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Jump to synopsis of Episode 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; and 8 (Finale); How I wrote these episode summaries without spoilers; Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information; Lessons in photography from “Pachinko” with brief analysis of its visuals, cinematography, and editing
From Wikipedia: “Pachinko” is an American drama television series created by Soo Hugh based on the novel of the same name by Manhattan-based author and journalist Min Jin Lee. The series is directed by Kogonada and Justin Chon and stars Lee Min-ho, Youn Yuh-jung, Kim Min-ha, and Jin Ha. It premiered on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022. In April 2022, the series was renewed for a second season. It won “Best International Production” from AAFCA (African-American Film Critics Association) TV Awards.
How I wrote these episode summaries with no spoilers
1. I assumed that you will be reading these summaries and watching the videos chronologically.
2. I narrated some of the main actions in each episode without revealing the plot’s twists and turns.
3. At the beginning of each summary starting with Episode 2, I placed in a table a recap of the major twists and turns of the previous episode. But because you have already watched the video of the previous episode, they aren’t spoilers anymore.
4. I followed this structure all throughout, except for Ep. 8 (Finale) where I included spoilers. Reason — most people want to know if the drama has a good/happy ending or a sad ending before they invest the time in watching it.
Episode 1
1910 ... Korea becomes a Japanese colony.
1915, Busan ...
Kim Sun-ja is born to a couple who have lost three boys. She grows up as a precocious, strong-willed young girl, who’s spoiled by her father, a cripple.
Sun-ja’s parents run a boarding house. One night, after one of the boarders becomes drunk and mouths off about losing hope for Korea and killing the Japanese colonizers, her parents worry about whether they should report that boarder’s “traitorous activities.” Several days later, two Japanese police officers arrive at the boarding house.
1989, New York ...
Baek Solomon is an up-and-coming executive in Schiffley’s Bank, but his dream of being promoted to VP is crushed when his (Caucasian) superiors say that he isn’t ready. He bargains with his superiors that he’ll go to Japan and convince a stubborn Korean woman who’s refusing to sell her land, part of a larger property which their bank wants to develop in cooperation with Colton Hotels. If he’s successful, he wants the promotion as VP, a corresponding increase in salary dated back to the time his promotion was denied, and a sizable bonus. When one of his superiors becomes doubtful about his ability to close the deal, he clarifies that he’s a Korean who grew up in Japan.
After arriving in Osaka, Japan, Solomon goes to a “pachinko” parlor owned by his father Baek Mosazu. Later on, he meets his grandmother, Kim Sun-ja.
Episode 2
| Ep. 1 recap:
1922, Busan ... Sun-ja confronts the boarder who mouthed off about killing the Japanese colonizers, asking him not to return to the boarding house. Later, one of the Japanese police officers demands to know why Sun-ja’s father did not report to them about the boarder’s “traitorous activities.” But wary about inflaming Korean nationalist sentiments, the other Japanese police officer tells his fellow officer that they should just warn Sun-ja’s father that they won’t give him a second chance. The boarder is captured by the Japanese police and paraded through the street in front of the market. As Sun-ja and the other Koreans watch helplessly from the sidelines, the police beat up the boarder as he sings a nationalist Korean song. Sun-ja’s father dies. Nine years later, as a young woman, Sun-ja refuses to bow her head to the Japanese police officers she meets in the market. While buying some fish, she notices a handsome, well-dressed man (Koh Han-su) staring at her. 1989, Osaka ... Baek Mosazu boasts to his friends that Solomon graduated from Yale and has been promoted to VP. At home, Solomon learns from his grandmother Sun-ja that his father is planning to take out a bank loan in order to build a second pachinko parlor. Solomon also meets Etsuko Nagatomi (his father’s girlfriend), who says that she still hasn’t found Hana. At Schiffley’s Tokyo headquarters, Solomon assures Mr. Tom Andrews (the Caucasian boss) that he isn’t there to take over his job. As they’re talking, they hear the news that former Japanese Emperor Hirohito has died. |
1931, Busan ...
While on the ferry on the way to the market, Sun-ja learns that Ko Han-su is the District Fish Broker, doing all the dirty work for a powerful man in Japan. She also learns that he’s fastidious with his clothes and is popular with the girls. At the wharf, she sees Han-su berating a fisherman and his son for trying to rip him off. Later, she also gets on Han-su’s bad side when she tries to barter with someone who offers an undersized fish.
One day, on her way to the ferry from the market, some Japanese teenagers block her way and drag her to a storage room.
Tokyo, 1989 ...
During a wedding, Solomon sees a chance to promote Schiffley’s Bank because of Mr. Abe (the bride’s father, who’s a developer) and the many members of the Ministry of Finance who are there. But Mr. Andrews becomes perplexed by the continuing animosity between the Japanese and the Koreans.
Naomi is a Harvard-educated Japanese officer of Schiffley’s Bank; during a meeting, she tells Solomon and Mr. Andrews about the Korean roots of the land owner. She also says that the land owner bought her land for only 4,000 yen [29 US dollars] back in 1955 but now refuses to sell because money isn’t the issue.
