The Broken Map Home

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By (author): Konosuke Masuda

Translated by: Keiko Honda

Konosuke Masuda bridges past and present as he recounts his desperate journey, brought to life in translation by his granddaughter, Keiko Honda.

In Masuda’s harrowing WWII memoir, he recalls Korea under 35 years of Japanese colonial rule. In the summer of 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies, leaving approximately 850,000 Japanese civilians in Korea facing an uncertain future. Drafted by the Japanese Army just three months before the end of the war, Masuda joined fellow Japanese citizens on their perilous flight from North Korea toward repatriation in Japan. Their story unfolded against a land violently divided on the 38th parallel by the Soviet Union and the United States, and further ravaged by hunger and epidemic.

The Broken Map Home is a powerful account of suffering and resilience that transcends boundaries and borders, offering a humanizing counter-narrative to global conflict and fostering compassionate understanding in a fractured world.

AUTHOR

Keiko Honda

Keiko Honda is a scientist, writer, community organizer and painter. She holds a PhD in international community health from New York University, but when she suddenly contracted a rare autoimmune disease that confined her to a wheelchair for life, she had to leave her career in research at Columbia University in New York. After moving to Vancouver in 2009, Keiko started hosting artist salons, for which she was awarded the City of Vancouver’s Remarkable Women award in 2014. Shortly thereafter, she founded the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society to bridge generations and cultures through the arts and to offer members of marginalized communities in Vancouver opportunities for artistic self-discovery. She teaches the aesthetics of co-creation in the Liberal Arts and 55+ Program at Simon Fraser University. She lives in Vancouver, BC, and enjoys watercolour painting and hosting her salons.

AUTHOR

Konosuke Masuda

Born on March 9, 1916, in Kagami, Kumamoto Prefecture, Konosuke Masuda was the only child of Kaji and Toyo Masuda. In 1929, the year the devastating stock market crash in the United States triggered the global Great Depression, Kaji Masuda, Konosuke’s father, was transferred to the Minamata plant of the Nippon Chisso Hiryo Company in Kōnan, Korea, which was under Japanese rule at the time. Years later, while working at the Chosen Savings Bank in Korea, Masuda, then 29 years old, was conscripted into the Japanese Imperial Army just three months before the end of World War II in August 1945. After Japan’s surrender, he spent four months displaced, effectively a fugitive amidst the post-war chaos, before finally reuniting with his family in Chōjin. In the autumn of 1946, he was finally able to return to Japan. At 75, he privately published “Thirty-Eight Parallel Story: A Narrow Escape from Death,” a personal journal documenting his experiences, which has been translated by his granddaughter, Keiko Honda.

Reviews

Translations are tricky How do you preserve the integrity of the original work while exhibiting your writing skills InThe Broken Map HomeKeiko Honda does exactly that with care respect and above all else love

Terry Watada author of the novelHiroshima Bomb Moneyand the poetry collectionThe Mask2024

I was moved by the struggles your grandfather endured in Korea during the USSoviet occupation of Korea and his struggle to escape to the 38th Parallel It reminded me of how the war impacted the Japanese whether they lived in Korea or Canada and the manner in which the Japanese people were able to overcome what seemed be insurmountable challenges with hope and perseverance It is stories like your grandfathers that is the reflection of the strength and courage of our forefathers that need to be documented and remembered

Dr Art Miki Human Rights Champion author ofGaman PerseveranceWinner of a 2025 CanadaJapan Literary Award

In her poignant translation ofThe Broken Map HomeKeiko gives voice to a story that demands to be heard Its a deeply moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable hardship Through the powerful voice of her grandfather Keiko illuminates a lesserknown chapter of World War II reminding us of the enduring strength and compassion that transcends national boundaries This book is a vital contribution to our understanding of the human cost of conflict and a powerful call for peace and empathy in our fractured world

Joy Kogawa