tokyo lily

Yuri and child

greetings heARTists and heART lovers all around the world! happy holidays and best wishes for a wonderful 2023.

what’s on your slate for the new year? we have quite a few items on ours. 

for one, we're making more people aware of Japanese war brides like Yuri by offering all 5 parts of ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ on Gumroad: 

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/ 

we’re also making appearances at educational institutions to discuss Japanese war brides. 

email us for more information: yayoi@warbridesofjapan.com 

slowly, we’ve been gathering materials for ‘Tokyo Lily’, a film about Yuri. it will not only cover her early years as WWII began building up in Japan, but also follows her to the US after she marries an American soldier—a former enemy of her country. 

 

later, we feature Yuri’s amazing life as she pursues a slew of artistic endeavors—traditional Japanese dance, oil painting, wood carving, sewing, quilting, crocheting, writing haiku, and more. 

Yuri dances a male character

besides the film, we’re also creating a graphic novel which will tell the same story. 

our Youtube channel for the war brides is: 

https://www.youtube.com/@warbridesofjapan/videos 

however, two of our earlier war brides films are on our other Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/WatermelonSushi/videos 

and, as always, you can view Yuri’s artwork here: 

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko 

please stay tuned! 

Yuri’s Fans Forever

falling forward

Yuri in Japan

greetings to all you heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

as heat waves explode across our globe, many of us look forward to fall. and, with cooler temps urging on home-centered activities, we’ll be spending more time working on our future film about Yuri.

we now have all 5 episodes of 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' completed and available on Gumroad:

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

and, our 'Native Vegan' project (funded with a grant by VeganFlix) is viewable on our Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byMMjdjj9CU

now, our attention is focused on a graphic novel and documentary film about the incredible artistry of Yuriko. we’ve been busy uncovering old footage, slides, and still photos showcasing her many art projects that we’ll be sharing in the film. 

here’s one of the many quilts that she created and sewed.

please enjoy the cooling breeze of falling autumn leaves, and we’ll reconnect at the end of this year. 

Yuri’s Fans Forever

summer fun!

happy summer to all heARTists and heART lovers everywhere. 

it’s the 9th day of the 6th month, and we are shamefully a day late in getting this post up! 

the looming summer is looking hectic as we juggle several arts projects. paramount, of course, is the film and graphic novel about our favorite heARTist, Yuriko. 

our research begins next month with a thorough inventory of all of Yuri’s oil paintings, silk paintings, wood carvings and other heARTwork. we hope to gather enough material by fall to begin this long delayed project. 

here are some samples. 

this is noren, or Japanese doorway banner, that Yuri sewed many years ago:

 

Yuriko's noren

Yuriko's painting

and, above is one of her paintings: 

meanwhile, all five parts of ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ is now available on Gumroad: https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com 

enjoy your summer. watch our films. and, we shall meet again on September 8. 

Yuri’s Fans Forever

international women's day celebrates Japanese war brides!

greetings heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month of the new year—time for more heARTwork by the incredible heARTist Yuri.

but wait. we have a surprise for you. 

we’ve recently made the 5 “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” series available online again. you may have already known about Yuri’s life as a Japanese war bride. and now, you have the chance to learn about other women like her.

in “Herstory”, two historians discuss how these women ended up married to their former enemies.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/HERSTORY

historian Lily

women like Asako-san, who married a white Marine, and Fumiko-san, who married a black soldier, are featured in “The Brides”. check it out to see how their lives differed.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/theBRIDES

Asako-san and Margie

Diane, Fujiko-san and Myokei

in “The Kids”, adult children tell their mothers’ stories—like Roleta, whose mom was an entertainer; and, Jean, whose mother hid a major secret from her family. a group of hapa blasian kids also discuss their moms, while eating lunch at a Japanese restaurant.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/theKIDS

Joe, Yayoi and Roleta

Joan, Elaine and Naomi

Andy

Jean

meanwhile, the kids in “The Culture”, talk about their mothers’ influences on them. M Fumie demonstrates origami and prepares several Japanese dishes. Diana talks about obon. and, Yoshi shows off her Japanese decor while preparing ramen.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/theCULTURE

M Fumie, Michelle and Steve

Yayoi, Ed and Diana

Yoshi

“BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever” features three families with Buddhist beliefs, thanks to their mothers.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/BUDDHISTFRIENDSFOREVER

Mike, his wife, Doris, Alana and their cousin

Doris and Cassie

Kim, Cassie and Mr. Farrison

you can stream the episode that most resonates with you, or you can stream all of them. watching all 5 will only cost you a total of $7.

meanwhile, we’re also in the process of creating a film and graphic novel about Yuri. they should be done by the end of this year.

please stay tuned at this blog where we’ll return on June 8 with more heARTwork by Yuri.

International Women's Day, omedettou gozaimasu!

Yuri’s Fans Forever