Downton Abbey, Pachinko is based on the real lives and experiences of the people that existed in its different time periods.
In the early 20th century, a young girl named Sunja and her family live comfortable but ultimately uneasy lives as second class citizens in their own country in Japanese-occupied Korea. Decades later, they the thousands of Koreans who emigrate to Japan, and eventually become wealthy in the '80s by running pachinko parlors, a Japanese pinball-type game popular in Tokyo. These juxtaposed timelines tell the multi-generational story of not just Sunja's family, but also that of many other Korean families living in Japan after the war. In many ways, the collective experiences of Sunja and her family are a microcosm of the Korean diaspora, a summation of the lives and struggles of three different generations of Koreans.
Although Pachinko is a latecomer in the recent surge of series adaptations of popular books, unlike most adaptations, Pachinko touches on a part of Asian history that's rarely tackled in the West: the lives of Zainichi Koreans, the second-largest minority group in Japan. Zainichi is the collective term for Koreans who came to Japan before 1945 – from Japanese-occupied Korea – along with the descendants of these immigrants. Throughout the 20th century, Zainichi Koreans faced discrimination in Japan, and were mostly limited to “dirty, dangerous, and demeaning” jobs or businesses. This is how Koreans came to own around 80% of all pachinko businesses in Japan, a legalized gambling industry that today is worth ¥20 trillion or $162 billion.
The original 2017 novel "Pachinko" was written by Korean American author and journalist Min Jin Lee. Although Lee is not a Zainichi Korean herself, her experiences as an immigrant who moved to the U.S. from South Korea as a child are reflected in the original Apple TV show version of her novel. Lee also wrote the novel “Free Food for Millionaires,” and the short stories “Axis of Happiness” and “Motherland,” all of which tackle different aspects of the Korean diaspora.
Pachinko isn't based on a single true story. Rather, much like most of Min Jin Lee's work, it's based on the different real-life stories of people who've been largely forgotten by Western history. Today, Pachinko – both the book and the series – are crucial examinations of all-too-often ignored perspectives in 20th century history.
Pachinko releases new episodes Fridays on Apple TV+.