With Mr. Andrews, Solomon decides to visit the land owner and to offer her a whopping one billion yen [7.2 million US dollars] for her land. He plans to use his family’s history as Korean immigrants to Japan to gain the land owner’s sympathy.
Episode 3
| Ep. 2 recap:
1931, Busan ... Han-su rescues Sun-ja from being molested by the Japanese teenagers. Later, after having spent time talking and revealing their life stories and dreams, they make love in the woods. 1989, Japan ... Solomon’s father explains to his young employee how pachinko machines are rigged in favor of the parlor. Despite Solomon’s stories of his family’s hardships as Korean immigrants in Japan, the land owner rejects Schiffley’s offer of one billion yen for her land. The private detective tells Solomon’s father that Hana, Etsuko’s missing daughter, was last seen working in a “soapland” (brothel) several months ago. Later, Solomon gets a call from Hana, who says that she’s watching him. |
1931, Busan ...
Sun-ja misses her period twice, but Han-su hasn’t returned from Japan, with someone in the market saying that he might not ever return.
During the outbreak of a storm, a sickly pastor gets off the ferry and asks for directions to the boarding house owned by the cripple’s widow. At the courtyard of the boarding house, he collapses and loses consciousness.
Osaka, Japan, 1989 ...
Kyung-hee, Sun-ja’s sister-in-law, finally dies. After her cremation, Sun-ja brings her ashes to the house. She places the urn on a shelf, but Pastor Rhee takes the urn and places it on top of the grand piano, together with the family’s framed pictures.
While helping his grandmother Sun-ja put away the things that belonged to Kyung-hee, Solomon tells her that failing to convince the land owner to sell her land will be a black mark on his record. But he promises to claw his way back to top of Schiffley’s Bank. Sun-ja wonders aloud why the land owner refuses to sell her land, saying that a house is just bricks and walls.
Episode 4
| Ep. 3 recap:
1989, Tokyo ... Sun-ja and the land owner bond over their common ties of sufferings as Korean immigrants in Japan and the taste of Korean rice. The land owner urges Sun-ja to visit Korea while she still can but berates Solomon for not wanting to know about his homeland and using Sun-ja to try and get her to sell her land to his company. Later on, however, her lawyer contacts Mr. Andrews and says that she’s now willing to sell her land. After arriving from Tokyo, Sun-ja goes to the pachinko parlor and tells her son that she must return to Korea and bury her sister-in-law’s ashes there. 1931, Busan ... Han-su tells Sun-ja that he cannot marry her because he has a wife and three daughters in Osaka. Thinking that Sun-ja might finally give him the son that he longs for, he offers to provide everything that she and her mother will ever need. But Sun-ja rejects his offer. The pastor, who’s on his way to Osaka, suffers from tuberculosis. While recuperating, he overhears Sun-ja confessing to her mother about her pregnancy. At the dock, on her way to the noodles shop with Pastor Baek Isak, Sun-ja and Han-su see each other. In the noodles shop, she rejects Pastor Baek Isak’s offer to help get her baby adopted later on, saying that just like her father promised her, she will provide for her baby. When Pastor Baek Isak subtly suggests if she’s willing to go to another place to avoid being ostracized and to fall in love with another man, she says yes. |
1931, Busan ...
At the tailoring shop, Han-su finds out that Pastor Baek Isak and Sun-ja are getting married.
While looking around the fish market for the last time before leaving for Osaka, Sun-ja is accosted by a Japanese officer, who brings her to an office where she sees Han-su.
1989, Tokyo ...
Before the scheduled contract signing between the land owner and the Schiffley’s Bank officials, Solomon meets with Naomi and asks her why she chose Schiffley’s Bank rather than the top Japanese banks that were vying for her after she graduated from Harvard.
Later on, despite being assured by her lawyer that the contract they’re signing is the same one they discussed, the land owner insists on going through the contract, with Mr. Andrews, Mr. Abe (the developer), and other officials looking on. When she hesitates, Solomon tells her that at that moment, his grandmother Sun-ja is on her way back to Korea.
Episode 5
| Ep. 4 recap:
1931, Busan ... Han-su warns Sun-ja of the extremely difficult life that she will face in Osaka and that when she calls out to him for help, he will not be there for her. Sun-ja’s mother begs the rice merchant to sell her two cups of white rice, which she wants to prepare for Sun-ja and Pastor Baek Isak. The famous singer, who Sun-ja met briefly before boarding the ship to Osaka, feels disrespected and humiliated after a lecherous old man strokes her neck in full sight of the Japanese women in the other table. On stage, she stops singing a classical song and begins singing a nationalist Korean song. Upon hearing the song, the other Koreans in the ship begin singing along with her and banging in rhythm on the walls of the ship. When the security men try to stop her, she stabs herself to death. 1989, Tokyo ... Despite her children’s pleas that the Schiffley’s Bank officers are waiting for her to sign the contract, the land owner rants against the sufferings and injustices that she endured as an immigrant in Japan. She looks directly at Solomon and asks him what he would say if it was his grandmother who had to sign the contract. After Solomon says that he would ask his grandmother not to sign the contract, she walks out of the conference room. Mr. Abe blames Mr. Andrews for bringing in someone like Solomon; meanwhile, Mr. Andrews curses at Solomon for the chaos he created. Naomi sees Solomon on the street, dancing maniacally under the rain to the music of a street band. Meanwhile, in Korea, Sun-ja cries and walks under the rain into the shallow edge of the sea. |
1931, Osaka ...
