Along the fence of the Utoro Peace Memorial Museum grounds, stand multiple flags displaying a gradient from red to blue, bearing words from Utoro residents. This colour transition signifies not a binary opposition of “red or blue,” but rather, a position encompassing both or something in between.

Utoro is a Zainichi Korean (Korean minority in Japan) community whose origins date back to the early 1940s, when Korean laborers arrived to build a military airfield. Due to unresolved land ownership issues, the residents were considered “illegal occupants” of the land. As a result, infrastructure development was delayed, and Utoro became one of the Zainichi Korean settlements with the harshest living conditions. The Utoro Peace Memorial Museum opened in 2022 in commemoration of the resolution of this issue.

The words of the Utoro residents are quoted from the book, Utoro kokode iki, kokode shinu (Utoro: Living Here, Dying Here), by journalist Ilsong Nakamura, who has worked in Utoro for over decades. They are written in a mixture of Korean used by Zainichi Koreans and Japanese, representing their unique linguistic culture. These words, encompassing both positive and negative sentiments, also express the hearts of residents who decided to live in Utoro while harboring complex feelings.

The words of the Utoro residents are quoted from the book, Utoro kokode iki, kokode shinu (Utoro: Living Here, Dying Here), by journalist Ilsong Nakamura, who has worked in Utoro for over decades. They are written in a mixture of Korean used by Zainichi Koreans and Japanese, representing their unique linguistic culture. These words, encompassing both positive and negative sentiments, also express the hearts of residents who decided to live in Utoro while harboring complex feelings.