^^ You’re right; Goro probably wasn’t yakuza. Solomon says so firmly to Kazu. There’s just a small door left open for doubt. Solomon tells his father and Goro:
Solomon sees only the good in people. He liked Kazu, but Phoebe saw through his act very quickly.
In any case, my earlier comparison still stands: Yakuza or no, Goro had money, power and connections, but unlike Hansu, he used them to quietly assist others without seeking profit for himself.
I don’t think Goro is Yakuza. Kaza pegs him as one only because Goro is a successful Korean businessman. Add to that the fact that Goro’s success comes from Pachinko parlors. Prejudice therefore dictates that he must be Yakuza instead of nothing more or less than a successful businessman and good person.
You’ve reminded me of a part I was confused about.
What’s the real reason Kazu fired Solomon?
Kazu says it’s because the company that wants to develop the land got cold feet due to the sudden death of the Korean woman after she sold the land to Goro (who in turn sold it to the company at no profit to himself). Kazu says something about an upcoming public offering and the company not wanting any bad press and the investigation into the woman’s death looks bad. Is that right?
Yet, when Solomon was telling Mozasu, Goro, and Haruki what happened, Haruki is puzzled isn’t he? Because he had not heard of any “investigation”, and he would know. And Goro says the deceased woman’s daughters are behaving normally; foul play is not on the radar. Goro emphasizes how old the woman was, and that she wouldn’t sell to a Japanese.
And if Japan marginalizes Koreans so much, why would there even be any sort of investigation into a 90-something year old Korean woman’s death?
Anyways, so that got me wondering if Kazu was lying. About the company being upset. Was he just looking for an excuse to get rid of a potential rival (Solomon?). Maybe he didn’t want to share the accolades (or commission!) for a big deal?
I think the implication was definitely that Kazu was lying, probably because he wanted credit for the deal. In some ways the message seems to be that Pachinko is still the most Koreans can aspire to.
I interpreted it two ways:
In Kazu’s mind, Korean and Pachinko equalled yakuza.
Kazu was ruthless and at that point Solomon was more a liability than a benefit to him, so adios.
However, when reading it at the time, I did find it very unclear. I remember rereading it because I wasn’t sure what the author wanted the readers to take away from it. To me, it was a case of poor writing. I don’t need to be hit over the head, I’m perfectly capable of reading between the lines and inferring but I chalk up the confusion not to subtlety but less than stellar writing.
^^^ Since the old Korean woman wouldn’t sell to a Japanese buyer Kazu uses Solomon as a middleman to initiate the sale(my confusion was whether Kazu knew of Solomon’s connections to Goro or not).
Once the secondary sale from Goro to the client was completed, Kazu got rid of Solomon so that he wouldn’t have to share the credit and the finding fee/commission. The old woman’s death was just a convenient excuse and good timing for Kazu. i’m guessing that he came up with all the stuff about an investigation and the upcoming public offering to throw dust in Solomon’s eyes who seems either very gullible or too passive.
That whole part of the book seemed forced into the storyline and poorly written. You could kind of see where she was going when Kazu talks to Solomon about family money, Korean background and the Pachinko connections but it wasn’t clear. It took me a couple of hours to read the last 50 or so pages - the book had unravelled for me by then.
The Kazu / Solomon firing was confusing and interesting hearing doubt that she may even died. I assumed she had died, maybe innocently, stress of move, but the optics of her death would stir up bad PR.
The incident reminded me of the Atlantic City- Vera Coking incident. Elderly woman refused to sell small house to casino developers first Penthouse then Donald J Trump. She turned down 1 million at one point, never sold
And casinos built around her home.
That picture of Vera Coking’s home in the Wiki leak is too much! O.O
I thought the same thing about the Atlantic City case.
She was over 90. I don’t think she died of anything specific; people that age die.
There’s some overlap in these two questions. Question #16 refers to Yumi’s death, but I think it is Isak’s spirit that hovers most. He is mentioned/remembered by every member of his family at some point. I liked the ending, when Sunja goes to his grave and buries the photos of Noa and Mozasu there.
However, I didn’t really need the closure of the groundskeeper’s story about Noa’s visits. It defied belief that Noa visited the cemetery on the same day every single month for 15 years. First of all, it seems pretty risky for a guy who is desperate not to be found. Secondly, it doesn’t make sense in light of what we know about Hansu’s search for him:
Hansu must have hired the worst private investigators on the planet, because the groundskeeper tells Sunja that Noa was a regular (and talkative) visitor during the years he would have been living in Nagano: “…he used to come on the last Thursday of each month. You could set a watch to him” (p. 478).