Pastor Baek Isak and Sun-ja are met at the pier by his brother Yoseb. On the streetcar, Sun-ja is stunned to see Han-su on the street looking at her. As they arrive in their community, Yoseb warns Pastor Baek Isak to be careful because there are spies everywhere, even in the church. Later, that night, Yoseb tells his wife Kyung-hee how disappointed he is with his brother’s choice for a wife.
1989, Tokyo ...
Solomon’s friend from their International School days warns him that Mr. Abe is blackballing him with the Japanese banks and that he should be wary of Mr. Andrews. Solomon becomes intrigued when his friend tells him where women who have disappeared can be found.
1989, Busan ...
Sun-ja scatters Kyung-hee’s ashes into the sea; later, after finding out that her father’s grave site is now a parking lot, she and her son go to a government office. But the employee in charge becomes condescending when she finds out that Sun-ja is a “zainichi” Korean.
Episode 6
| Ep. 5 recap:
1931, Osaka ... Yoseb had borrowed money from some Japanese gangsters to pay for his brother and Sun-ja’s passage from Busan to Osaka. After the gangsters come to their house to collect the loan payment, Sun-ja sells to a pawnshop the gold watch that Han-su gave to her. With Kyung-hee along with her, they pay off the loan. Unknown to her, Han-su buys back the watch from the pawnshop owner. 1989, Busan ... Sun-ja reunites with her friend, who took it upon herself to transfer her father’s remains to a cemetery. She also finds out that her friends were duped into becoming “comfort women,” with one of them later taking her own life at the river where they used to wash clothes. 1989, Tokyo ... Solomon tells Naomi that it’s unfortunate for her to be born as a woman in Japan. Later, while searching for Hana, he accidentally meets a childhood friend. After spending time with his friend, he calls up Mr. Andrews about a scheme that one of their clients may be up to. But as Mr. Andrews warns him that Mr. Abe is pressuring Schiffley’s Bank to fire him, he gets a frantic call from Hana. |
1975, Osaka ...
Hana pulls Solomon away from his high school classmates and takes him to a convenience store; after telling him of her dreams to travel abroad, she dares him to prove that she’s worth more to him than his friends by shoplifting something from the store.
1989, Tokyo ...
The hospital director tells Etsuko that her daughter Hana’s condition is incurable. Later, Solomon visits Hana and urges her to go to the USA to seek treatment. Hana replies by reminding him that he’ll never be part of Japanese society despite his nice clothes and fancy degrees. Afterwards, he goes to Schiffley’s and takes out all of his things from his office and dumps them into a pond. As he’s staring into the pond, Mamoru Yoshii (the Schiffley’s client with a reputed Japanese mob connection) approaches him.
1931, Osaka ...
After Yoseb storms out of their house, saying that he has been disrespected, Kyung-hee finds out that Sun-ja has started to go into labor prematurely. Meanwhile, after a desperate mother appeals to him, Pastor Baek Isak speaks with a young man who’s becoming involved in some dangerous activities.
Episode 7
| Ep. 6 recap:
1975 ... Solomon is arrested for shoplifting, but someone calls up the police station and orders his release. 1989 ... Hana is suffering from AIDS. While Sun-ja is taking care of her by washing the sores on her legs, she blames Sun-ja for making Solomon go to the USA and asking her to run away. But Sun-ja explains that she was talking about herself and the other son that she lost. Mamoru Yoshii offers Solomon a business deal of opening pachinko parlors in places such as Macau and the USA. At the hospital, Solomon blames his grandmother Sun-ja for losing his job at Schiffley’s; he says that she made him weak by pitying the land owner and advising her not to sign the contract. But Sun-ja replies that she once had the chance of having unspeakable riches but chose differently; she says that rather than being successful, what matters is how someone becomes successful. 1931, Osaka ... Sun-ja gives birth to son, who’s given the name “Noa” by Yoseb. When Han-su finds out about it, he tells his wife that she has been released from her conjugal duties. |
1923, Yokohama ...
Han-su works as a math tutor for Andrew, the only son of the Holmes, a very rich American couple; however, a Japanese mob boss wants him to work for his businesses. When the Holmes consider taking him to the USA as Andrew’s math tutor in Yale, his father says that he should grab that opportunity.
While Han-su and his father are at the Japanese mob boss’s office, the Great Kanto Earthquake strikes; measuring 7.9 on the moment magnitude scale, the earthquake unleashes further destruction through aftershocks, firestorms, fire swirl, and a tsunami.
