My Life: Interview with TV Director Yasuko Isono, Part 12
Jun. 26, 2013
Japanese Women Left Behind in China
by Takahiro Yamase, Staff Writer
Dogged devotion moved Japanese government to act
The last programs I directed were on the subject of Japanese women who were left behind in China after the end of World War II. They had originally emigrated to China as pioneers under the nation’s policy of “Gozokukyowa” (“Peaceful coexistence of five ethnic groups”), a slogan Japan used when it established Manchukuo, Japan’s puppet state in northeastern China. But they were left stranded there and had no way of returning to Japan. Following the war, they were betrayed by other Japanese nationals, robbed of their possessions, and forced to sell their bodies to survive. Their lives were going to end in China. I earnestly wanted them to come home so their experience of the war could finally be brought to an end.
From 1986 to 1992, Ms. Isono visited China a number of times. Her program, “The Long Journey Home—Japanese Women Left Behind in China,” was broadcast in 1987. It was awarded the Art Work Prize at the National Arts Festival, sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
I learned about these Japanese women from a newspaper article I saw in May of 1986, then I began to pursue the story. At first, I had intended to closely follow a young man in Tokyo who was seeking to bring seven women to Japan for a visit, but his effort failed.
The program had been scheduled to air the following February, and we couldn’t broadcast a blank tape. Our team at the Yamaguchi Broadcasting Company then took charge and we negotiated with Chinese officials for permission to film in their country. We managed to depart for China three months before the scheduled broadcast.
Seven crews followed the seven women, one crew for each woman, and we covered their visits home to Japan. The women themselves were eager for these homecomings, but their families in Japan reacted coolly. Only one of the women was greeted at the airport by family members. The other women had nowhere to go, so we arranged accommodations for them.
In 1988, inspired by the broadcast of “The Long Journey Home,” an association to lend support to the women left behind in China was formed in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
I was among the nine people who served on the association’s board of directors. We met the women in China, and listened to their thoughts. We served as personal guarantors for these women and realized their temporary return to Japan. We held symposiums on this issue across Japan. We collected signatures for a petition we submitted to the Health and Welfare Ministry which urged that they be provided with free visits. To spread the word among the public, I produced a series of programs.
In March 1993, a second documentary by Ms. Isono, “Mother Earth Knows—Japanese Women Left Behind in China,” was awarded the Art Prize Work at the National Arts Festival. In October, the Health Ministry made the decision to facilitate the return of all the women who wished to come back to Japan.
The programs grew into a campaign, which finally moved the government to act. Most of the approximately 3,000 women in China chose to return to Japan. This was the result of the media’s dogged devotion to this issue.
The association’s political activities have ended. Now, every October, the group holds a memorial service at Rurikoji Temple in Yamaguchi City for the women who have passed on. Because the woman who has been a passionate president of the association can no longer walk on her own, I took over the role last year. We are at a key turning point, faced with the decision of whether or not the memorial services should be continued.
(Originally published on December 18, 2010)
by Takahiro Yamase, Staff Writer
Dogged devotion moved Japanese government to act
The last programs I directed were on the subject of Japanese women who were left behind in China after the end of World War II. They had originally emigrated to China as pioneers under the nation’s policy of “Gozokukyowa” (“Peaceful coexistence of five ethnic groups”), a slogan Japan used when it established Manchukuo, Japan’s puppet state in northeastern China. But they were left stranded there and had no way of returning to Japan. Following the war, they were betrayed by other Japanese nationals, robbed of their possessions, and forced to sell their bodies to survive. Their lives were going to end in China. I earnestly wanted them to come home so their experience of the war could finally be brought to an end.
From 1986 to 1992, Ms. Isono visited China a number of times. Her program, “The Long Journey Home—Japanese Women Left Behind in China,” was broadcast in 1987. It was awarded the Art Work Prize at the National Arts Festival, sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
I learned about these Japanese women from a newspaper article I saw in May of 1986, then I began to pursue the story. At first, I had intended to closely follow a young man in Tokyo who was seeking to bring seven women to Japan for a visit, but his effort failed.
The program had been scheduled to air the following February, and we couldn’t broadcast a blank tape. Our team at the Yamaguchi Broadcasting Company then took charge and we negotiated with Chinese officials for permission to film in their country. We managed to depart for China three months before the scheduled broadcast.
Seven crews followed the seven women, one crew for each woman, and we covered their visits home to Japan. The women themselves were eager for these homecomings, but their families in Japan reacted coolly. Only one of the women was greeted at the airport by family members. The other women had nowhere to go, so we arranged accommodations for them.
In 1988, inspired by the broadcast of “The Long Journey Home,” an association to lend support to the women left behind in China was formed in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
I was among the nine people who served on the association’s board of directors. We met the women in China, and listened to their thoughts. We served as personal guarantors for these women and realized their temporary return to Japan. We held symposiums on this issue across Japan. We collected signatures for a petition we submitted to the Health and Welfare Ministry which urged that they be provided with free visits. To spread the word among the public, I produced a series of programs.
In March 1993, a second documentary by Ms. Isono, “Mother Earth Knows—Japanese Women Left Behind in China,” was awarded the Art Prize Work at the National Arts Festival. In October, the Health Ministry made the decision to facilitate the return of all the women who wished to come back to Japan.
The programs grew into a campaign, which finally moved the government to act. Most of the approximately 3,000 women in China chose to return to Japan. This was the result of the media’s dogged devotion to this issue.
The association’s political activities have ended. Now, every October, the group holds a memorial service at Rurikoji Temple in Yamaguchi City for the women who have passed on. Because the woman who has been a passionate president of the association can no longer walk on her own, I took over the role last year. We are at a key turning point, faced with the decision of whether or not the memorial services should be continued.
(Originally published on December 18, 2010)
