A River in Darkness Summary

“What would you do if your only choice was to die where you stand or risk everything for a fleeting hope of freedom?”

1. The False Promise of a Socialist Paradise

Masaji Ishikawa and his family’s journey to North Korea in the late 1950s was spurred by the dream of a better life. Propaganda from North Korea painted it as a land of equal opportunity and prosperity, where Koreans could escape the prejudice they faced in Japan. Thousands of other ethnic Koreans and even a handful of Japanese citizens joined this exodus, lured by the promise of a “paradise on earth.”

Reality struck as soon as they arrived. The signs were everywhere: the locals appeared destitute, and their first meal was unpalatable dog meat that revealed the desperate conditions. The family endured days confined in a freezing room before being sent to an isolated rural village called Dong Chong-ri. This was a world far from the envisaged utopia.

Their struggles multiplied. The Ishikawa family was shunned as outsiders. Even small luxuries brought from Japan, like watches and bags, became liabilities, as they marked the family as privileged foreigners. Ishikawa’s mother, despite her qualifications, was refused work until she could speak Korean and was left scavenging for food to compensate for their paltry rations.

Examples

• Over 100,000 Koreans immigrated from Japan to North Korea during this period, believing government promises.
• Upon arrival, the family noticed the stark poverty: even workers unloading ships wore tattered, thin clothing.
• Their home village deemed them “Japanese,” an insult that set them apart socially and economically.

2. A Youth Shaped by Discrimination

For Ishikawa, school became a battleground rather than a sanctuary. North Korea’s rigid caste system dictated one’s future. Childhood wasn’t a time of boundless opportunity but rather a sorting mechanism. From the moment he entered class, Ishikawa was targeted as a “Japanese bastard,” made to feel less than his peers for his heritage.

He aspired to attend university and lift his family from poverty. But his teacher labeled him “hostile,” the lowest societal rank. In North Korea, this branding effectively ended his dreams. Educators mandated students write their career ambitions, but given Ishikawa’s caste, his choices were predetermined. His pleas for a better life through education fell on deaf ears.

The pressure of school extended beyond academics into bizarre rituals designed to foster allegiance to the regime. For instance, schoolchildren were forced to catch two rabbits every year to contribute pelts for soldiers’ winter clothing. Many, like Ishikawa, faced impossible challenges, as even keeping the rabbits alive amid food shortages was a grueling task.

Examples

• Ishikawa’s teacher categorized him as “hostile,” barring entry into higher education.
• Unlike others, Ishikawa brought typical Japanese school supplies, which set him apart in a country where students used cloth bundles.
• Families desperate to subsist often had to eat the rabbits their children caught for school, risking punishment.

3. A Society Built on Fear and Repression

In 1968, Ishikawa’s village descended into chaos when North Korean soldiers transformed it into a garrison. Power shifts like this were synonymous with the unpredictable nature of life under Kim Il-sung, where terror was a constant companion.

The military occupation brought unbridled suffering. Soldiers stormed into homes, humiliated residents, and stripped them of their belongings. Equipment and livestock were seized, leaving villagers defenseless against hunger. This reign of fear served a broader purpose: cementing the government’s absolute control over people’s lives.

The visitors left as abruptly as they’d appeared, after the purge of a high-ranking general. Such abrupt changes showcased the frailty of life under dictatorship. It wasn’t just the whims of soldiers or officials but also systemic corruption. Everyday citizens were victimized by bribes and nepotism, from ration distribution to medical services, eroding the soul of the nation.

Examples

• Soldiers expelled Ishikawa’s family to an inferior settlement, mocking their lower caste.
• Corruption meant that even doctors demanded bribes in cash, cigarettes, or alcohol before treating patients.
• Vital rations were withheld from the most vulnerable but made abundant for those with connections.

4. The Hunger That Devoured the Nation

The famine that ravaged North Korea in the 1990s became one of the most devastating periods in Ishikawa’s life. Triggered by natural disasters and compounded by governmental failures, food shortages worsened to the point where three million people perished from hunger or related illnesses.

As rations dried up, people had to resort to foraging, barter, and crime to survive. Starving children haunted the streets, begging for scraps, while others succumbed with no one left to care for them. Desperation bred gruesome acts, like cannibalism, which, if discovered, led to execution.

Ishikawa’s family wasn’t spared. A fraudulent deal involving a whale’s penis nearly destroyed his already fragile household. His father was beaten repeatedly by gangsters over the scam and eventually wasted away from the toll of hunger and heartbreak, succumbing to death.

Examples

• Rations decreased to just three days’ worth of food per month during the famine.
• Starving citizens resorted to foraging or theft, sometimes even turning to cannibalism.
• Ishikawa’s father’s ordeal over a botched whale penis trade culminated in fatal despair.

5. The Daring Escape Across the Yalu River

Amid the famine and despair, Ishikawa decided that returning to Japan was his only hope. He chose the Yalu river, the border between North Korea and China, but the path to freedom was fraught with danger. The North Korean state ensured that defectors were hunted down relentlessly.

Stories of failed escapes haunted potential defectors. The “nose-ring case,” where a family captured in China was cruelly shackled and executed, was a chilling reminder of the risks. Yet, Ishikawa was undeterred. After three days of hiding by the river, a stroke of rain-drenched luck allowed him to swim across undetected.

His journey almost ended when the river’s current slammed him into a rock, knocking him unconscious. But fortune favored him, and he awoke in China to the sight of a well-fed, happy dog wagging its tail—a stark contrast to the dire starvation back home.

Examples

• Defectors captured in China faced harsh public executions back in North Korea.
• Torrential rainfall provided Ishikawa the cover he needed to swim across.
• Upon arrival in China, harmless household pets symbolized the abundance of food.

6. Freedom Comes With New Challenges

While Ishikawa finally reached China, the struggle didn’t end there. North Korea’s secret police actively pursued defectors abroad, forcing Ishikawa into hiding. Even as the Japanese embassy verified his story and prepared his escape, fear consumed him.

His journey to Japan was no less nerve-wracking. Careful disguises, underground tunnels, and smuggler tactics helped him avoid the North Korean agents lurking nearby. Finally, in October 1995, Ishikawa returned to his homeland after 36 years, yet adapting to his new life turned out to be its own ordeal.

Haunted by his memories and unable to secure steady work, Ishikawa found himself on the fringes of Japanese society. His inability to send help to his loved ones back in North Korea added to his guilt, and his wife and daughter ultimately succumbed to starvation.

Examples

• Ishikawa disguised himself in the Japanese consul’s husband’s suit to flee undetected.
• He traveled using an underground tunnel to evade North Korean operatives.
• His family in North Korea tragically died while he struggled to gain footing in Japan.

Takeaways

1. Never take propaganda at face value—research, question, and verify narratives, especially those tied to politics or power.
2. Freedom often requires immense personal sacrifice; be prepared to fight for what truly matters in life.
3. Build support systems and learn to adapt when transitioning to new environments to better face cultural and social challenges.