'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

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

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

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

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

M Fumie, Michelle and Steve

Yayoi, Ed and Diana

Yoshi

“BFF’s; Buddhist Friends Forever” features three families with Buddhist beliefs, thanks to their mothers.

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/l/BUDDHISTFRIENDSFOREVER

Mike, his wife, Doris, Alana and their cousin

Doris and Cassie

Kim, Cassie and Mr. Farrison

you can stream the episode that most resonates with you, or you can stream all of them. watching all 5 will only cost you a total of $7.

meanwhile, we’re also in the process of creating a film and graphic novel about Yuri. they should be done by the end of this year.

please stay tuned at this blog where we’ll return on June 8 with more heARTwork by Yuri.

International Women's Day, omedettou gozaimasu!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

happy holiday heARTS

welcome to the season

greetings heARTists and heART lovers worldwide! 

this is the 8th day of the 12th month and time for more of Yuri’s amazing heARTwork. 

handmade wreaths by Yuri

how are your holidays going so far? since we’re in that season, here are some of Yuri’s handmade festive pieces to put you in the mood.

Muffin barks holiday cheer

in 2022, we’re going to be super busy working on another docu*memory—this time, one that is exclusively about Yuri’s life.

Yuri painted Mr. Claus

please join us for updates, likely, not available until summer.

meanwhile, we’ll set this blog on ‘pause’ while we work on our new film(s). (there’s also the Native Vegan doc sponsored by VeganFlix.)

you can also check out Yuri’s website for more glimpses of herARTwork.

iAmArtistYuriko

have a safe and sane holiday season, but don’t forget to enjoy yourself, too!

omedettou gozaimasu!

Yuri’s Fans Forever

fall and heARTs are in the air!

greetings heARTists and heART lovers everywhere! 

it’s the 8th day of the 9th month and time to share more of Yuri’s incredible heARTwork.

say, can you sense the change in the air? surely, fall is about to arrive.

and with fall, comes bountiful harvests.

so here are some of Yuri’s paintings that represent produce. they're all painted on wood, too!

bamboo shoots are a delicious vegan food

notice that the foods represented are all vegan. yep, we’re sneaking that plug in to let you know about our upcoming documentary about Indigenous cultures and their pre-colonization diets.

yellow onions, green onions and garlic

carrots, jalapeños and green pepper

below is a very ‘quick and dirty’ short video of our upcoming film. 

arrigatou! to VeganFlix for giving us a grant to make our future documentary:

Native Vegan

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

iAmArtistYuriko

when we meet again, it will be chilly winter. please stay safe, and don’t forget that we are and will always be...

Yuri’s Fans Forever