A harrowing true story of one man's life in North Korea and his subsequent escape. Masaji Ishikawa, Korean on both his father's side and Japanese on his mother's side, lived his entire life feeling like a man without a country. This feeling only deepened when his family moved from Japan to North Korea when Ishikawa was just thirteen, unwillingly falling into the lowest social class. His father, a Korean, was lured to the new communist state with promises of work, education, and a high social status for his children. But the reality of their lives was far from utopian. In this autobiography, Ishikawa candidly recounts his turbulent upbringing and the brutal 36 years he spent living under a crushing totalitarian regime, as well as the challenges he faced upon returning to Japan after barely escaping North Korea with his life. River in the Darkness is not only a shocking portrayal of life in the country, but it is also a testament to the transcendence and indomitable nature of the human spirit.