Author: Kathryn Tolbert

Not Madame Butterfly (5:14)

Toyo Kaneko Swartz

When Toyo Kaneko went to her parents and said she wanted to marry Andrew Swartz, the tall U.S. Navy man she had been dating, here’s what her father told her: “When you marry, you don’t come back home. Don’t bring the baby and come home.” It sounds harsh, but it was a very common reaction by Japanese parents to their daughters marrying U.S. servicemen after World War II. Giving birth to a mixed-race baby meant no going back if the marriage failed. Toyo accepted the terms and was determined to make it work.

Finding My Father (9:41)

Kyoko Katayama

Kyoko’s birth father was an American GI, one of the first to land in Japan for the Occupation after the end of World War II. He met a young woman named Taka at a train station, and soon got her pregnant. Then he left. Taka raised Kyoko, her bi-racial child, for 17 years in Japan, a difficult situation for both of them. When a retired American military officer asked Taka to marry him, she viewed it as a chance to get her daughter out of Japan. Kyoko was taken from high school and landed in Minnesota. Unhappy in many respects, she clung to her secret mission, finding her birth father.

Reconciliation (5:22)

Morgan Banks

Her mother was shunned by her family when she married a black GI. Many years later, the Japanese relatives tried to find their sister, but they were too late. She had died six years earlier. Morgan had no interest in forming ties to the family in Japan, hurt by what they did to her mother. Then she thought she should at least tell them what they missed.

Understanding Mom (4:55)

Yukie Sato Hawkins

They attributed many things to her being Japanese – the lack of visible affection between their parents, her criticism of her children in front of others. Even the yelling… although it’s questionable whether that’s a Japanese trait or a mom trait. They didn’t understand why she married their father, and they didn’t understand why she stayed.

Finding the Balance (6:11)

Toyoko Yonamine, Wardell Townsend Sr.

Over the years, the children of Toyoko Yonamine and Wardell Townsend Sr. have sought to find balance in the multiple sides of their heritage. Modern multi-racial American; descendants of the segregated south; son or daughter of ancient Asia. They have come to value their origins from both sides of the Pacific.

A Blending of Immigrants (6:25)

Hiroko Tokaji and Rudy Granado

During the U.S. Occupation of Japan, the favorite son of a close-knit Mexican-American family married a prominent Japanese family’s only daughter. It was an unlikely match, like so many of those post-war unions. Her grandfather was a Shinto priest. His family were devout Catholics. The ground had to shift under everyone.

Glorified Rice (4:05)

Hiroe Shibata Hosna

Hiroe’s husband grew up on a farm in North Dakota, and that’s where he brought his Japanese bride in 1955. For a girl from Tokyo, it was like another planet.   No people, vast unbroken horizon, the routines of farm life and in-laws who, while initially opposed to their only son marrying a Japanese, welcomed her and tried to make her feel at home. The one thing that Hiroe yearned for, however, was rice. Her husband told his mother, and so at dinner the next day….

Samurai Wife (4:33)

Yoko Fuji Jones

“You gotta speak up,” says Yoko Jones. And she did, even arguing in public about the stupidity of racial segregation in 1950s America. Speaking her mind is so much more an American trait than a Japanese one. But the word her husband used to describe her was samurai — when they argued, when he spoke of her admiringly and when he was frustrated with her stubbornness. It seemed to fit every circumstance for him.

Standing Out (9:38)

Clark and Akiko Hewitt

Many Japanese war brides gave up their special identities and all but disappeared into American society. Especially in small towns and rural communities, the goal was to blend in as best they could. In a sense, Akiko Hewitt was no exception. Nearly from the day she arrived, she was intent on becoming a true American. But the Hewitts also stood out. For one thing, they had eight children. But this is more than a story about a big family. It’s about the varied identities within one family, and the culture of service to country instilled by the daughter of a Japanese military man. It’s also a story about flowers.