The story of Phantom Paradise begins in Manchuria — a land of vast fields, sharp winters, and hopes for the future. Our family built a life there before the world we knew dissolved in war. These images — including the desperate evacuation of Japanese families — reflect the harsh reality we lived through and the beginning of our long journey home.
Depicting five women from Han China, Manchuria, Japan, Korea and Mongolia, dancing in unity, symbolizing "Gozoku Kyouwa" (harmonious life with Five Races in Manchuria)
Children of Japan and Manchuria waving the national flags of Japan and Manckukuo. c. 1935.
Hsinking (Shinkyo) Station, Hsinking (Changchun), Manchukuo
Train Station Hsinking (Shinkyo, now Changchun), Manchukuo
Datong Avenue, Hsinking (Shinkyo, now Changchun), 1939
Japanese settler women and children in Manchukuo in the 1940's
Evacuees awaiting inspection in Hakata, Japan in 1946
The 1,050,000 Japanese citizens repatriated from Huludao in Manchuria to Japan between 1946 - 1948. The monument was inaugurated in 2003.
The Hakata Monument in Fukuoka, built in 1996, honors Japanese citizens returning from Manchukuo after World War II