Episode 8, Finale (with spoilers)
| Ep. 7 recap:
Because he has been infatuated with a geisha, Han-su’s father a big sum of money from the Japanese mob boss. While he’s pleading with the boss to spare Han-su and allow him to go to the US, the earthquake strikes. Han-su’s father dies in the earthquake; later, while traveling with the Japanese mob boss, Hna-su finds the bodies of Andrew and his mother. He takes from their bodies the gold watch (that he later on gives to Sun-ja). Wild rumors begin spreading that gangs of escaped Korean prisoners are molesting Japanese women, stealing everything they can, and poisoning the wells. While Han-su is hiding in a cart, a group of Japanese men trap and burn to death several Koreans inside a barn. Some 100,000 people die because of the earthquake, with thousands of innocent Koreans murdered by Japanese vigilantes. |
1938, Osaka ...
Sun-ja and Pastor Baek Isak now happily have two sons — Noa (who’s actually Han-su’s son) and one-year old Mozasu. But crisis strikes when Pastor Baek Isak is arrested and his church is ransacked by the police.
Yoseb tries to ask for help from his long-time boss, but his boss fires him after learning that Pastor Baek Isak has been arrested for a political crime.
A woman whose brother-in-law was arrested two months ago takes Sun-ja and her son Noa to secretly see and talk to a Japanese man named “Hasegawa.” With Noa interpreting, Sun-ja learns that Hasegawa is a professor and leader of communist-leaning labor unions in Japan. As she argues with Hasegawa and his daughter, the police barge into their meeting place.
As they’re leaving the police station, Sun-ja and Noa see Pastor Baek Isak being dragged away by the police. Later on, Sunja sells off the rings that her mother gave to her and sells it to start a kimchi business to support herself and her boys.
While Noa is on his way to school one day, Han-su walks alongside him and strikes a conversation with him.
1989, Tokyo ...
The end comes near for Hana, who’s suffering from intense pain. But her attending physician says that he can’t prescribe morphine to ease her pain because the dosage needed would be too high.
Solomon argues with his father about his plan to partner with Mamoru Yoshii in opening pachinko parlors. His father forbids him from doing so, but he refuses to listen. He visits Mamoru Yoshii and tells him to force the land owner to sell the land to him; in turn, he will negotiate with Mr. Abe and Colton Hotels to buy the land at an exorbitant price.
Sun-ja tells her son Mosazu that she will not let what happened to Noa happen to Solomon. On a rooftop of a building, she meets Solomon and gives him the gold watch that Han-su gave to her decades ago. She says, “I used to think this watch was a curse. Now, I think it saved our family. I hope it does the same for you.”
Historical / cultural backgrounders and other information
A. This drama is based on the 2017 novel “Pachinko” by lawyer-journalist Min Jin Lee. The novel "portrays the hardships and resilience of four generations of an ethnic Korean family from 1883 to 1989, a period that includes the Japanese occupation of Korea and the second world war." It was a Top Ten Book of the Year and National Book Award finalist.
B. The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 (depicted in Ep. 7)
From “1923 Kanto Earthquake Massacre seen through American viewpoints” (The Korea Times) by Robert Neff:
The earthquake lasted for 4 to 10 minutes and, in some places, had thrust the ground up over 2 meters. It destroyed several cities, including nearby Tokyo, and nearly 140,000 people perished. But not all of them died as a result of Mother Nature’s fury -- many, especially Koreans, were murdered by the terrified survivors of the earthquake.
Alarmed at the negative press and concerned of possible unrest in Korea, the Japanese government censored its domestic press and the press in Korea. Koreans in Japan were not allowed to return to their homelands for fear they would recount the horrors they had experienced.
C. Resources on the Japanese colonial rule in Korea
1. From “23 Photographs of the Japanese Occupation of Korea and the Liberation”:
The Japanese occupation of Korea began in 1910 and ended at the end of World War II in 1945. The Empire of Korea was stripped of its diplomatic sovereignty and declared a protectorate of Japan with the signing of the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905. This came after the Russo-Japanese War in which Russia was forced to concede that Japan had “paramount political, military, and economic interest” in Korea. On August 22, 1910, Japan officially annexed Korea.
By 1910 there were over 170,000 Japanese people living in Korea. The Japanese created a feudal state where they owned the land and the Koreans worked the fields. The Korean tenants were forced to pay over half their crop as rent which caused many farmers to send their wives and daughters to work in factories or to become prostitutes.
2. From “Korea as a Colony of Japan, 1910-1945” (Columbia University)
Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) was a contradictory experience for Koreans. On the one hand, Japanese colonialism was often quite harsh. For the first ten years Japan ruled directly through the military, and any Korean dissent was ruthlessly crushed. After a nationwide protest against Japanese colonialism that began on March 1, 1919, Japanese rule relaxed somewhat, allowing a limited degree of freedom of expression for Koreans.
But the wartime mobilization of 1937-45 had reintroduced harsh measures to Japanese colonial rule, as Koreans were forced to work in Japanese factories nd were sent as soldiers to the front. Tens of thousands of young Korean women were drafted as “Comfort Women” - in effect, sexual slaves - for Japanese soldiers.
