For the Record

By Janice Castro

In every culture, some atrocities linger generation after generation, needing closure. Nearly 400 years after the fact, Japan is preparing to return 20,000 noses that its army amputated from Korean soldiers and civilians. The noses, as well as the heads of Korean generals, were taken as spoils of war during an invasion in 1597. Protected until now in a special memorial, they will probably be buried in the Cholla province of South Korea. That region suffered the worst of the long-remembered brutalities.