Author's Note

Prologue: The Road Home
Chapter 1: The Girl Who Wants to Go to School
Chapter 2 Persimmons and Alsatang
Chapter 3: Going as an Adopted Daughter
Chapter 4: Busan Udon Restaurant
Chapter 5: Ulsan Bars
Chapter 6: Yanji East Airport
Chapter 7: Purity
Chapter 8 That Person
Chapter 9: To the city of Yanji
Chapter 10 Sister Mija
Chapter 11: A Japanese Soldier
Chapter 12: Liberation and Abandoned Women
Chapter 13: The First Marriage
Chapter 14 My Son
Chapter 15: Return
Epilogue: In Search of Grandmother Lee Ok-seon's Footsteps

Reference book

“War makes men inhuman.”
The Truth Behind the "Comfort Women" History That Resonated Around the World

To cover her story, author Kim Geum-suk visits the House of Sharing in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, where the victims of Japanese military "comfort women" live together.
After several visits, the author meets grandmother Lee Ok-seon and begins interviewing her.
But my grandmother said, “Japan is bad.
He only repeats, “Abe must apologize,” and rarely tells us anything.
As the conversation grows tiresome, the grandmother finally manages to tell the story of her life.


Grandmother Lee Ok-seon was born in Bosu-dong, Busan, as the eldest daughter of five siblings.
Okseon, who was full of enthusiasm for learning, wished to go to school like other children, but her family, who were busy just making ends meet, could not afford to send her to school, and so she was eventually sent away as an adopted daughter to have one less mouth to feed.
One day, sixteen-year-old Ok-seon, who had left home after being told she would be sent to school and was working as a maid in various houses, was caught on the street by strangers while running an errand for her master.
That's how he became a 'comfort woman'.


The reality of the life of a 'comfort woman' as testified by Oksun is vivid and cruel.
However, the scenes that bring up the grandmother's suffering are drawn with images of trees and wind using thick ink like a sumi-e painting, instead of direct description.
Author Kim Geum-suk believes that simply reproducing the reality of violence can inflict further pain on the victims, and that it fails to properly convey the brutality and inhumanity to readers.
As the review of the book, “The scenes that stop the heart more than any comic” (New York Times), says, “Grass”’s powerful illustrations vividly convey the cruelty of history to readers without specifically describing the reality of the “comfort women.”


A cry to those who ask why Japan should apologize
History doesn't disappear even after the victims pass away.

"The Grass" was exported to 35 countries and made the world aware of the truth about the history of Japanese military "comfort women."
In Japan, a Japanese edition was successfully published through crowdfunding in 2020, led by civic activists, demonstrating solidarity at the civil society level and shedding light on the future of Japan-Korea relations.
The broad appeal of "Grass" may be due to the fact that the "comfort women" issue transcends the boundaries between Korea and Japan and is a broader women's issue and human rights issue.
In the “Author’s Note” accompanying the revised edition, author Kim Geum-sook says, “I never thought that people with different skin colors than mine, who spoke a language I didn’t know, and especially young women, would shed tears and thank me,” and that “sexual violence is a terrible thing that leaves deep scars on victims, transcending time, age, race, and social class.”


The final scene of "Grass" shows Grandma Lee Ok-seon, enraged by the December 2015 agreement between South Korea and Japan on the issue of Japanese military "comfort women" that excluded the victims, vowing to fight to the end.
In 2024, when the revised edition was published, he is still firmly holding down the House of Sharing at the age of ninety-seven.
Despite being in poor health, such as receiving dialysis, he actively participates in related events and speaks out, saying, “We will not die until we apologize.”
Like grass that rises again after being trampled, the voices of East Asian women who overcame the damage of war crimes and became witnesses to history resonate deeply with readers.


Author's Note

I never dreamed that "Grass" would be translated into 35 languages ​​around the world, win numerous international awards, and be recommended as a book in many countries.
I honestly didn't expect it to resonate so deeply in Central and South America, on the other side of the world, a 30-hour flight from South Korea.
I never thought that people with different skin colors than mine, who spoke a language I didn't know, and who were young women, would thank me with tears in their eyes.
When they said, “This story is my story,” I felt something warm welling up deep in my heart.


The countless readers who loved "Grass" sympathized with it far more than I expected and understood my intentions more deeply than I did.
Like silence, pictures are text, so on pages with only pictures, readers read the pictures with their hearts.
I can't forget the look in their eyes.
I am sure that the twinkling stars in those eyes will guide me as I continue my work.
I will continue to record life through comics as if it were my destiny.
As time goes by, I hope to be able to create works that are based on the preciousness and love for humans and all living things.