Book Note

A long time ago, while still in graduate school, I remember being absorbed in a discussion with an eminent scholar of Japan. He explained that junior researchers were consumed with the goal of developing novel theories that, according to him, almost never stood the test of time. While theory, he continued, follows the ebbs and flows of academia, what mattered most for posterity was carefully recorded data. For him, detailed ethnography, transcribed interviews, and unearthed archives collected in the field were all that remained when theory became outdated. This is precisely the strength of the book Zainichi Koreans and Mental Health, which introduces the reader to stories of struggle with mental disorders few have access to. In this study, Taeyoung Kim, a sociology professor at Toyo University, examines mental health among Zainichi Koreans, a minority historically discriminated against in Japan. As a third-generation Zainichi Korean, Kim gives voice to how this racialized group copes with mental illnesses. The life stories collected in the study jump off the page, providing the reader with a more human and empathic portrayal of people battling ailments that are a source of shame in Japanese society. The book begins with the following question: Why are rates of suicide and mental health disorder higher among Zainichi Koreans than their Japanese counterparts? Kim answers this question by tying together life stories and analysis, giving the reader a thorough assessment of the state of mental illness in the community.