Japanese mother of Korean orphans
Nearly eight decades after Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, both nations are actively working to create a mutually amicable relations. The ideal approach involves fostering reconciliation over shared historical experiences and cultivating a forward-looking vision for future collaboration. Despite pending issues and occasional strained postwar relations, observers are closely monitoring the diplomatic steps taken by Seoul and Tokyo.
One inspiring story amidst this historical backdrop is that of Chizuko Tauchi, later embraced by the Korean name Yoon Hakja (1912-1968), known as the “Japanese mother of Korean orphans.”
Born in Wakamatsu City, Kochi Prefecture, Japan,
Tauchi and her mother relocated to Korea in 1918 to join her father, a colonial government official in Mokpo, a port city in South Jeolla Province. She received her education there, benefiting from the privileged colonial education reserved for Japanese citizens.
Tauchi’s awareness of the harsh colonial realities was sparked during conversations with Takao Matsutaro, her high school English teacher. Upon graduating from high school in 1929, Tauchi began her career as a music teacher at Jeongmyeong Girls’ High School in Mokpo. At Takao’s suggestion, she volunteered at the Gongsaengwon orphanage on the city’s outskirts, teaching music and the Japanese language to Korean orphans.
Notably, the Gongsaengwon orphanage managed by Yoon Chiho, known as the “leader of beggars,” became a significant part of Tauchi’s life. In 1938, she married Chi-ho, embracing her Korean name, Yoon Hak-ja
They had four children together. Following Korea’s liberation from Japan in 1945, Tauchi returned to Japan in 1946. After two years in her hometown, she came back to the Gongsaengwon orphanage with the children in 1948. Placing her own children in the orphanage’s quarters, she initiated a practice of treating them on par with the other children in the facility.
In a heartening display of compassion and solidarity, President Yoon Suk Yeol and the First Lady Kim Keon Hee recently graced the Gongsaengwon orphanage in Mokpo to mark its 95th anniversary on Oct. 13, 2023. The occasion was not a commemoration of nearly a century of providing care and support to vulnerable children but a poignant acknowledgment of an enduring legacy.
Founded in 1928, Gongsaengwon later became an orphanage under the care of Christian evangelist Yoon Chi-ho. Operated by his wife, it served as a refuge for numerous vulnerable children.
The seeds of their mission, initially sown by Yoon the evangelist, thrived under his wife. During the Korean War (1950-53), Yoon went missing. Undeterred, his wife persevered in the noble mission, embodying an extraordinary philanthropic spirit by personally caring for and nurturing approximately 4,000 Korean orphans until her passing at the age of 56 in 1968.