Songs for Megumi

Do you know the story of 横田めぐみ (Megumi Yokota)?

She has become a symbol of un-returned Japanese abductees in North Korea.

North Korea has abducted a number of people in other countries, mostly Japan, to train their spies in the language and customs of their countries so that the North Korean spies can assimilate into other countries more easily.

I wrote a post about the Japanese abductees. (Click here to read it. I wrote about the few abductees that were returned to Japan decades after the were kidnapped, and I also wrote about Megumi Yokota and her parents’ struggle to be reunited with their daughter before they die).

横田めぐみ (Megumi Yokota) was taken by North Korean agents in Japan when she was only thirteen years old. She was walking home from school when she was kidnapped and taken to North Korea thirty-three years ago.

At first the North Korean government denied kidnapping any Japanese people. Then, when presented with evidence, claimed that Megumi Yokota had committed suicide years ago…a claim which many in Japan don’t believe.

Anyways, there is a documentary about the 横田めぐみ (Megumi Yokota) story. And it turns out that Noel Paul Stookey of the folk music band “Peter, Paul and Mary” had watched the documentary, and so did the English pop star Peter Frampton.

And both Noel Paul Stookey and Peter Frampton were so moved by Megumi Yokota’s story that they both recorded songs about her.

Noel Paul Stookey‘s song is titled “Song For Megumi” and it’s in English but has a few lines in Japanese:

あなたはどこに？…風の中にあなたの声が聞こえます。

(excerpt of lyrics from the “Song For Megumi”)

Those lyrics mean “Where are you? I can hear your voice in the wind.”

Here is Noel Paul Stookey performing his song “Song For Megumi:

And Peter Frampton has just released a new album titled “Thank You Mr. Churchill”. One song on that album is titled “Asleep At The Wheel” and is about Megumi Yokota‘s story.
And another song is an instrumental titled “Suite Liberte A) Megumi B) Huria Watu“…the first half of the song is dedicated to Megumi Yokota.

Here is “Suite Liberte A) Megumi B) Huria Watu“:

The parents of 横田めぐみ (Megumi Yokota), who have to this day never given up their fight to have their daughter returned, said after learning about these songs that they hope the songs are popular and draw a lot of attention to the abductions in North Korea.

Abduction

Have you ever heard about North Korea’s abductions of other countries’ citizens?

They have abducted many people, mostly South Koreans, to help teach their spies English, Japanese and South Korean language and customs.

After years of denying that abductions have occurred, North Korea’s leader, Kimg Jong-Il admitted to then-Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi in 2002 that they abducted 13 Japanese (Japan claims the total is actually much higher), but all but five have died…although they failed to produce the remains or any other proof of the eight Japanese deaths—not even a death certificate.

In October 2002, the five Japanese abductees that North Korea admitted were alive were permitted to return to Japan for a temporary visit. But once they were back on Japan’s soil, the Japanese government informed North Korea that they won’t be returning them to North Korea.
That seems common sense to most people…but North Korea was angered.

When the five abductees returned to Japan, it was huge news in Japan!
When they first stepped off of the plane, they looked and acted like North Koreans. They had label pins of Kim Jong-Il’s image and they were quiet and hesitant to answer questions. They had been living in North Korea for about twenty-five years! But they soon began to relax and feel comfortable in Japan again…and their appearances physically changed…they began to look Japanese again.

One of the five returnees was Hitomi Soga. She returned alone…but her husband and two daughters were still in North Korea.
Her husband is Charles Robert Jenkins. He’s an American Army deserter. During the Vietnam War, he was stationed in South Korea…but when he learned that he would be sent to the battle zone in Vietnam, he defected to North Korea—and immediately regretted his decision!
He didn’t want to visit Japan with his wife because he feared Japan would turn him over to the American authorities to face desertion charges.
Since his wife would be staying in Japan and not return to North Korea, Japan negotiated with North Korea to allow Jenkins and his daughters to come to Japan.
Jenkins came to Japan and surrendered to American authorities at a U.S. Army base in Japan. He was found guilty of desertion and sentenced to thirty-days confinement and a Dishonorable Discharge.