In. Ep. 5, Sun-ja finds out that two of her friends in the boarding house became “comfort women.”
Please read my article “Bridal Mask” aka “Gaksital,” Korean comfort women, and ongoing controversy about an article by a Harvard law professor in the reddit KDRAMA sub.
In 1939, Koreans were even pressured by the colonial authorities to change their names to Japanese names, and more than 80 percent of the Koreans complied with the name-change ordinance.
3. From “Japan Apologizes to South Korea for Colonial Era” (The New York Times, 2018): “The abuses by Japan during its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula pale in comparison to its documented atrocities during World War II — including mass killings of civilians and human experimentation. Many Asians and Westerners urge Tokyo to come to terms with the past, and Japan continues to grapple with that legacy.”
C. “Zainichi” Koreans
1. From “Koreans in Japan” (Wikipedia):
Koreans in Japan (在日韓国人・在日本朝鮮人・朝鮮人, Zainichi Kankokujin/Zainihon Chōsenjin/Chōsenjin) comprise ethnic Koreans who have permanent residency status in Japan or who have become Japanese citizens and whose immigration to Japan originated before 1945 or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have emigrated to Japan after the end of World War II and the division of Korea.
They currently constitute the second largest ethnic minority group in Japan after Chinese immigrants due to many Koreans assimilating into the general Japanese population. The majority of Koreans in Japan are Zainichi Koreans (在日韓国・朝鮮人, Zainichi Kankokujin), often known simply as Zainichi (在日, lit. ’in Japan’), who are the permanent ethnic Korean residents of Japan. The term Zainichi Korean refers only to long-term Korean residents of Japan who trace their roots to Korea under Japanese rule, distinguishing them from the later wave of Korean migrants who came mostly in the 1980s and from pre-modern immigrants dating back to antiquity who may themselves be the ancestors of the Japanese people.
The Japanese word “Zainichi” itself means a foreign citizen “staying in Japan” and implies temporary residence. Nevertheless, the term “Zainichi Korean” is used to describe settled permanent residents of Japan, both those who have retained either their Joseon or North Korean/South Korean nationalities and even sometimes, but not always, includes Japanese citizens of Korean descent who acquired Japanese nationality by naturalization or by birth from one or both parents who have Japanese citizenship.
In 2019, there were over 824,977 ethnic Koreans resident in Japan.
2. From “Zainichi: The Korean Diaspora in Japan” (Asian Studies):
With Japan’s World War II defeat, the majority of ethnic Koreans left the Japanese archipelago (given the absence of official census, these numbers are rough estimates). In spite of suffering racial discrimination and economic exploitation, some 600,000 ethnic Koreans remained in Japan and constituted the Zainichi population (zainichi means “residing in Japan” and can refer to non-Koreans, but the term has become synonymous with the ethnic Korean population in Japan). Some had achieved viable livelihoods, while others were weary of the unrest and poverty in the Korean peninsula.
According to a 1951 study, sixty-three percent of Zainichi were born in Japan, and forty-three percent of them could not speak Korean.
D. “Pachinko” game
From “Pachinko” (Wikipedia):
Pachinko (パチンコ) is a type of mechanical game originating in Japan that is used as a form of recreational arcade game, and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in Japanese gambling comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling, as a form of low-stakes, low-strategy gambling.
By 1994, the pachinko market in Japan was valued at ¥30 trillion (nearly $300 billion). In 1999, sales and revenue from pachinko parlors contributed 5.6% of Japan’s ¥500 trillion GDP, and they employed over 330,000 people, 0.52% of all those employed in Japan.
E. Several references are made in this drama about the Japanese colonial authorities prohibiting Korean women from wearing white clothes.
1. From Joseon in Color: “Colored Clothes Campaign” and the “White Clothes Discourse” (The Review of Korean Studies, 2011, vol. 14, no.1, pp. 7 - 34): This so-called “Colored Clothes Campaign” became quite oppressive and violent beginning in 1932 and encountered significant resistance by the Korean people. The Japanese authorities promoted this policy based on the notion that white clothes were not “economic” and therefore had to be transformed through a process of “modernization.”
2. From “History of the Hanbok”: “While the upper class displayed their status through bright, eye-catching colours, the traditional colour of choice for ordinary Koreans has always been white. To assume that people lacked the technique or time to dye their own garments would be inaccurate – wearing white was a conscious choice, and over time became an expression of national identity. Under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), when white clothing was prohibited allegedly for sanitary reasons, flouting this rule was a form of unspoken resistance against the occupying force.”
3. From “Baegui” (Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture}: During their occupation, the Japanese blatantly stopped the people from wearing white clothes. One of the most common examples is found in this account: “Spray red or black water over people wearing white clothes so that they will never wear them again.” The Japanese official organ extensively published reports justifying the ban on white clothes, citing statistics obtained from an experiment conducted by the Japanese Government-General of Korea from the 1930s.
