Pachinko

Pachinko

by

Min Jin Lee

A Korean term referring simply to a married or middle-aged woman. In Pachinko, the word often refers particularly to the women who sell homemade wares in the open market. Sunja grows up buying goods from and chatting with market ajummas like Mrs. Jun in Korea, and she becomes a market ajumma herself when she starts selling kimchi in Osaka’s Ikaino market.

Ajumma Quotes in Pachinko

The Pachinko quotes below are all either spoken by Ajumma or refer to Ajumma. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Survival and Family Theme Icon
).
Book 1, Chapter 4 Quotes

“Sunja-ya, a woman’s life is endless work and suffering. There is suffering and then more suffering. It’s better to expect it, you know. You’re becoming a woman now, so you should be told this. For a woman, the man you marry will determine the quality of your life completely. A good man is a decent life, and a bad man is a cursed life—but no matter what, always expect suffering, and just keep working hard. No one will take care of a poor woman—just ourselves.”

Related Characters: Mrs. Jun (speaker), Sunja Baek
Page Number: 27
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 2 Quotes

Sunja cried out, “Kimchi! Delicious Kimchi! Kimchi! Delicious kimchi! Oishi desu! Oishi kimchi!”

This sound, the sound of her own voice, felt familiar, not because it was her own voice but because it reminded her of all the times she’d gone to the market as a girl—first with her father, later by herself as a young woman, then as a lover yearning for the gaze of her beloved. The chorus of women hawking had always been with her, and now she’d joined them. “Kimchi! Kimchi! Homemade kimchi! The most delicious kimchi in Ikaino! More tasty than your grandmother’s! Oishi desu, oishi!'' She tried to sound cheerful, because back home, she had always frequented the nicest ajummas. When the passersby glanced in her direction, she bowed and smiled at them. ''Oishi! Oishi!”

Related Characters: Sunja Baek (speaker), Hoonie
Page Number: 161
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Pachinko LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pachinko PDF