I am setting metal type by hand in a cramped Jongno print shop. Ink darkens my fingers while scarce paper and a worn press fill the worktable before me.
Timeslip Diary
The City Held Its Breath Behind the Blackout Curtains
8/14/1945 β A day in the life of Seunghyeon song
The world of 1945Timeslip day 1Me at 39
At about 5:40 a.m., I woke in my rented room in Cheongjin-dong to the clatter of a handcart on the damp alley stones. Clouded summer light pressed against the blackout cloth, and for a moment I listened to the city breathing as quietly as I was.
π Today's diary3
6:20 a.m. β Cheongjin-dong Alley π
At 6:20 a.m. in the narrow alley outside my Cheongjin-dong room, I washed at the communal pump while a cicada rasped from the persimmon tree beyond the wall. My wife had stretched our barley with a fistful of rice, and the thin porridge smelled faintly scorched from the charcoal brazier. I folded the morning ration coupons into my wallet and wore a dark hemp jacket, as pale clothing is still discouraged during air-raid precautions. At the corner, the neighborhood association runner hurried past without his usual scolding, his wooden clogs striking the stones unevenly. People whispered that the war news had turned grave, but no one could say what was true. I left for the printing shop with an empty lunch tin and a strange heaviness under my ribs.
π Instead of the original source, this card links to a search for records from that era.
12:10 p.m. β Jongno Samil Print Shop π
At 12:10 p.m. inside Samil Print Shop off Jongno, I stood between trays of metal type while the treadle press thumped and the room smelled of ink, hot oil, and sweat. Paper had become so scarce that we saved every clean strip, and the foreman counted sheets twice before allowing a small handbill run. A delivery boy brought word that an important broadcast might come soon, though he had heard it from a tram conductor who had heard it elsewhere. We ate cold barley balls beside the paper stacks, washing them down with roasted-barley tea from a dented kettle. Someone mentioned the terrible new bombs used across the sea and the Soviet advance from the north, but his voice fell when a policeman passed the open door. I kept setting type, yet every reversed character trembled slightly between my fingers.
π Instead of the original source, this card links to a search for records from that era.
11:15 p.m. β Cheongjin-dong Courtyard π
At 11:15 p.m. in the shared courtyard of our Cheongjin-dong lodging, I checked the blackout cloth before letting the oil lamp burn low. Earlier, near closing time, the print-shop foreman had received unusually strict instructions that newspapers were to speak of ending the war, not defeat, and that criticism or disorderly talk would be punished. Far toward the government offices, a motorcar crossed the sleeping streets, and a neighbor said officials were gathering for a late emergency meeting. None of us knew what had been decided in Tokyo today; we only knew that authority suddenly sounded frightened. My wife mended my cuff beside the lamp while I rubbed the dayβs ink from my nails with harsh soap. I lay down without undressing fully, listening for boots in the alley and wondering what announcement the morning might carry.
π Instead of the original source, this card links to a search for records from that era.
π° Back then, today's headlines3
Japan Decides to End the War β
I heard only guarded rumors that the highest authorities had reached a decision today. After years of censored victories, I hardly dared trust the possibility that the war might truly be ending.
monthly.chosun.com
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Press-Control Instructions Issued at 5 p.m. β
Near the end of my shift, word reached the shop that newspapers must use the language of βwar termination,β avoid criticism, and preserve public unity. The careful wording made the silence feel more alarming than any headline.
monthly.chosun.com
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Late-Night Emergency Meeting at the Government-General β
A neighbor whispered that senior colonial officials were meeting around 11 p.m. over the possibility of Soviet forces reaching Gyeongseong. I could not see inside those offices, but their sudden fear seemed to travel through the dark streets.
jajusibo.com
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This diary is a creative story based on historical records and period research. Events with available records are linked to their original sources, while eras without surviving records are reconstructed through imagination grounded in historical research.
