Discrimination Scar as Self-Realization

“By his own account, Masa enjoyed his early childhood, playing hide-and-seek in the haystacks and fishing in the local Daigi river. His first encounter with overt discrimination left a scar, both mental and physical. One afternoon, on his way home from kindergarten, Masa was attacked by Japanese kids taunting him for living in the Korean ghetto. One threw a stone which struck his forehead and drew blood. It was a moment of humiliation but also self-realization: Masa spoke Japanese and he had inherited a Japanese name (‘Yasumoto’), but he was still a pariah.”

“Years later, well after his first million, Masa confided to an old friend that he was plagued by a recurring nightmare, waking up in a start with the stench of pig excrement in his nostrils. When he described the experience, his friend said the dream was in fact a memory. Try as he might, Masa could not escape his past.[13](private://read/01jg9b8njt7zc5haz30afb9n29/#ch02_13)”