MR. KUSUNOKI RISSEI (MR. ROS REASAY)
BORN IN 1960 IN PHNOM PENH, LIVES IN KANAGAWA

​​In 1981, Rissei got married and had two daughters. He worked as a member of the city police. Escaping to the border camp was a very tough decision because his daughters were still very young.

In 1985, Rissei stole some items such as a cassette player and his wife’s gold earrings to get some money for a broker who could smuggle him to a refugee camp. He ran away alone, leaving his wife and two young daughters. Wearing old torn clothes, he travelled on a train with the broker, heading towards Battambang province. He continued by car to Svay and then on foot, dodging the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese soldiers, and headed to Dangrek mountains passing through many obstacles before he finally reached Camp 07 and reunited with his mother and brother. At that camp, only women were given an allowance. This was a challenge for his family because his mother had three sons. Therefore, his younger brother pretended to be a woman sometimes to get an allowance. When he was caught, he was beaten.

Rissei likes to read. So, when he left Phnom Penh for a refugee camp, he brought three books with him. Those books were Khmer Civilization, Khmer Traditional Games and Khmer Poetry Principles. He brought the books along because he thought he could read on the way when he got bored.