'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

Yuriko's heARTwork contributions to international women's day

happy International Women’s Day to heARTists and heART lovers around the world!

an old woman reflects on her life's past

a young woman reflects on her life to come

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

interestingly, Japanese war brides like Yuriko contributed to global awareness of women’s issues without even realizing it.

when they arrived in the US for the first time (along with their American military husbands), Japanese war brides had experienced very little contact with western culture—outside of what the US military brought to Japan during the Occupation.

even Empress Michiko designated the war brides as ‘cultural ambassadors’ for Japan.

obon dancers by Yuriko

besides their beliefs in Shinto and Buddhism, the brides also perpetuated obon (ancestral celebrations) with bon odori (obon dances), ikebana (flower arranging), sumi-e (calligraphy), and the introduction a variety of foods. everything—from sushi to tempura to sukiyaki—eventually became popular in US specialty restaurants. 

war brides innocently brought their practices of Japanese culture to a country that had been so hostile towards Americans of Japanese descent that they had imprisoned them during WWII. 

by naively clinging to their native beliefs and arts, war brides were able to keep aspects of Japanese culture alive while Japanese Americans had been forced to destroy many elements of it.

through her love for painting, Yuriko imparted messages of peace and hope. even though she preferred to paint landscapes and seascapes, she also created paintings that featured Japanese motifs as well purely American ones.

Yuriko's koi painting is very Japanese

while her eagle woodcarving is totally American

some of her heARTwork appear on this blog page while others can be viewed at iAmArtistYuriko.com

Yuriko won many prizes for her heARTwork

a Wordie by Jason

also, you can stay updated about the 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' series at our website: www.warbridesofjapan.com

until June 30, I will always remain one of...

Yuri’s Fans Forever

heARTwork by Yuri, an International Woman

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere in the universe.

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month and time for heARTwork by Yuri.

and, it’s International Women’s Day, too. around the world, women are still striving for equality in pay for work performed, in child rearing and housekeeping, and even in just being able to choose their own marriage partners.

feminist pioneers: Yuri on the left, Emiko on the right

while we still have a long way to go for women to be where they rightfully belong, we can tick off many accomplishments thanks to feminist pioneers.

unbelievably, Yuriko was very much a pioneer and a feminist in ways she didn’t even realize. being a Japanese war bride during the Occupation of Japan meant that women were able to date a man of their own choosing. that those men were very recently their country’s enemies meant a lot of women were ostracized, shunned and even disowned by their families.

still many persevered, married anyway and came to a strange country they’d never seen before where they created new families.

if you haven’t already, check out the 5-part series ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’, on Vimeo:

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/vod_pages

and, for more about war brides, go to:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

meanwhile, enjoy some of Yuriko’s heARTwork featuring women scattered about this page.

a young woman

an elderly woman

a Japanese entertainer

 for more of Yuriko’s heARTwork, visit this website:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

until we meet again on June 8, please celebrate the women in your life!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

honoring Yuri & heARTists on International Women's Day

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

it's one day past (sorry!) the 8th day of the 3rd month and, time to show some love to the heARTist Yuri and to all women of the world on this International Women's Day during Women's Herstory Month.

once again, we're overwhelmed with activities leading to the completion of the War Brides of Japan docu*memory. however, it will be available for rent shortly.

meanwhile, in honor of this day, please enjoy some of Yuri’s paintings of women.

following are all the links you need to stay updated about the film.

war brides of Japan videos:
vimeo the chase
youtube the chase
youtube 88.1 Fresno interview
vimeo behind-the-scenes trailer
youtube behind-the-scenes trailer
vimeo pre-production trailer
youtube pre-production trailer
youtube v.2
youtube v.1

war brides of Japan websites:
warbridesofjapan.com
weebly
jimdo

war brides of Japan news:
stubborn hearts
multiracial media
DIFT interview
NBC
international examiner
international examiner 2
discover nikkei

war brides of Japan facebook:
fan page

throwing rice productions facebook:
fan page

war brides of Japan linkedIn:
how they learned to forgive and love the enemy
making love, not war
those bad ass brides!

war brides of Japan twitter:
watermelonsushi

war brides of Japan G+:
google plus

war brides of Japan blogs:
on the road
tumblR

a war bride's artwork:
iamartistyuriko
heartworkbyyuri

please look for our return here on June 8.

Yuri’s Fans Forever

heARTing Japanese war brides on International Women's Day

Yuri dances in drag;
playing a man's role in a kimono she sewed

konnichi-wa, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere.

