heARTwork by Yuri

Thursday, June 8, 2023

summer heART

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers across the universe! it's the 8th day of the 6th month and time to meet again.

how’s your summer going? ours has been super hot with busy-ness!

we’re so sorry to disappoint you, but we haven't been able to keep our promise to launch two projects about our favorite Japanese war bride and heARTist, Yuri.

we had hoped to get our fundraiser started by now, but it looks like it will be more like this fall.

meanwhile, we continue to present our 5 war brides films on Gumroad:

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

in addition to our upcoming doc, 'Tokyo Lily', we’re also creating a graphic novel about Yuri’s life. it's called 'Lily Wisteria' because Yuriko means lily, and her family mon is represented by the wisteria.

Yuri sells her art at the International District Summer Festival

Yuri with her family

as a conduit for Japanese war brides, we’re often contacted by grandchildren who have discovered the extraordinary lives their grandmothers lived—how they left their homes and families to marry their former enemies, American military men. and, how some of them were disowned, never to see Japan again, while others were physically and emotionally abused by their husbands; and, some even by their husbands’ families.

just consider arriving in a new country, barely speaking the language, and having to navigate a new living space, often with no one around who looks like you. further, most war bride immigration took place during the 1950’s and Jim Crow.

the Supreme Court ruling of Loving v. Virginia didn’t occur until 1967. prior to that, some white husbands couldn’t even take their Japanese brides to their home state lest they both be arrested for marrying illegally.

Japanese war brides also raised mixed-race children without books or blogs advising them on how to bring up their kids in a society that they were barely familiar with themselves.

but more often than not, Japanese war brides had satisfactory marriages. some even found immeasurable happiness in their new American homes.

if you’d like to know more about Japanese war brides please visit our Youtube channels and subscribe:

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

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

we also have a new 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' website. it’s not as fancy as the old one, but all the info is there:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

and, to see more of Yuri’s heARTwork, check out her website:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

have a happy heART summer. we’ll return when things cool down some.

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

'tokyo lily' and 'lily wisteria' on international women’s day

Yuri painting in her studio

konnichi-wa, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

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).

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:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

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:

www.watermelonsushi.com

stick around as we’ll be announcing our crowdfunding campaign this summer.

happy International Women’s Day!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

Thursday, December 8, 2022

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

Thursday, September 8, 2022

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

Thursday, June 9, 2022

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

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

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