Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood

A staple food in Korea, white rice became scarce during Japanese occupation: Korean farmers had to sell their rice and other agricultural products at a discount to the Japanese. The Japanese mainland enjoyed the exploitation of Korean labor, leading to food shortages in Korea. In Lost Names, white rice becomes a symbol of wealth because only affluent Koreans or families well-off enough to have a stockpile are able to enjoy it under Japanese occupation, especially when World War II begins. Kim’s grandmother, a traditionally nurturing woman, insists upon giving Kim, the eldest boy in the family, white rice in his lunch. This becomes a source of shame: most of Kim’s classmates can only afford to eat barley or millet—regarded as inferior grains—in their lunches. Kim feels as though he is flaunting his family’s wealth. The shame leads to Kim lashing out at his grandmother. This is an example of generational disconnect: his grandmother grew up poor and views white rice as necessary to ensuring that Kim grows up strong. Kim does not see it from this perspective, and she does not understand the reason it makes him feel ashamed. 

Kim’s family drinks rice wine, likely makgeolli, an unfiltered, effervescent beverage, or soju, a clear spirit, during important moments in Lost Names. As a kid, Kim associates rice wine with heritage, masculinity, and moments of male bonding with his father and grandfather. The order of the pouring of wine denotes patrilineal respect: usually, the younger generations pour for the older ones. Kim notes that “it is unusual for a father to fill the cup for his son” (34). This shows Kim’s grandfather’s deep respect for Mr. Kim.

Kim’s grandfather gives him rice wine for the first time in “Homecoming,” after Kim a Japanese schoolteacher beats him. The moment is symbolically important: for the first time, Kim has experienced firsthand the injustice that his compatriots have long endured, and that he will learn to endure and overcome thereafter. Kim then pours wine for his grandfather, initiating him into the respected male circle of his family.

Wine is also a tribute to the family’s dead ancestors. When they visit the family graveyard, Kim writes, “We hold the cups in our hands and pour the wine over the graves, one by one, with my grandfather filling our cups with more and more wine before each mound” (102). They then drink wine as well. Kim’s grandfather, the eldest member of the family, serves their ancestors. The wine is an offering to beg forgiveness for the family changing their name to Iwamoto.