F. Korean white rice
In Ep. 3, Sun-ja and the land owner bond over eating Korean rice.
In Ep. 4, Sun-ja’s mother begs the rice merchant to sell her two cups of white rice, which she wants to prepare for Sun-ja and Pastor Baek Isak.
In Ep. 5, Sun-ja breaks down when she sees that Kyung-hee has prepared white rice for her and Pastor Baek Isak.
1. From “In One Bowl of Rice, Pachinko Illuminates Korea’s Past” (Esquire, April 2022) by Irene Yoo:
In 1910, Japan cinched full control of Korea. Many of Korea’s land properties were taken over by Japanese merchants and corporations, who forced Korea’s existing landowners and farmers into tenant farming. Korea eventually grew to supply almost 98 percent of Japanese rice imports, leaving little rice rations for themselves. During this time, Koreans subsisted off of barley, millet, and other imported cereal grains; white rice was a luxury few could afford, reserved for weddings and funerals.
2. From “The Surprisingly Little-Known History of White Rice in Korea:
The Japanese catalogued over 1,400 varieties of rice indigenous to Korea at this time, but by the end of the occupation, virtually none of them would remain.
Japan was among the first to genetically engineer rice (through hybridization) to be higher yielding, quicker to harvest, and more resistant to disease (and more susceptible to fertilizer). Through the Campaign to Increase Rice Production, launched in 1920, Japanese land holders instructed their Korean tenant farmers to actively sow these specific varieties of rice, replacing many of the native Korean rice and paddy rice varieties. Japanese varieties went from making up 2 to 3 percent of Korea’s rice to 90 percent. Korea quickly became Japan’s breadbasket, increasing its rice production by more than 250 percent, eventually supplying almost 98 percent of Japanese rice imports.
So what did this mean for Korea?
While Japan was able to revolutionize Korean rice production and address their own shortage, they were suddenly unable to feed the colony itself.
G. Wooden ducks presented as a gift to Sun-ja in Ep. 4
Wooden ducks (“kireogi”) 
Sun-ja's friend (left) is unmarried, and so her hair is braided into a single ponytail called “daeng’gi meori” (with the hair on top parted in the middle). Sun-ja (right) is married, and so her braided hair is in a bun (“jjok meori”). The pin that holds the bun is called “binyeo.” |
From Wikipedia: “Wedding ducks (Korean: 원앙세트; RR: won-ang seteu; lit. Mandarin duck set) are a pair of duck carvings (traditionally Mandarin ducks) that are used in Korean wedding ceremonies, and often given as marriage gifts. Mandarin ducks are chosen because it is believed that, unlike other types of ducks, they mate for life, and that if one of the pair dies, the other will mourn. For Koreans, Mandarin ducks represent peace, fidelity, and plentiful offspring.”
From Kireogi: “A Duck Gift That Signifies a Promise of a Life Time” (Korea.net):
Kireogi, also called wedding ducks, is a pair of mandarin ducks carved from wood. When it is presented, the male duck with a broader bill is placed on the right, while the female duck with a curved bill is placed on the left ... They are an important element in the traditional Korean wedding culture and most kireogis have been passed down from mother to daughter.
However, with the shift to wooden ducks, finding the right carver became an important part of this tradition. The carver had to have ’5 fortunes’ to become a person suitable to create the ducks besides being a person of good character and honor. These fortunes included being wealthy, having good wealth, having a good wife, not being divorced or having relatives who are divorced and having many sons and sharing a good relationship with all of them. It was believed that these fortunes possessed by the person carving ducks also transferred to the ducks and through it to the marrying couple.
Note: In Ep. 1, Solomon finds on his shelf a pair of wooden ducks; those ducks were probably a token of his teenaged relationship with Hana.
H. Korean seesaw (“neolttwigi”) depicted in the opening credits
From Folkency: “Neolttwigi (lit. jumping on a board) refers to seesawing, a traditional entertainment practiced mainly by women during the Lunar New Year season. A large rectangular board is supported in its middle by a round hay bundle and two players take turns pushing hard on their end of the board with their feet in order to make the other end spring up.”
It is thought that Yangban women developed “neolttwigi” to see over the walls that surrounded their homes, as women in traditional Korea were rarely allowed out of their living compounds, except at night. (Wikipedia, citing Rodney P. Carlisle, Encyclopedia of Play in Today’s Society, Volume 1)
I. “The Joy of Pachinko’s Opening Credits” by Emily Burack: “From the start, Hugh had a distinct conception of the title sequence in a pachinko parlor set to a catchy, nostalgic tune. As Tzuo explains, the Pachinko showrunner ‘wanted a very iconic song—like the old days, when we were sitting in front of the TV, excited to hear the theme song and dancing to it, waiting for the show to begin.’ The song they ended up going with is ‘Let’s Live For Today’ by the Grass Roots—a 1967 cover of a song by the Rokes, a British band.”
J. Relevant resources
From ‘A difficult time’: why popular TV series Pachinko was met with silence in Japan:
The eight-part drama, currently streaming on Apple TV+, evokes the universal migrant experience, but it is also an uncomfortable reminder of the bitter historical legacy of Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.
