From the late 1950s through the '70s, more than 90,000 of the ethnic Koreans in Japan emigrated to North Korea, a country that promised them affluence, justice, and an end to discrimination. KAZOKU NO KUNI tells the story of one of their number, who returns for just a short period. For the first time in 25 years, Sonho is reunited with his family in Tokyo after being allowed to undergo an operation there. Sonho’s younger sister Rie is at the centre of the film, and is not hard to recognise as the director’s alter-ego. In her documentaries DEAR PYONGYANG and SONA, THE OTHER MYSELF, Yang Yonghi told the story of her own life, and how, at age six, she experienced the departure of her three older brothers, who left their family for Pyongyang.
Yang Yong-hi
Director

Sakura Ando
Rie

Arata Iura
Sonho

Tatsushi Ōmori
Hongi

Yang Ik-june
Mr. Yang

Jun Murakami
Juno

Kotomi Kyono
Suni

Yoshiko Miyazaki
Mother

Masane Tsukayama
Father

Tarō Suwa
Uncle Tejo
The Sea of Trees61%
Minari73%
Starving in Suburbia65%
Fathers and Daughters71%
湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛74%
Normal66%
Reality64%
天国と地獄83%
Roman J. Israel, Esq.63%
海よりもまだ深く72%
House of Strangers69%
東京物語81%
Marjorie Prime60%
Three Wishes62%
トウキョウソナタ73%
An Adventure in Space and Time76%
Head Full of Honey63%
Home67%
The Boy Who Could Fly62%
Columbus70%