MovieChat Forums > Sayonara (1957) Discussion > A Similar Story Happened to my Parents

A Similar Story Happened to my Parents

posted 19 years ago by rikitiki
20 replies | jump to latest

My mother, a Japanese National met my dad, a Japanese-American Sergeant attached to the US Eighth Army occupying Japan in 1946. As an American serviceman, he was forbidden to marry my mother under General McArthur's edict. Instead of committing suicide like Katsumi and Joe Kelly, my dad had an Army Chaplin marry them illegally. Initially the Chaplin refused, but my dad asked him, "Who is your real boss? God or McArthur?" The Chaplin married them and after the law was recinded, they remarried legally in Los Angeles.

Ironically, Miyoshi Umeki is my mother's first cousin and my cousin once removed.

Not surprisingly, this is my widowed mother's favorite movie.

[–] NewBeginnings16 19 years ago

Your post just brought tears to my eyes. Your father's remark to the Army chaplin gave me chills. What remarkable people they were (are).

Joni
aka: NavyResGirl

"All we are saying is give peace a chance" John Lennon

[–] rikitiki 19 years ago

Thanks for your nice comments. They lived though rough times. My dad spent time in a relocation camp before he joined the US Army, and my mother lived in Sapporo during the war which I recently read was the initial favored target for the first atom bomb. I am a product of WWII, if everything did not happen the way it did, my parents wouldn't have met and I wouldn't have been born.

My mother lives near Travis AFB, CA and she has a circle of friends that are Air Force warbrides.

[–] travelhk 19 years ago

Isn't it interesting that the American forces did not accept intermarriage between their servicemen and Japanese nationals in the 1950's, and now in 2006, the situation is completely reversed. As a rule, xenophobia runs high in Japan, especially with the older generation. However, that doesn't stop the curiosity young Japanese women have for western men, at least when it comes to casual dating.

[–] rikitiki 19 years ago

My dad was Japanese-American so there wasn't a racial problem with my mother, but my mother's side of the family was totally opposed to the marriage because to them my dad was a "traitor". It was tough on my dad, because most Americans didn't consider him a "real" American, and the Japanese thought he was some kind of weird creature because he looked Japanese but had none of their culture.

I visited Japan in 1990 and Japanese Immigration got very excited when they saw my American passport. They pointed at me as if I were a zoo animal, and passed my passport from agent to agent.

[–] ecjones1951 19 years ago

That's a beautiful story about your parents.

Do you know your cousin Miyoshi Umeki well? I understand she is very reclusive, but I hope she is doing well. She gave a lovely performance in this movie.

[–] rikitiki 19 years ago

Unfortunately I never met Miyoshi. My mother only met her once in Hokkaido, where they both came from. I read elsewhere on the internet that she either lives in Torrance, CA near Los Angeles or in Hawaii.

[–] reindeer_trout 18 years ago

Your parents' story is very moving. I have known a number of Japanese-Americans who were in the detention camps. Most were youngsters. Thank you for sharing your parents' story and giving us a bit of insight into this part of our history.

DLD in Washington

[–] pjacobs16 18 years ago

That is a wonderful story. It speaks so well of the love that your parents share. I love the comment "God or McArthur"...it would make a great movie.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] SuzieWrong 18 years ago

Rikitiki, thank you for sharing your story. Why did the airport people point and laugh? Did you understand what they were saying?

[–] BillK-5 18 years ago

It wasn't just Japan; my Dad was stationed in Korea in the very early 1960s and was very, very strongly pressured by the military NOT to marry a Korean. It wasn't ILLEGAL, just highly frowned upon.

He did anyway, I'm the result, and this is one of HIS favorite films, for obvious reasons.

[–] turbo852 17 years ago

This is also similar to the story of my grandparents. My grandpa was in the Army and he had fought in Europe, but came to Japan to help with the reconstruction. He met my grandma, an actress just like in the movie, while there. They were not allowed to come to the US to marry, but they eventually were able to marry in Japan. It wasn't until 1951 that they were able to come to the US and get married here as well. My uncle had already been born and had lived in Yokohama before he came to the US.

This movie is also one of my grandparents' favorites. People even say that my grandpa looked like Marlon Brando (when he was younger at least).

[–] rwsmith29456 16 years ago

Many thanks for telling us that story.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ethereal_tb 16 years ago

Why did was there such an edict? What was the point? I don't recall a similiar rule against soldiers stationed in Germany being forbidden from marrying German women. (Correct me if I'm wrong!)

"You may very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] trugaurd 9 years ago

it was an edict because there was a lot of bigotry towards Asians, especially the Japanese, made more so by the fact that Japan actually attacked US home soil. The Japanese were incarcerated as a race in the US, West Coast, out of bigotry, not wartime necessity (this wasn't done on the East Coast). No German-Americans were incarcerated. Also, it was a specific order by a specific commander..MacArthur..Chalk it up to racism.

[–] ZolotoyRetriever 8 years ago

No German-Americans were incarcerated.

Maybe not to the extent the Japanese-Americans were, but they were in fact singled out and interned:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_German_Americans#World_War_II

Don't mess with me, man! I know karate, judo, ju-jitsu..... and several other Japanese words.