,” she says.
“Every May, when the acacia fl owers are in full
bloom , I open the window and their fragrance
wafts into my room. Every time that happens,
I think of home.” Mitsuko Minakawa, 77, with her wedding
photograph; the couple moved to North Korea
in 1960. Below: with a print of cherry blossom in
Maruyama park, Kyoto, which she’d visit as a child‘My mother said,
“Please don’t go.”
When I remember that,
I can’t help but cry’ALL PHOTOGRAPHS:NORIKO HAYASHI/PANOS PICTURES