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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
February 7, 2007
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| January 21, 2007 |
The World's Number One Entertainer Tells About The Dark Side of Life in Japan – Kim Chang Haeng |
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| Kim Chang Haeng, right, talks about his road to becoming the world's number one entertainer |
In the deft hands of Kim Chang Haeng, ordinary objects like tennis rackets, yo-yo's, and boxes seem to spring to life and dance magically in the air. Kim Chang Haeng is an entertainer whose unique shows combine music with break dancing, comedy, and gravity-mocking juggling techniques. At 14, he won the Entertainer of the Year Award in the U.S. – the first Asian to do so – and went on to win the title again four years later. Kim Chang Haeng joined Peace Boat's 55th voyage to share his high adrenalin performances with participants and to talk about the one thing he can't seem to juggle so effortlessly – his identity as a Zainichi, or ethnic Korean born and living in Japan. |
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| Using two rods, Kim Chang Haeng lightly flicks a tennis racket around |
Like many Zainichi, Kim Chang Haeng descends from Koreans who were forcibly brought to Japan after it invaded and annexed Korea. After the Korean War, the Korean peninsula was divided into North Korea and South Korea, and many of those who had been brought to Japan earlier found they no longer had homes to which they could return. However, proud of their culture, and wanting to pass on their history to their children and grandchildren, they instilled in their children and grandchildren a sense of Korean identity. Born and raised in Japan, however, those generations grew up speaking Japanese as their first language, and have been surrounded by Japanese culture all their lives. Yet, they are often viewed as foreigners in the land in which they were born, and they do not have the right to vote nor to hold certain public employee jobs. They hold South Korean passports, but are often treated as foreigners there as well because they have been born and raised in Japan. “What am I?” asks Kim Chang Haeng. “I'm not Japanese, and I'm not Korean.” Many Zainichi, he said, struggle with this sense of lack of national belonging. |
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| Kim Chang Haeng demonstrates his mastery over a juggling instrument called the Diablo |
Perhaps, however, Kim Chang Haeng wouldn't be the world class entertainer he is today without this struggle. “I grew up in a slum area” he said, “and other kids used to throw rocks at me in elementary school because I was different.” His mother taught him never to lose to Japanese people and to always be number one. People will only listen to you and respect you if you're number one, she asserted. In school, he vowed to always be first at two subjects: P.E. and morality. At 13, he came across a juggling video that inspired him to become a professional entertainer. In one month, he had mastered all the 30 tricks showcased in the video and moved on to originating his own tricks. His parents supported his earnest efforts, he recalls, but not his friends and teachers. “Others were really busy studying for exams, and they thought I was just fooling around with toys.” His gold medal success one year later proved otherwise. |
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| From Venezuela to Buckingham Palace, Kim Chang Haeng has captivated audiences around the world |
Now 21, Kim Chang Haeng is aiming for his third world championship title, and says he's looking forward to juggling all his gold medals on stage. He's also aiming to help create genuine co-existence between Zainichi and Japanese. To accomplish that, he says, people must first become more knowledgeable about why and how Zainichi are in Japan – a topic not taught in Japanese schools or discussed in many public forums. “Now, we live in the same towns, the same cities, and speak the same language, but there are many parts where we can't understand each other. We're not co-existing in the true sense.” Peace Boat, he noted, is one of the few places where he can openly discuss such views. Right wing nationalists would crush him and his family, he said, if he tried to hold such public discussions in Japan. For more information about Kim Chang Haeng, visit www.kimchanghaeng.com. |
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