Re question #18 above, I think the book would have been better if it were confined to one character’s perspective. I think we’ve established that Lee bit off a bit more than she could chew with the breadth of this saga. A narrower focus would have enhanced the character development. But whom would you choose to be the third person limited narrator? Sunja is the obvious choice, but I’m not sure she’s interesting enough to carry the novel (sorry, Sunja).
So many of the characters die, our choices are limited. Hansu makes it to the end, but that story would be very different than the one we just read. It might be interesting, but after the scene where he beat the young woman in the car, I’m not sure I want to read more about the world from his perspective.
Kyunghee’s perspective could be interesting. She was a traditional wife, but she also longed for more independence. I see her as someone observing her world and having a quiet opinion of what goes on around her.
I completely agree about having that narrator be Kyunghee. She was all-seeing but wasn’t a character who moved the story forward herself. She was mainly an observer of what was going on with Sunja and her family.
Sadly, the more we discuss the book, the less I like it. I’m not sorry I/we read it – I learned a lot about Japan-Korea relations – but it definitely has flaws. @Mary13, you make an excellent point about Hansu’s hiring the worst private investigators in the world. I felt the scene at the grave was very artificial and there was too much important information dropped by this random gravedigger fellow who just happened to be there when Sunja came by.
I’m really glad I read the book. I’m embarrassed to admit that for an educated person, I am often woefully ignorant of world history. Reading Pachinko helped fill a gap for me. As for its flaws, I think it’s a novel that breaks down under close scrutiny. My guess is that part of its popularity lies in the fact that it’s an entertaining read, peppered with many unusual characters, and set in a time and place that most of us are unfamiliar with. There is a novelty aspect to it. At no point did I ever say to myself, “This book reminds me of [some other title]…” So I appreciated that.
Pachinko received stellar reviews, and many accomplished authors loved it (or professed to): David Mitchell, Roxane Gay, Juno Diaz, etc. And of course it was a National Book Award Finalist. Are we too harsh? Or do we just have very high standards? 
High standards. 
It reminds of the Ferrante Neapolitan novels. Also books that were well loved by many, including critics. I slogged through all 4 of them constantly wondering what all the hype was about. Like Pachinko, I appreciated the fact that I learned tidbits of info about a different time and place. That was informative. Like Pachinko, I felt like I was putting up with less than stellar writing and I’m not sure it was worth the price. Pachinko’s flaws, IMO, include unclear writing, poor character development, and a need for editing and tightness. Ferrante’s flaws, IMO, were repetition and a major need for editing, lackluster writing, but much better character development.
In general, the more we discuss a book, the more we like it. Pachinko is an outlier in that regard. I felt better to find that others here think the same way I do about the book. In truth, I worried I’d be the only one noting flaws. Like @VeryHappy I’m not sorry I read the book. I don’t dislike it (as I did Reading Lolita in Tehran) and understand why those who like it do so. On the other hand I don’t understand the National Book Award finalist designation. I can only assume that the topic of hardships Koreans experienced living in Japan is what carried the day.
I’m glad I read it. I’ve recommended it to my sister, who lived in Japan for six years and is a history fanatic.
I also enjoy reading almost anything we read here together for the camaraderie and virtual social aspects.
I was left hungry for more of Sunja’s thoughts and perspective, as well as Kyunghee’s.
I mean, think of what was absent from the narrative! Did Sunja ever feel pangs of regret that she did not accept Hansu’s offer of a comfortable life as his mistress?
Did she get a glimpse of what could have been when she saw his wife’s mansion?
What did she think of her son’s suicide? The changes over the decades from poor rural boarding house to modern Japan?
Was she really as unaffected by ideas of bad blood and shame?
Anyhow, we don’t get that from the book. The characters are somewhat flat, like (here I go again) a fable or fairy tale.
Ha! Yes, Elena Ferrante’s books. I liked the first one and it was all downhill from there. I grew to dislike many of the characters. “Slog thru” is spot on.
The worst private investigators in the world! Oh, that is funny! So true, @Mary13 I didn’t catch that when I listened to the book (2x!)
The Japanese don’t come out looking that good in this novel. Who are the “good” Japanese characters?
Etsuko. Haruki. Hansu’s FIL. Who am I missing? All with something shameful.
Speaking of Hansu’s FIL…how is it that he was so enamored of Hansu that he adopted him (??) & allowed his daughter to marry Hansu? They were Japanese, née?