falling in heARTwork

autumn painting ©2012 Yuriko

autumn is on its way, dear heARTists and heART lovers, and we hope that it brings you immense joy. 

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month, and time for more of our star heARTist, Yuriko.

yes! we’re still moving forward with our ‘Tokyo Lily, a War Bride docu*memory’ film, but we have fallen a little behind as we juggle several projects. not to worry, we’ll soon catch up.

and, yes, we are still crowdfunding for 'Tokyo Lily', so please check us out here:

https://crowdfundr.com/tokyo-lily

a short trailer for the film is available on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qW3S8xr-eQ

and, that trailer just won its first film festival laurel as an Official Selection!

since we’ll be posting more videos on our YouTube channel, please subscribe:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPemluw0stoTsx8yvz2tCrg

we’re extremely thankful to our donors who have made it possible to have our tapes digitized. now, we need a little more to help us license some music and hire an animator.

our researcher, Lynn Hammonds, is locating images of WWII Japan for us. she’s also the author of Becoming Misako Kikuchi:

https://www.amazon.in/Becoming-Misako-Kikuchi-Lynn-Hammonds/dp/1537745956/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pl_foot_top?ie=UTF8

r to l: Yuriko and her war bride friends, Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Wright

soon, we’ll be making an announcement about a Japanese war brides touring exhibit in partnership with the Smithsonian Museum. that event is being organized by the filmmakers of ‘Fall Down Seven Times’, another war brides’ film. the touring exhibit will run for five years and features Yuriko’s war bride story among many others.

we’ll keep you updated here at this blog, as well as on our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan/

and, on our website:

https://hapateez.wixsite.com/tokyo-lily

https://warbridesofjapan.com/

and, if you haven’t already seen them, our 'War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory' series is available on Gumroad:

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

very soon we will be offering t-shirts, posters and other paraphernalia that we’ve been busy creating at another platform. we're no longer on Cafe Press and, when our shop is ready and opened, we’ll let you know here or at one of our other websites.

we cannot thank you enough, our friends and fans, for all your support now and in the past.

we’re looking forward to seeing you again on December 8.

stay safe, stay kind, and stay with us!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

picture this!

greetings fellow heARTists around the planet!

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri. 

however, this month we’re going to focus on our upcoming film about the legendary heARTist, haiku writer, traditional Japanese dancer, photographer, painter and home chef extraordinaire—Yuriko!

Yuriko dances the role of Sanshiro Sugata, a male judo master

the film will feature old super 8mm footage from the 1960’s that Yuri shot of her family, and we’re also including slides and photos of Yuri over the years.

here's an example of family footage on Youtube shot by one of her daughters:

pop!1969 : TEEN STAR OF TACOMA

Yuriko in backyard garden with Lulu, circa 1970's

although she was born in an affluent part of Tokyo, Yuri and her family were plunged into poverty when her father suddenly died. 

the film will tell the story of how Yuri found herself working as a live-in nanny at age 13; and, how she gave up a career in fashion design because Japan had engaged in so many wars that its citizens had to toil in arms-producing factories.

Yuriko in her 20's

we’ll also show how Yuri’s marriage to an African American GI following WWII changed her life completely.

Yuri's changing life

speaking of that, our War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory film series is currently available on Vimeo for just a few more weeks. here’s the link:

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/vod_pages

and, here's our website:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

looking toward 2021 and Yuriko’s film, we remain…

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

A Japanese heARTist Inspires A Docu*Memory Film

"Koi" painting by Yuri

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers of this heARTistic universe!

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

again, this quarter, we digress from our usual exhibit of Yuri’s heARTwork (scroll down to view older posts featuring it). instead, we continue to bring you news about the 5-part series titled “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory”, made in Yuri’s honor.

even though we were this close to wrapping up the films last quarter, we got so busy cutting new shorts and trailers to enter into film festivals. please give us a few more days, then check out our Vimeo link below to view the films. 

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi

"War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory" collage

our last post featured 5 posters representing chapters of the docu*memory series, and we’re so happy to announce that all 5 were accepted as Official Selections in the Indo-Global International Film Festival, with the one titled “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory: The Culture” winning a Best Poster award.

"Certificate of Excellence" from Indo-Global International Film Festival

our winning poster

and, in June, we also won Best Concept and Best Trailer awards at The Buddha International Film Festival of Pune Maharashtra India, respectively, for the film “BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever” and the short promo trailer "This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)".

"Best Concept Award" from The Buddha International Film Festival

"Best Trailer Award" from The Buddha International Film Festival

here’s the winning short promo trailer:

This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)

https://vimeo.com/305290266

here are the other 2 promo trailers:

This Doc Rocks! (Daruma)

https://vimeo.com/301430743

Rock This Doc! (Kokeshi)

https://vimeo.com/305181525

and, here are all 5 film trailers on Vimeo:

Herstory:

https://vimeo.com/337430653

The Brides:

https://vimeo.com/337432897

The Kids:

https://vimeo.com/337436195

The Culture:

https://vimeo.com/337747906

BFF’s: Buddhist Friends Forever:

https://vimeo.com/337749810

you can also get updates about the film at:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan/

https://www.facebook.com/throwingriceproductions/

and, please check out sugoi heARTist Yuriko and her sugoi heARTwork at this site:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

until we meet again on December 8, we are and always will be…

Yuri’s Fans Forever

heARTwork by War Brides of Japan, a docu*MEMORY

greetings, heARTists and heART lovers everywhere!

it’s the 8th day of the 6th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

but this time, we’re going to showcase another kind of art. the following posters are for the 5-part film series titled “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” that will be released to the public over the next few days.

you may already know that as a Japanese war bride, Yuri used art to overcome hardships in her life. in her honor, we produced a film about Japanese war brides.

here are film 5 trailers you can watch on Vimeo:

Herstory:

https://vimeo.com/337430653

The Brides:

https://vimeo.com/337432897

The Kids:

https://vimeo.com/337436195

The Culture:

https://vimeo.com/337747906

BFF’s: Buddhist Friends Forever:

https://vimeo.com/337749810

and, the good news is that our promo trailer, "This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)" and our film, “BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever”, were both official selections in The Buddha Film Festival of Pune Maharashtra India--screening this weekend!

This Doc Rocks! (Buddha)

https://vimeo.com/305290266

please stay updated about the film at the following sites:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

https://www.facebook.com/WarBridesOfJapan/

https://www.facebook.com/throwingriceproductions/

as for the amazingly incredible artist Yuriko, you can view her heARTwork at this site:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko

until September 8, ja. mate ne?

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