Wed, Oct 21, 2015 page10

• Wansei Back Home 灣生回家

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  In 1895, the Qing dynasty signed the treaty of Shimonoseki and ceded Taiwan to Japan. After World War II ended, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took over Taiwan and repatriated Japanese nationals to Japan in 1946. Japanese born in Taiwan during those 51 years are called wansei — born in Taiwan.

  After Japan surrendered, Japanese in Taiwan could only take carry-on luggage and 1,000 Japanese yen with them on the ships that took them back to Japan. Upon arrival, they were quarantined, and some were infected with diseases and died. After passing the quarantine, they were placed in “Taiwan villages” in a remote mountain area. They suffered from grave discrimination and some have been reluctant to reveal their wansei identity until this day, for fear of affecting their offspring.

  Some Japanese chose to stay in Taiwan. Fearing that their identity would be discovered and they would be repatriated, they took Taiwanese names. They dared not speak, lest people would take note of their accent, so people thought they were mute. Even their offspring did not know that they were in fact Japanese.

  

  A journalist’s ticket that resembles a postage stamp to the premiere of Wansei Back Home is pictured on Sept 10. 仿郵票的《灣生回家》記者首映會入場卷。攝於九月十日。

  Photo provided by Activator Marketing Company
  照片：牽猴子提供

  Film producer Mika Tanaka’s grandmother was a wansei. Since her childhood, Tanaka wondered why her grandmother and the housekeeper couple were so mesmerized by Taiwan. After the three elders passed away, their final wish was to have their ashes scattered in their hometown, Hualien Port, and this prompted Tanaka to start researching wansei stories in 2003. She says, “We hope that this documentary not only gives an account of some old people’s love for Taiwan, but also offers the audience a kind of value system. You will find different answers to many issues when you look at them from a different perspective. Like what those wansei have said, ‘Taiwan is so fantastic, why do you, who are in Taiwan, not hold it dear?‘”

  Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je was invited to attend a special screening of the film, after which he wrote on his Facebook page, “Taiwan’s history is the stories that took place on this land. It only needs to be truthfully recorded. There is no need for additional interpretations, political packaging or manipulation. Just let people feel for themselves. As far as those wansei are concerned, the place where you were born and lived until you were in your 20s will always be a unique memory and arouse a special emotion in you. Such is the deepest emotion in a person’s heart.”

  (Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)

  一八九五年，清廷簽下馬關條約將台灣割給日本。二次世界大戰後，中國國民黨接收台灣，並於1946年將在台灣的日本人遣送回國。這五十一年間在台灣出生的日本人，就是「灣生」。

  日本投降後，在台日人只能帶著簡單的行李與一千日圓搭船返鄉。上岸後先被隔離檢疫，有些人因此染病而死。通過檢疫的人被安置在名叫「台灣村」的偏遠山區，飽受歧視。有些人至今不願公開「灣生」身份，怕連累後代。

  有些日本人選擇留在台灣，為了怕身分曝光被遣送回國，他們將自己的名字改成台灣名；他們不敢講話，以免曝露口音，還被當成啞巴。就連後代也不知道他們其實是日本人。

  監製田中實加的奶奶是灣生，從小她就納悶為何奶奶與管家夫婦這麼「哈台」。三位老人家過世後，遺願要把骨灰灑在故鄉花蓮港，她也從二００三年開始投入灣生研究。她說：「我們希望這部記錄片不只敘述一群老人家對台灣的愛，還希望呈現某種價值觀，很多事情站在第三個角度來看，很多解答都不一樣。就像灣生說的，台灣這麼美好，在台灣的你們，為什麼不好好愛台灣？」

  台北市長柯文哲受邀參加《灣生回家》的特映會，看完後在臉書上寫道：「台灣的歷史就是發生在這片土地上的故事，只要忠實地記錄下來，不需要任何特別的解釋，也不用政治包裝、政治操作，只需讓各人去感受就行了。對這些灣生來講，從出生到二十幾歲生活的地方，永遠是一個特殊的印象、一份特殊的感情，這就是人類心底最深沉的感情。」

  〔自由時報綜合報導〕

  For your information

  TODAY’S WORDS
  今日單字

  1. discrimination n. 歧視（qi2 shi4） 例: Discrimination of any kind implies the opinion that people are not created equal. （任何類型的歧視都意味著人非生而平等的看法。） 2. perspective n. 角度；觀點（jiao3 du4; guan1 dian3） 例: Can you learn to look at things from other people’s perspective? （你可否學著從別人的角度來看事情？） 3. unique adj. 特殊；與眾不同（te4 shu1; yu3 zhong4 bu4 tong2） 例: He doesn’t want to be unique; he just wants to be himself. （他並不想與眾不同；他只想做他自己。）
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