When My Name Was Keoko

Tae-yul is now the narrator. He explains how—since he’s the first-born son—he’s intimate with his father’s thoughts. However, lately he senses confusion from his father and uncle and they haven’t told him what is bothering them. Tae-yul is frustrated by this and also by his younger sister Sun-hee’s constant questioning. One night, when uncle arrives to dinner early and furiously carries a newspaper, Tae-yul knows something is wrong. Uncle and Abuji argue in a separate room; when they emerge, they gather the family. They report that the Japanese government is “graciously” allowing Korean families to take a Japanese name in place of their Korean birth names, but it is a euphemism for declaring that the families must change their names (13). No one is happy. Their names carry meaning and tradition. Sun-hee, for example, means “great warmth” (13). Those who do not register with Japanese names will face arrest. While Uncle is furious, Abuji declares their new family name, “Kaneyama”—which secretly represents their Korean legacy of “mountains” and “gold” (15). They use a book of Japanese names to randomly select their first names. Tae-yul selects “Nobuo” (15).

Sun-hee has a flashback: four years ago, she and her family tuned into the Olympics. She remembers it fondly—the excitement and interest while cheering on the world’s athletes. One night, they huddled around a radio together to listen to an Olympic race. But their mother, known only as “Omoni,” had never finished school so couldn’t understand the Japanese broadcaster. Instead, Uncle translates the event for her, interjecting goofy jokes and changing the narrative for entertainment. However, once the announcer declares the winner of the race as a Japanese participant (rather than by the runner’s original Korean name and heritage), Uncle grows furious and knocks over the radio. Sun-hee is surprised and doesn’t quite understand his anger, but her brother, Tae-yul, explains how it’s shameful for Koreans to have their identity denied.

Tae-yul hasn’t grown accustomed to his new name yet. He recalls how his Uncle reacted poorly to the Olympics incident. Angry after the marathon event, Uncle leaves and doesn’t come back, so their father goes to find him. He eventually comes back with Uncle, who is savagely beat up. Uncle and his friends had gone out and crossed off the Japanese name of the athlete on local newspapers and replaced it with his Korean name. Japanese soldiers caught them, beat them up badly, and then threw them in jail. The Japanese later let a few of the men out—like Uncle—to send the community a warning. While Uncle recovers in the house, Tae-yul and Sun-hee keep him company. Uncle shows them the Korean flag by drawing it—an illegal act. The kids are amazed, since they have never seen their own country’s flag during the Japanese occupation. Uncle makes them memorize it, then afterwards has them burn the drawing. He tells them both that a day will come when together they will raise the Korean flag on every rooftop. But Tae-yul wonders when that day will be.

When it’s her turn, Sun-hee chooses the letter K in the Japanese name book. She changes her name to Keoko Kaneyama. The name translates to “girl” but also to the sun’s “rays of brightness.” She is happy when her father approves, aware of her name’s multiple meanings (25). At school, the Korean students struggle to transition into calling their classmates and friends by new Japanese names. At first the teachers are tolerant, but they become increasingly strict with time. One day, when Sun-hee (Keoko) calls a classmate by their Korean name, the teacher (overseen by the Japanese military personnel at the school) punishes her. The teacher is hesitant, but with the soldier enforcing the rules, she lashes Sun-hee in front of the class. Sun-hee doesn’t cry but gets angry. When she returns home, her mother is worried and applies medicinal herbs, but Sun-hee simply holds onto her anger.

At school, Sun-hee’s best friend—Tomo, who’s the son of the Japanese principal—struggles to call her by her new name, since he knows her as Sun-hee. They begin to joke about her Japanese name and make fun of it, which gives Sun-hee satisfaction: “I was also secretly pleased to be treating my Japanese name with such disrespect” (28). As time progresses, Sun-hee becomes interested in the Japanese alphabet, Kanji, which they learn in school. She is fascinated by the pictorial characters and how they can combine to make new words. She scores the highest in her class and receives an award for best Japanese speaker in her grade, but this brings negative attention as local boys begin to tease her and even throw rocks, calling her a “lover of Japan” (32). Saddened and alarmed, she begins to question herself; she doesn’t support Japan though fears her proficiency with the language might suggest otherwise. When she gets home, her Uncle senses her sadness and teaches her that Kanji is actually an ancient language derived from Chinese culture, and that both Japanese and Koreans use it. This knowledge makes Sun-hee feel better about herself.