Radio Documentary: The Way Home

Radio Documentary: The Way Home

This is a story about a mother and a son, about a man struggling to find his home.

The story happens in the remote mountainous village of Guangxi, in South China. During World War II, a young woman was forced into sex slavery by Japanese soldiers during their invasion of China. Upon finding out that she was pregnant; she managed to escape from her captors. In 1945, she gave birth to a child. Her family decided that the baby was innocent and that he should be given a home.

72-year-old Luo Shanxue.[Photo: Zhao Jianfu]

Written and produced by Lu Chang.

Cast: 

Narrator by Manling;

Luo Shanxue by Lin Shaowen;

Wei Shaolan by Huang Rui;

Wu Chunhua by Yin Xiuqi;

Chen Qingwen by Xin Xin.

Teenage boy by Zhang Chaotong.

Yang Yong voices the lyrics of Guangxi folk song in the end.

Special Thanks to Director Guo Ke, who made a documentary in 2012 and recorded Wei Shaolan singing the song toward the end of the story. 

His documentary's title, "Thirty Two", refers to the number of comfort women who were still alive 5 years ago. By the end of May 2017, only 9 are still with us.

The Way Home was first broadcast on Studio+ on June 1, 2017.

98-year-old Wei Shaolan. [Photo: Zhao Jianfu]

The relics of Shaziling comfort station in Li Pu county, South China's Guang Xi province. [Photo: Zhao Jianfu]