My mother is a Japanese war bride, one of the tens of thousands of young women who married American GIs and came to the United States to make a new life among strangers. Journalists Lucy Craft, Karen Kasmauski and I made a short documentary film about these women, telling the story through our mothers’ eyes. The film, “Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides” was released in August 2015 and premiered on BBC World Television. (To view the trailer or order the film, go to www.fallsevengetupeight.com) In order to tell the stories of many more women, I spent a year traveling the country to record interviews, funded by a Time Out grant from Vassar College, my alma mater. This oral history archive is the result. In addition, we three are working on a longer film and a traveling exhibit, and have formed a non-profit corporation — The War Bride Experience, Inc. — so that we can apply for grants and fundraise. If you are interested in supporting us or receiving our newsletter, please email warbride@zoho.com. Our website is www.warbrideexperience.org.
— Kathryn Tolbert