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

tokyo lily: an international woman

Yuriko at 20

happy International Women’s Day to all you heARTists and heART lovers! 

it’s the 8th day of the 3rd month of another new year, and we hope you’re  enjoying 2024 so far. 

as for us, we’re considering grouping the five ‘War Brides of Japan, a  docu*memory’ films so that audiences will only have to pay one time to view all of them. they’ll still be available on Gumroad, but grouping them will make it a little easier and sukoshi cheaper for everyone to see.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

 

and, now for some news about our favorite war bride and heARTist, Yuriko, or Tokyo Lily as she’s called in our latest film. 

we began our Crowdfundr campaign late last year and, eternal thanks to our loyal and generous supporters, we’ve raised enough money to send all the super 8mm and mini DV tapes out for digitizing! 

https://crowdfundr.com/tokyo-lily 

the super 8mm footage (containing scenes from the early 1970’s) will be scanned at a high resolution suitable for inclusion in the film; while the mini DV’s feature footage from the beginning of the 2000’s—including interviews with Yuriko and her family. 

Yuriko with her first child in Japan

there are also scenes of her showing off her heART work, her cooking, her dancing, and moments where she discusses surviving WWII as a civilian in Japan. 

speaking of WWII, Tokyo experienced the worst fire bombing in the recorded history of the world when Americans dropped bombs during a March 9-10,1945 campaign. because houses back then were mostly made of wood and paper, over 100,000 people perished when fires quickly spread throughout the city. 

here’s some information from Wikipedia: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo 

that will be just one of many events we’ll cover in 'Tokyo Lily, a war bride docu*memory’. 

we’ll begin with Yuriko witnessing the Great Kanto Earthquake at just four years old, then being sold into servitude at age 13, working for the U.S. military during the Occupation, then meeting her African American husband and moving to a segregated Texas post-war. then, she goes on to live in Germany and the U.S. while raising two children and six dogs, before finally finding her way to expression through art when she married for the second time. 

Yuriko with her family in Germany

Yuriko's painting of her dog, Princess

here’s the first trailer we produced, and we’ll have more once the digitized footage is ready for editing. 

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

arrigatou to all of you—our valuable contributors. just as with ‘War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory’, ‘Tokyo Lily’ would not be possible without your support. 

on this International Women’s Day, we honor of all your Japanese war bride mothers, your Japanese war bride relatives and your Japanese war bride friends. 

until we meet on June 8, please stay posted by visiting:

our websites:

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

www.warbridesofjapan.com

our Youtube channel: 

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

our Facebook page: 

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

ja!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

'tokyo lily' blossoms

greetings to all you heARTists and heART lovers of the world! it’s the 8th day of the 9th month, and time for more heARTwork by Yuri.

coming soon: 'Tokyo Lily' film

the good news is that we’re finally cataloging all of Yuri’s amazing heARTwork that will be included in the film, 'Tokyo Lily'. fingers crossed, and the story of her life should hit the screens sometime next year.

Yuri making heART in her studio

even before becoming a Japanese war bride, Yuri lived an adventurous life with many sudden changes. all of those unexpected moments will be shared through actual film interviews, vintage photos and, of course, displays of her heARTwork.

after leaving Japan with her first husband (an American soldier), Yuri raised two children. but it wasn’t until her second marriage that she was finally able to express her full heARTistic self thanks to her husband, Bob. besides helping out by schlepping Yuri and her heARTwork to various competitions and exhibits, Bob also promoted her creative endeavors. yay to Bob for making Yuri’s dreams come true!

Bob promoting Yuri's heART

until the release of 'Tokyo Lily', you can learn more about Japanese war brides by watching these 5 films:

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

you can also subscribe to our Youtube channels:

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

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

here’s our official website:

www.warbridesofjapan.com

and, Yuri’s website:

https://lenastarwheels.wixsite.com/iamartistyuriko 

arrigatou for your love and support!

Yuri’s Fans Forever