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month and time to celebrate International Women’s Day around the world. while we do so, let’s also remember our pioneering war brides from Japan.

after interviewing several brides last year, many of their children, some of their grandchildren and even one of their great grandchildren, i have come to admire the amazing accomplishments of these women—Yuri the heARTist included.

first of all, to meet, fall in love with, and marry a man who was a former enemy who helped bombed their country and possibly killed or maimed their loved ones, these women were able to find within themselves the capacity to forgive. they also embraced hope by becoming involved with foreign men despite incurring the wrath of their relatives—some who disowned them—and being shunned by other Japanese who saw their marriages to Americans as an act of disloyalty.

Yuri sewed this heart from fabric

some Japanese women had relationships with military men who abandoned them and left them to raise mixed race children alone. in the mono-racial society of post-WWII Japan, it was very difficult for a gaijin or outsider to find acceptance, especially a child who looked different and served to remind Japanese they had lost the war.

this whimsical dancer and cherry blossoms were painted on a piece of driftwood by Yuri

for the Japanese women who married American GI's, it was challenging to move to America during Jim Crow and segregation. at the time, 16 states still upheld anti-miscegenation laws forbidding whites to marry anyone other than whites.

Japanese women who married African American men became 'black by default' and were denied housing, dining out privileges and other recreational activities reserved only for whites.

Yuri carved this sparrow inside a thick piece of wood

most brides spoke broken English and were discriminated against by store clerks, cashiers and others who held anti-Japanese sentiment because of WWII. 

many Japanese war brides lived in isolation if they weren’t in dependent quarters on military bases. often, these women were the singular war bride in their neighborhood, the only one in an interracial marriage, the lone Asian and always the only person of Japanese ancestry where they lived.

one of Yuri's many oil paintings depicting the sea and a longing for her home across the ocean

with no long distance calls back then, nor daily flights overseas, war brides resorted to writing letters back home. many were homesick for the culture they had grown up with and for the foods they had eaten which were not available in most of the US.

Yuri's all-American apple pie, one of the many 'foreign' foods she grew to love cooking

yet these women persevered, creating families and holding jobs, often sharing knowledge of Japanese culture with others in their environment. to those wonderful women, we have created a documentary film that honors them just as we honor all women on this day.

www.warbridesofjapan.com

these Heian-era dolls with plum blossoms were painted on wood by Yuri

as for Yuri, please enjoy the art she created seen on this blog post. as an artist, poet, dancer, chef, tailor, gardener, mother and wife, she embodied the spirit of the ever achieving Japanese war bride.

links to the  War Brides of Japan documentary film:

war brides of Japan videos:
youtube 88.1 Fresno interview
vimeo behind-the-scenes trailer
youtube behind-the-scenes trailer
vimeo pre-production trailer
youtube pre-production trailer
youtube v.2
youtube v.1

war brides of Japan websites:
warbridesofjapan.com
weebly
jimdo

war brides of Japan news:
multiracial media
DIFT interview
NBC
international examiner
international examiner 2
discover nikkei

war brides of Japan Facebook:
fan page

war brides of Japan LinkedIn:
how they learned to forgive and love the enemy
making love, not war
those bad ass brides!

war brides of Japan Twitter:
watermelonsushi

war brides of Japan G+:
google plus

war brides of Japan blogs:
on the road
tumblR

a war bride's artwork:
iamartistyuriko
heartworkbyyuri

until June 8, we are...

Yuri's Fans Forever

heARTing Yuriko, heARTing Women Everywhere!

Yuri, lei-making in Honolulu

a heARTy International Women’s Day to all heART lovers everywhere!

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month and time to celebrate more of Yuri’s heARTwork with her fans.

apologies for missing you last month, but our documentary War Brides of Japan is taking us away from regularly posting on this blog. arrigatou for understanding.

while we were gone, Hinamatsuri (Girls Day or Dolls Day) was celebrated in Japan on March 3.

hinamatsuri card lights up and plays music

above is a photo of a celebratory greeting card that the wife of one of Yuri’s nephews sent us. when the button is pressed, the lanterns light up and a Japanese tune plays.

girl and boy dolls crocheted by Yuri 

originally, Dolls Day was for removing bad luck and curses. in ancient times, people believed they could speak their misfortunes into their dolls, then sail them away down the river; thus, banishing evil from their lives. in modern times, Japanese girls get expensive replicas of the royal family—emperor, empress and other court figures—then, have them set up in display along with offerings of food like sweet mochi deserts.

speaking of dolls, here are a few more that Yuriko made by hand. 

made with fabric, a man and woman dance in kimono

two of three boys appliqued onto a noren (door banner)

here's the third boy

two girls on a noren, one carries a baby (aka-chan) on her back

enjoy!

and, please follow the links in the December 8 post below to know more about War Brides of Japan.

Yuri's Fan Forever

daruma's a Yuri fan, too!