Showing posts with label interracial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interracial. Show all posts

Friday, March 8, 2024

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.


 






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! 


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: 


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. 


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:

our Youtube channel: 

our Facebook page: 

ja!




















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