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| Yuri painting in her studio |
it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month and, once again, we’re celebrating International Women’s Day by honoring Japanese war brides alongside their sisters around the world.
as you know from reading this blog, Japanese war brides were amazing women. in addition to marrying their former enemies (American military men), these ladies arrived in the U.S. during racial segregation and shortly after Americans of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned behind barbed wire.
besides having to learn a new language and culture, Japanese war brides also raised mixed race children in environments that were often hostile towards them, and sometimes in isolated areas of the country.
we created our ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’ films to celebrate these amazing women. all five movies are currently available on Gumroad:
https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/
meanwhile, we’ve been busy cataloging Yuri’s incredible heARTwork for a film, ‘Tokyo Lily’. we also have a graphic novel in the works, ‘Lily Wisteria’, which is all about her life.
'Tokyo Lily' will feature Yuri’s numerous paintings, wood carvings, quilting, crocheting and sewing projects, as well as her traditional dance performances and haiku (Japanese poetry).
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| Yuri dancing in a male role |
we hope to have both projects completed by early next year.
you can learn more about Japanese war brides at our two Youtube channels:
https://www.youtube.com/@warbridesofjapan/videos
https://www.youtube.com/c/WatermelonSushi/videos
here's our 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' website:
and, Yuri’s heARTwork can be seen here:
https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko
along with our two projects about Yuri, we’re also reworking ‘Watermelon Sushi’ as animation. this story of two AfroAsian sisters showcases their Japanese war bride mother, and how they discovered their identity through her. check it out here:
stick around as we’ll be announcing our crowdfunding campaign this summer.
happy International Women’s Day!
Yuri’s Fans Forever
