Haruko Ushijima and Literature on Manchukuo

Abstract

In her essay, Heavy Shackles: A Man Named Zhu, published after the Second World War, Haruko Ushijima describes many Japanese exiles she had met in Manchukuo. These individuals, who had been exiled for political reasons such as espousing dangerous political ideas or participating in failed political movements, tried to evade surveillance by not talking about themselves. Although they knew that by working in official institutions or cooperating with the regime in Manchukuo they were viewed as oppressors by their own people, they struggled to find self-redemption. Haruko Ushijima herself also escaped to Manchukuo because of her participation in unsuccessful political movements in Japan. As a socialist, how did she view those Manchurians around her? What does she try to tell us through her stories, such as Wang Shu-guan and Heavy Shackles: Best Wishes for Those Men?

Keywords

• Literature on Manchukuo
• Wang Shu-guan
• Heavy Shackles: A Man Named Zhu
• interpreters
• laborers