Japanese Bride in America (1952)

I am Mio I was born in a little town of oo near Yokohama in 1945 after the war had ended I met an American soldier named Walter lat we fell in [Music] love two years later we married and left Japan for the United States on the day our plane landed in Cleveland Walter's Hometown I was nervous and worried about meeting his [Music] [Applause] [Music] family Walter's mother was friendly but I wondered if she was ing that Walter had married an American Girl the others were nice to me too [Music] then I had my first look at clevand Ohio the city which was to be my new [Music] home Mrs rat had been living alone since Walter's father died and we are going to stay with her until we could get a home of our [Music] own as I looked around me I I was frightened in this house I would have to face a new life very different from the one we had known in Japan [Music] the next evening Walter invited his family to come to the house and see the pictures he had taken in Japan I was still une easy because I wasn't sure these people liked me [Applause] [Music] something unpleasant happened to me that night Walter's cousin telephoned and Mrs rat wanted me to introduce [Music] myself English was hard for me then especially on the telephone and what I expected happen I couldn't understand a word I knew there was no reason to be upset but I felt stupid and [Music] [Applause] ashamed I took this picture of of miwako on our wedding day this is miwako's Hometown where we [Music] met and this is her mother miwako took this picture of me near Mount Fuji one thing that especially intrigued me was bamboo this is miwaku and I just after we became engaged and this is a picture picture of miwako's family taken the day we were [Music] married the picture show was almost like introducing miwako's family to my own [Music] more than anything else I wanted my mother to accept miwako and to like her especially because the two would often be alone together while I was away on business one thing was sure the children like her [Music] [Applause] I could see miwako was relaxed and happy now how she was teaching the kids a Japanese [Music] [Applause] game the next day I introduced miaka to my town I was a little nervous for her sake because I knew that an American with a Japanese wife would attract attention on the street we did get a look of real resentment from one woman she had lost a son at iojima miaka was Disturbed but when I explained she understood I knew she was still feeling a little strange and I thought some new clothes might make her feel better so we went [Music] shopping the day came two weeks later when water had to go away on business [Music] at his suitcase snapped shut I felt already the loneliness of being without him Walter's mother would be with me but my poor English made it hard for us to talk and we did not know each other yet oh [Music] oh [Music] a [Music] [Music] I became homesick for Japan and my own mother I remembered our house the voices of my brothers and sisters I remembered home [Music] [Applause] [Music] I wondered if Walter 300 miles away in another city was at Rad's eye was [Music] when my trip was over and I came home I could hardly wait to see miwako [Music] although miwako tried to conceal it I could see that she'd been desperately lonely while I was away more than anything else I wanted her to be happy one thing was clear I would have to have a different job one that would not take me away from miwako but what job [Music] these bamboo carvings seem so simple maybe we could even make them ourselves miwako thought it would be fun to try that night miwako wrote to her brother asking him to send us some raw bamboo [Music] weekends and evenings miwaku and I experimented [Applause] [Music] [Applause] little by little we improved on our first crude attempts [Music] we both became so interested in what we were doing but we lost all track of time and often worked late Into the Night [Music] finally we were so pleased with our work that I decided it might be sailable a friend of ours owned a small house furnishing store and had offered to try selling the things for [Music] [Applause] us the objects sold so quickly that we could hardly make them fast enough [Music] not long after I was to go on another business trip I always dreaded these separations as much as miwako just before I left my mother handed me a letter it was from my friend who owned the store and inside was another check for a sizable amount and a request for many more orders more than Mi Wako and I could fill working only evenings and weekends [Music] I never went on that trip then and there I made up my mind to quit my job and go into the bamboo business I had some savings and so we decided to open a store I was so happy about the store that little by little I was feeling less like a stranger in a foreign country and more at [Music] home and then the telephone rang I knew the others were busy and I should have answered it myself but I just couldn't [Music] they hung up I couldn't blame Walter for being annoyed with me and I was [Music] ashamed I decided to do something about this so I joined the class at w W CA where I could improve my English [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's time time went on my English improved so much that I was able to wait on [Music] customers but I was still afraid of the telephone [Music] Walter understood and always answered for me I was grateful and yet each time the phone down I felt that I had failed [Music] him it was after our regular closing time and Walter was anxious for us to get home we had both been walking very hard ever since the opening of the store the next day was a Sunday and we were going to go on a picnic we thought a day in a country would do us both good [Music] business at the store had been slow at first but now we could look around us with pride in what we had [Music] done we world together and our future seemed [Music] good it was fun being along with water just like our first days in Japan a [Music] la [Music] what I needed a doctor and somehow I had to get [Music] [Applause] [Music] one I have no choice now but at that moment the telephone became my friend instead of my [Music] enemy when water was better we decided to give us SK party [Applause] [Music] I no longer wondered whether I was liked I knew I was the Mrs rat had become a second mother to me oh [Music] there was something in my mind that night something I have to tell wal about [Applause] I told him I was going to have a [Music] baby but that was just a beginning we have to two of them now two little girls I wish my mother could see [Music] them meanwhile here is a picture [Music]