The story of a family who leave Busan in South Korea for Osaka’s Korean quarter in the early 20th century, Pachinko’s narrative draws on the real-life experiences of the zainichi, the name for people of Korean descent who form one of Japan’s biggest ethnic minorities.
“Why ‘Pachinko’ is not a K-drama”
“Apple TV+’s epic series ’Pachinko’ boosts sales of original novel”
‘Pachinko’ Review: K-Drama, American-Style
Building the World of ‘Pachinko’ in K-Drama Backlots and ‘Enemy Architecture’
From “Pachinko: A Multinational K-Drama”:
With K-Dramas topping the charts on Netflix, Apple TV has now begun its own ventures into the genre. However, Pachinko is not your typical K-Drama. It is perhaps the best reflection of what K-Dramas have become – an international phenomenon. Pachinko is a historically based fiction that spans three settings in three languages. This American-Korean-Japanese drama is truly one of a kind.
Lessons in photography from “Pachinko” with brief analysis of its visuals, cinematography, and editing
Index: A. Centered framing to depict a character who’s facing a crisis or decision; B. From Eps. 1-3, the Dutch angle shots are hardly noticeable; starting in Ep. 4, they become more noticeable; C. Narrower aspect ratio in Ep. 7 compared to other episodes; D. Visual cues; E. Transition devices: cross dissolve to move between present and past timelines; cross cutting between parallel actions in the present and past timelines either with hard cuts or invisible cuts (hidden edits); F. Chiaroscuro (interplay of light and shadows / darkness) in Ep. 4; G. Breaking the 180-degree rule (“crossing the line”) in Ep. 5 scene to indicate a change of “beat”; H. Miscellaneous: Ep. 3 is one of my favorite episodes because it uses well thought out tracking shots.
A. Centered framing to depict a character who’s facing a crisis or decision
In scenes where a character faces a crisis or has to decide, the character is center framed; in most instances, the character’s head and body are a bit off center, with an eye (either left or right) lying along the vertical line that divides the frame. Examples:
Ep. 1: Sun-ja’s mother looks at the hut where she will ask the shaman to lift the curse that has led to the early deaths of her three sons.
Ep. 1: The young Sun-ja confronts Mr. Song and tells him not to return to the boarding house because he has endangered everyone.
Ep. 1: The young Sun-ja goes into the sea after her beloved father dies.
Ep. 1: Along with her father and other people in the market, Sun-ja looks on as the Japanese police drag Mr. Song through the street.
Ep. 1: Sun-ja (off frame) tells Solomon that things haven’t changed in Japan for “zainichi Koreans” like them and that he’ll be safer in the USA.
Ep. 2: Sun-ja becomes confused because Han-su has been challenging her world views; she also starts to fall in love with him.
B. From Eps. 1-3, the Dutch angle shots are hardly noticeable; they become more noticeable starting in Ep. 4.
Ep. 3: In the noodles shop, Pastor Baek Isak asks Sun-ja if it’s possible for her to love another man and to leave for a far country with him.
Ep. 4: Pastor Baek Isak insists to his senior pastor that he wants to marry Sun-ja because he owes his life to her and her mother.
C. Narrower aspect ratio in Ep. 7 compared to other episodes
Ep. 7 is focused on Han-su’s years in Osaka before he became the District Fish Broker in Busan and the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Compared to other episodes, Ep. 7 was shot with a narrower aspect ratio to indicate that the episode is a flashback. I stand to be corrected, but the aspect ratio that was used is the 1.67 or the European widescreen aspect ratio; with the other episodes, the aspect ratio used seems to be the 2.20 Panavision.
D. Visual cues
“Visual cues” are explained in an excellent series of articles from “My Drama List” written by someone with the username “3GGG.”
“Popular Visual Cues found in K-Dramas, Part 1: visual ways to establish a conflict, division, or fight between two or more characters”
“Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 2: boxing to establish a character’s vulnerability, solitude, or fear; comfort and respite; change; danger; showdown”
“Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 3: Dutch angle”
“Popular Visual Cues in K-Dramas, Part 4 Interpersonal cues (using cues simultaneously or one after another)”
The YT video “The Brilliant Cinematography of Parasite” (5:04 mark) shows how director Bong Joon-ho used lines to depict the division between the social classes, between the rich family and the poor family.
Ep. 2: After rescuing Sun-ja from the Japanese teenagers who wanted to molest her, he accompanies her on the ferry. The tension between them is depicted and reinforced by the pole that separates them.
Ep. 2: Sun-ja becomes confused because Han-su has been challenging her world views; she also starts to fall in love with him. Her confusion is depicted and reinforced by the frame that boxes her in.
Ep. 3: Sun-ja finally musters up her courage to confess to her mother that she’s pregnant. Notice the frame that boxes them in.
