A family drama with the weight of history

The cast and creator of Pachinko, about four generations of a Korean clan, are eager to unveil Season 2

- HANNAH SUNG

“Pachinko” follows four generations of a Korean family and spans much of the 1900s. It focuses on the Zainichi, ethnic Koreans living in Japan.

It’s not every day that an actor gets excited about PDFs and, yes, I am talking about email attachments. But “Pachinko” isn’t your average show and research comes in many forms.

“I asked Soo (showrunner Soo Hugh), please send me everything,” says actor Jin Ha. “I got like, 25 PDFs, 15 or 30 pages long, with intros of some books and essays.”

Ha was clearly enthused. “I love that I get to learn so much. And for this, it’s so much bigger because we’re Korean and of the diaspora. I’m feeling the sense of history within my own family.”

Family bonds are at the heart of “Pachinko,” whose second season premieres Friday on Apple TV Plus. The powerful saga follows four generations of a Korean family and spans much of the 20th century, revealing the hardships of colonization, class struggle, war and migration, specifically through the experience of Zainichi, ethnically Korean people living in Japan.

“My grandmother cried a lot when she was watching ‘Pachinko’ because, you know, it’s not just a series to her,” said fellow actor Minha Kim, who plays Sunja. “But she was very proud of me and she’s dying to see the second season.”

Growing up in Korea, Kim had learned about historical events depicted in “Pachinko,” but found she still had much to learn.

“I watched a lot of interviews with people who lived in that era and it surprised me so much. All the experiences, how they were treated differently,” Kim explained, describing the process of finding identity as “intense.”

Showrunner Hugh is eager to bring to the surface the layers of knowledge that experts provided to the show.