Exploring Immigration and Korea-Japan Relations in the Debut Novel 'White Mulberry'

During a recent afternoon spent exchanging insights into immigration, national identity, and the complexities of Korea-Japan relations, author and SIPA alumna Rosa Kwon Easton joined students and faculty for a discussion on her new book White Mulberry. Inspired by her grandmother’s life, the book follows Miyoung, a young Korean immigrant in 1930s Japan, as she grapples with the challenges of displacement, identity, and systemic discrimination. Easton described the novel to the audience as a story of “a woman torn between two worlds and the power of identity.”

The February 3 event was co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Institute for Global Politics (IGP), and the conversation delved into both Miyoung’s journey within the novel, some of which incorporates Easton’s own family’s experiences, and the book’s broader historical and contemporary concerns, especially around immigration. Easton shared that through White Mulberry, she hopes to shed light on the history of Korean immigrants in Japan and expand the understanding of immigration as a global experience.

One particularly thought-provoking moment arose when an audience member asked: “If your grandmother faced exclusion both in Korea as a working woman and in Japan as a Korean, did she ever consider rejecting national identity altogether?” Easton responded by reflecting on her grandmother’s journey. “At that point, she was a mother, and war was on the horizon. She saw young men, even 14-year-olds, going off to fight for a country that wasn’t their homeland. And her husband was a resistance leader — he was a nationalist who wanted Korea to be liberated from Japan,” she said.

She explained further that while her grandmother initially had to suppress her Korean identity, she eventually embraced it “because she realized that was a big part of who she was, and she didn’t want to deny it anymore.”

Easton also emphasized how White Mulberry challenges conventional narratives about Korea’s past; the book offers a glimpse into Northern Korea before 1945, and Easton described it during the discussion as a dynamic and evolving region shaped by modernity, Christianity, and educational reforms.

Through this deeply personal and historical novel, Easton explores important and timely themes of migration, displacement, and the evolution of identity. Her discussion of White Mulberry left the audience with a greater understanding of the complexities of national belonging and the legacies of migration. Easton concluded by expressing hope that her book would spark further conversation, telling the audience that “stories like this remind us that immigration, displacement, and identity struggles are not just historical, but ongoing, and we can learn so much from them.”