電子書籍

The Long Road Home: A Japanese Girl Abandoned by War, and Her Forty Years in China (English Edition)

(著) 石川千代

作品詳細

[About the Book]
War does more than take lives.
After losing her mother, a young girl traveled to Manchuria with her father. Following Japan’s defeat in World War II and the death of her father, she became one of the many Japanese war orphans left behind in China. Forced to live as a Chinese citizen for nearly forty years, the author recounts her extraordinary life story with remarkable honesty and courage.

Concealing her Japanese identity for decades, she was finally able to return to Japan at the age of fifty. Yet the homecoming she had long dreamed of brought new hardships: she was officially recorded as deceased in Japan’s family registry, faced a language barrier, and encountered prejudice and indifference from society. Even so, with the support of her family and an unwavering determination to survive, she gradually reclaimed her life as a Japanese citizen.
Through the author’s personal experiences, this book raises enduring questions about:

War and human rights
Immigration and refugee issues
What it means to be abandoned by one’s country
More than a memoir, this is a valuable testimony that speaks powerfully to issues that remain relevant in the modern world.

[Profile]
Chiyo Ishikawa

Born in 1934 in Nankoku City, Kōchi Prefecture.
Went to Manchuria with her parents at age 8 and returned to Japan at age 50.
Served as the lead plaintiff for the Kōchi lawsuit seeking state compensation for Japanese nationals left behind in China.
President of the “Kōchi Prefecture Association of Returnees from China.”
Resides in Kōchi City.