War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory
It is my pleasure to introduce Yayoi Winfrey, producer of the documentary series War Brides of Japan, a documentary*memory. Yayoi is an independent film producer and daughter of a Japanese war bride who married her African-American father. This five-films series is a monumental labor of love in memory of her mother spanning over eight years. Here, in her own words, is her story of how these films were created.
By Yayoi Naito Winfrey
In 2000, I was hanging out in Seattle with a Chinese American filmmaker who hailed from Honolulu. After I introduced him to my Japanese Mom, he turned to me and said, “We should make a film about your mother. She’s such a character!”
I knew exactly what he meant. Even though my Mom had suffered through WWII during the intense firebombing of Tokyo, she had emerged strong enough to marry my father, an African American soldier and former enemy of her country. She was funny, creative and always had an interesting tale to tell.
Unfortunately, the footage that we shot didn’t adequately tell her life story. Over the next few years, several other filmmakers also tackled the project, but each time we were unable to capture the essence of my Mom.
Back then, we were filming on tape, but by 2012, the digital world was exploding. Thus, making and editing films—really videos—was so much easier. So, I created a 30-second promo about my Mom’s life as a war bride and entered it into a film festival in LA. I was shocked when it was selected as one of three finalists.
However, I was unable to remove the logo of the software that I had used to create the promo, so I became disqualified. But the experience gave me the incentive to move forward because I saw that there were people who were actually interested in the subject of Japanese war brides—women who met and married military men occupying their country following WWII.
When I lost my Mom later that year, I was unable to continue the project and set it aside until 2016. That’s when I acquired a Fiscal Sponsor and began fundraising. After we had enough for travel, I hit the road in September 2016 with a one-person crew (a camera/sound guy). Over 19 days, we interviewed some 34 participants located throughout three states, but one historian was not available at the time. So, in November 2016, we returned to California for several days.
At the beginning of 2017, I was certain it would take me about six months to edit all that footage. But, as it turned out, I was so wrong. The entire process took nearly three years as I had over-interviewed in an effort to not leave anyone out. Other than three war brides, and a war bride husband, most of the interviewees are the adult children of war brides, and it was imperative that they had the opportunity to tell the world about their mothers.
Eventually, I divided the film into five parts according to the similarity of the participants’ stories:
Herstory
Herstory is about two historians discussing The War Brides Act of 1945 and problems the Japanese women faced upon arrival in a strange country.
The Brides
The Brides features two women—one who married a white Marine and the other who married a black soldier–and how their experiences in a segregated America differed so much from each other’s.
The Kids
The Kids is in three parts—the first about a bride who was an entertainer, the next features adult children talking about their mothers while eating in a Japanese restaurant, and the third is about a woman who grieves the mother she recently lost.
The Culture
The Culture explores Japanese culture through three sections—a woman and her daughters who cook and make origami, a woman whose father was Mexican American (thus, shunned by Japanese Americans in their community), and a woman with a substantial collection of Japanese things.
Buddhist Friends Forever
BFF’s, Buddhist Friends Forever showcases the impact of Buddhism on the brides, and how some lifelong friendships developed due to the women’s spiritual beliefs.
To view the documentary series’ Vimeo page:
Visit Yayoi’s Docu*memory Website at:
https://www.warbridesofjapan.com
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You can also reach Yayoi at:
Ya***@wa**************.com
