Japanese Picture Bride Experience
The Japanese Picture Brides were the original dating site brides, almost one hundred years in advance. They were selected from their pictures and descriptions, and they in turn selected the most attractive suitors, many of whom had lied about things such as their appearance and their personality. When the women arrived their experience was different to what they had expected; many did not even recognize their new husbands from the description they had been given. They were supposed to make a happy life and a joyful union with a stranger. This had wide ranging results and the reality for the women was that because they were often not qualified to work in anything other than menial jobs, they ended up working as itinerant laborers. Many were successful. The theme of the book revolves around the varying successes that these women experienced and also emphasizes the fact that they were not really seen as individual women but as one cultural incoming group
Racism
Many of the Picture Brides experienced racism. However, it was their children who experienced more prejudice, because they were rejected by both their Asian community and their white American one. They found it hard to make friends at school, and when it came to getting work, they were often rejected because they were Asian-American.
Life After Pearl Harbor
After Pearl Harbor, people became scared of their Japanese neighbors. They didn't know who to trust. How could they be sure that the Japanese man living next door wasn't really a Japanese governmental spy? Because of the aggression shown by the Japanese government, Japanese families were removed from their homes and their lives, and interned for the duration of the war. In the majority of instances, they did not return to their former lives.