E. Transition devices: (a) cross dissolve to move between present and past timelines; (b) cross cutting between parallel actions in the present and past timelines either with hard cuts or invisible cuts (hidden edits)
(a) Examples of cross dissolves from “Pachinko” to move between present and past timelines:
Relevant resource: “The Cross Dissolve: Its history, process in film, and lots of interesting facts”
(b) Cross cutting between parallel actions in the present and past timelines either with hard cuts or with invisible cuts (hidden edits)
(1) “Cross cutting is taking two or more scenes and cutting between them as they progress; it is used to establish actions taking place at the same time, whether in the same place or not.” In this drama, however, the parallel actions happen in different timelines.
Ep. 3: In the past timeline, Sun-ja and her mother prepare the food for their boarders. In the present timeline, Sun-ja prepares the food for her son Baek Mosazu.
(2) Invisible cuts (hidden edits) with cross cutting between parallel actions in the present and past timelines
In Ep. 4’s past timeline (1931), Sun-ja’s mother prepares the clothes and things that Sun-ja will take with her to Osaka. In the present timeline (1989), Sun-ja prepares in her suitcase her clothes and things that she will bring with her to her first ever visit to Korea since 1931.
In the GIF below, the camera trucks (moves paralell) to Sun-ja’s mother; we then see Sun-ja preparing her suitcase. These two shots were stitched together, with the cut hidden in the darkness between the two shots.
In the GIF below, the camera trucks (moves paralell to) Sun-ja who’s second-guessing herself over whether she has packed everything she will need for her trip; we then see Sun-ja’s mother in the past timeline, who’s also second guessing herself about whether she has packed enough or the right clothes for Sun-ja.
Relevant resources: “Cross cutting/Parallel editing example”; “Crosscutting: Christopher Nolan’s Biggest Strength”; “Christopher Nolan vs. Interstellar — The Nolan Crosscut”; What is Parallel Action?; “What is Cross Cutting and Parallel Editing in Film?” (Studio Binder)
F. Chiaroscuro (interplay of light and shadows / darkness) in Ep. 4
In the basement that serves as a church, Pastor Baek Isak and Sun-ja get married with the hesitant senior pastor presiding. In an earlier shot, we see that children are playing football on the street; as they move around, they sometimes block the sun, thus creating moving shadows in the basement. As the simple marriage ceremony takes place, Sun-ja’s mother looks up towards the windows and the sun, with light and shadows alternately falling on her face. She also looks at the spots of mud on Seun-ja’s dress. This scene was brilliantly shot and is deeply symbolic.
Relevant resources: “CHIAROSCURO — The Dynamic Range Mistake” and “Caravaggio: Master Of Light”
G. Breaking the 180-degree rule (“crossing the line”) in Ep. 5 scene to indicate a change of “beat”
In Ep. 5, Solomon’s friend warns him that Mr. Abe is blackballing him with all the Japanese banks. When Solomon replies that he’s not worried because he’s going back to New York, his friend warns him not to be too sure about it because of Mr. Andrews’s spotty record.
In the first part of the shot, Solomon is frame right while his friend is frame left. To indicate the change in “beat,” the cinematographer breaks the 180-degree rule by moving the camera such that Solomon becomes frame left while his friend becomes frame right.
From “What is the 180 Degree Rule in Film? Crossing the Line with Purpose” by Studio Binder:
The 180 degree rule is a filmmaking guideline for spatial relations between two characters on screen. The 180 rule sets an imaginary axis, or eye line, between two characters or between a character and an object. By keeping the camera on one side of this imaginary axis, the characters maintain the same left/right relationship to each other, keeping the space of the scene orderly and easy to follow.
When the camera jumps over the invisible axis, this is known as crossing the line or breaking the line, and it can produce a disorienting and distracting effect on a viewer.
The Studio Binder article also discusses the uses of the 180 degree rule:
- Following the rule will establish orientation.
- Breaking the rule will disorient and signal unease.
- Bending the rule signals a gradual change in your scene.
Notice that the Studio Binder article speaks about “bending” the 180-degree rule. Examples of “bending” the 180-degree rule are these shots from “Heat” (blockbuster 1995 action movie starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro) and from “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho.
(a) “Heat” 1995 blockbuster action drama directed by Michael Mann, with the cast led by Al Pacino and Robert de Niro:
The character played by Robert de Niro (a bank robber) goes to a bar when a woman starts making small talk with him. He is frame left while the woman is frame right. He becomes suspicious about the woman but lightens up a bit later when the woman explains that she has been seeing him in the bookstore. To signify that change in the scene’s mood (aka “beat”), the camera moves such that Robert de Niro’s character becomes frame right while the woman becomes frame left.
(b) “Parasite” Oscar-winning movie by Bong Joon-ho:
Mrs. Park is frame left while Jessica is frame right. Jessica tells (deceives) Mrs. Park that her son has artistic talent. The camera moves to show Mrs. Park’s shocked reaction such that Jessica is now frame left while Mrs. Park is now frame right.
Relevant resource: “Breaking the 180 Degree Rule for BETTER Storytelling – Crossing the 180° Line Examples in Movies” (YouTube)
H. Ep. 3 is one of my favorite episodes because it uses well thought out tracking shots.
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