He currently lives in Western Japan with his wife Hitomi Soga and their two daughters. He is in the process of becoming a naturalized Japanese citizen.

The most famous of the Japanese abductees in Megumi Yokota. She was just thirteen-years old when she was kidnapped by North Korean agents as she was walking home from school in November 1977.

Megumi Yokota would be 44 years old now. And North Korea said that she has a Korean husband and a daughter. But she wasn’t one of the five returnees in 2002…North Korea told Japan that she committed suicide in 1994.
When asked, North Korea couldn’t produce a death certificate or remains of Megumi, at first…they suddenly they offered Japan her cremated remains, but Japan conducted a DNA test on the ashes and discovered that they were the ashes of numerous people—none of which was Megumi Yokota!

Most Japanese (including the Yokota family) feel that Megumi Yokota is still alive in North Korea.

Megumi Yokota’s parents and the relatives of the other remaining abductees continue to petition the Japanese government (and the U.S. government) to pressure North Korea to return all abductees to their home countries.

There is a movie about Megumi Yokota‘s story…and her mother wrote a book (which has recently been translated into English).

I have been following the story of Megumi Yokota since I first heard about it around ten years ago. I can’t imagine her parents’ pain.

今週末

The 2008 Summer Olympics in 北京 (Beijing) have ended.
Did you watch the closing ceremony?

The top ten countries for medals:

1. 中華人民共和国 (China) – 51 gold (100 total)
2. アメリカ合衆国 (USA) – 36 gold (110 total)
3. ロシア連邦 (Russia) – 23 gold (72 total)
4. グレート・ブリテンおよび北アイルランド連合王国 (Great Britain) – 19 gold (47 total)
5. ドイツ連邦共和国 (Germany) – 16 gold (41 total)
6. オーストラリア (Australia) – 14 gold (46 total)
7. 大韓民国 (South Korea) – 13 gold (31 total)
8. 日本国 (Japan) – 9 gold (25 total)
9. イタリア共和国 (Italy) – 8 gold (28 total)
10. フランス共和国 (France) – 7 gold (40 total)

Speaking of sports, a Russian 相撲 (Sumo) wrestler in Japan named 若ノ鵬 (Wakanohou) was recently arrested for possession of marijuana and dismissed from the Sumo Federation.

Japan has very strict drug laws. If he is convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and / or deportation.

What a stupid mistake.

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Last Saturday (2008/8/23), lightning struck the 醍醐寺 (Daigoji Temple) in 京都 (Kyoto, Japan), which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, causing a fire which destroyed part of the centuries old cultural asset.

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Also on Saturday we took our oldest daughter to an exhibition of Tokyo high schools and colleges to help us decide which one should attend next school year which begins in April in Japan.
She’ll be starting high school (10th grade).

Here’s a picture I took of the event. It was pretty crowded:

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From there, we went to the 米国空軍有効祭 (U.S. Air Force Friendship Festival) at the U.S. Air Force base in western Tokyo.

This is the only time that the U.S. military bases are open to the public. Actually, going on the U.S. bases is almost like going to America. The food, clothes, and the way everyone speaks loudly (and in English) are all very American. It’s kinda a culture shock for me (and of course, my family)…I guess I’m not used to America anymore.

It was a little bit rainy the day of this year’s festival, so it wasn’t so fun (but it wasn’t hot, so that was nice). We went to this festival three years ago…it was nice sunny weather on that day (although quite hot).

I couldn’t get any nice pictures from this weekend’s festival at the U.S. Air Force base because of the weather…but here are a couple pictures from the event when we went in 2005. They had a sky-diving show and let the public look inside the aircraft:

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And yesterday (Sunday), I volunteered to help set up and run a booth at a local summer festival near our house.

It was still raining (and it’s still raining today 😦 ) but a fairly large number of people still turned up. I helped run the drinks and かき氷 (flavored shaved ice) booth.

The weather was pretty cool, so not many people wanted shaved ice…but we sold alot of drinks. Especially beer!

It was a 盆踊り (Bon dancing) festival…but I was surprised that so many people still did the dancing despite the weather.

I was busy helping out so I didn’t bring my camera. But I took a picture with the cell-phone. It didn’t turn out so good because it was rainy and evening.

It was fun.