HAPA New Year

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

your hip hapa

A serious question: Do you think that the mixed-race agenda has become obsolete?

Recently, a Moderator posted an article on Hip Hapa Homeez, a Facebook group that is for “…anyone who is biracial, blended, mestizo, mixed-race, multiethnic, transracially adopted, or who crosses cultures…” 

The posted video featured a young mixed Asian-white man complaining about not being accepted by both sides of his family.

Yawn. 

Seriously. I wondered how long this particular complaint has been around because about 25 years ago, I began writing for a plethora of publications that featured stories about the so-called “mixed-race experience”.

You might remember some of them—the pioneering Mavin magazine started by a young Korean-Irish American man in Seattle. 

There was also a fabulous internet website out of New York called SWIRL.

Additionally, there were group get togethers galore on campuses, museums and other venues. 

I believe the first mixed-race conference I attended was Hapa Issues Forum in Northridge. What an eye opener!

Later, I organized a panel for one of the annual Mixed Chicks Film and Literary Festivals in Los Angeles. That event featured numerous books and movies by and about mixed-race folks. 

One year, I traveled to Berkeley for the Hapa Japan Conference festivities where nearly every participant was half Japanese.

There seemed to be so much electricity in the air back in those days. We were all exploring our newly discovered mixed-race identities, and we were excited to share them with the world.

But over the years, it seems that we have moved on. Perhaps most mixed-race people no longer feel the need to search for validation of their identity. In fact, the young man in the video referenced above struck me as being outdated. It’s as if being mixed-race now is so common that it’s no longer a "thing".

Soon this blog, which was started in 2007, will also go the way of the dinosaur—which is not a bad thing. It just shows that we’ve progressed to no longer needing to proclaim our mixed-race heritages now that there are so many of us.

If you check out previous blog posts, you will note that there were many interviews with mixed-race actors, artists, authors, chefs, dancers, filmmakers, musicians and more. But these days, not many are promoting products exclusively for the mixed-race community.

Yayoi Clan Art banner

However, we at Watermelon Sushi World are still promoting ours. You can check us out on Redbubble and TeePublic where we offer buttons, mouse pads, phone covers posters, stickers and t-shirts.

Redbubble

Teepublic

Most of our current artwork is based on two of our films—"Tokyo Lily" and "Watermelon Sushi".

Tokyo Lily website

donor page

Watermelon Sushi website

Watermelon Sushi on Youtube

Watermelon Sushi on Facebook

Meanwhile, our “War Brides of Japan, a docu*memory” films are still available on Gumroad:

https://watermelonsushi.gumroad.com/

War Brides of Japan website
War Brides of Japan on Youtube

War Brides of Japan on Facebook

And, recently, we learned that two of our photos will participate in the Smithsonian Japanese war brides traveling exhibit:

https://www.sites.si.edu/s/topic/0TO4z000000nTALGA2/japanese-war-brides-across-a-wide-divide

Additionally, we are the lucky recipients of a “spark” grant to complete a film about veganism called “What’s on your Palate?”

What's on Your Palate?

Stay with us, kids, and have a very HAPA new year!

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

New World Vibes: Mixies Everywhere!

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

watermelon

It seems like mixed-race people are much more prominent these days with so many from our community thrust into the spotlight.

Besides tennis player Naomi Osaka, who is Japanese Haitian American, there are new mixed-race families being created—like (another) tennis player Serena Williams and her husband German Armenian American Alexis Ohanian producing their daughter, Olympia.

There’s even a mixed-race marriage within England’s royal family—Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

And, so on. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to the point where no one will care who anyone else marries and/or has children with.

watermelon sushi

Hopefully, this new world vibe will lead us towards getting our film “Watermelon Sushi” onto the movie screen. In any case, we’re planning to fundraise for it in 2021.

Meanwhile, we’re also working on an (as yet) untitled "docu*memory" about Japanese war bride and artist Yuriko, as well as a graphic novel about her life. Here’s Yuriko’s website along with her quarterly blog.

iam aristyuriko

heartwork by yuriko

For more about “Watermelon Sushi”, check us out at:

www.watermelonsushi.com

https://www.facebook.com/watermelonsushi/

https://twitter.com/watermelonsushi

https://vimeo.com/watermelonsushi/videos

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSuiAGml-IAM5lQjaEmk-lQ

https://www.pinterest.

And, please send us cards and letters to let us know how you’re doing in 2021!

Akemashite Omedettou Gozaimasu and Hau’okli Makahiki Hou!

See you on March 31.

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

War Brides of Japan in Post-Post

Aloha, Hip Hapa Homeez!

We have good news and we have bad news. 

First, the bad. We still haven’t released our docu*MEMORY, “War Brides of Japan”, because we’re still tweaking it. 

But we’re very, very close. 

production still by Diana Portugal

Besides making the film available to you at online platforms, we’re also planning to screen at several upcoming film festivals.

The best places to stay updated about our activities are on the website and social media pages listed below. 

If you’re connected to a Japanese war bride, please join our Facebook page, “Japanese War Brides & Families & Friends”.

dir. Yayoi with war bride daughter Diana Portugal &
her husband Ed in Clovis CA
production still by Sean H

dir. Yayoi with war bride daughter Roleta Fowler Vasquez &
her husband Joe in Moorpark CA
production still by Sean H

Meanwhile, the good news is that we've created a new trailer. Called “The Chase”, it features several Japanese war brides recalling how they met their GI husbands as well as several adult children talking about their parents.

Check it out!

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/285660140

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDpNuvT0vos

And, here are all the usual links including a new podcast at Stubborn Hearts on iTunes. See item #11 dated June 8:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stubborn-hearts/id1396398307

War Brides of Japan videos:
youtube 88.1 FM interview
youtube behind the scenes production trailer 
vimeo behind the scenes production trailer
youtube pre-production trailer 
vimeo pre-production trailer 
youtube v.2
youtube v.1

War Brides of Japan websites:

warbridesofjapan.com

weebly

jimdo

War Brides of Japan in the news:

Stubborn Hearts

DIFT 

NBC 

international examiner

international examiner 2

discover nikkei

War Brides of Japan on Facebook:

fan page

Throwing Rice Productions on Facebook:

fan page

War Brides of Japan on LinkedIn:

how they learned to forgive and love the enemy

making love, not war

those bad ass brides!

War Brides of Japan on Twitter:

watermelonsushi

War Brides of Japan on G+:

google plus

War Brides of Japan blogs:

on the road

tumblR

A War Bride's artwork:

iAmArtistYuriko

heARTworkByYuri

A big fat MWAHH to all our donors for their generous contributions. Without them, this film would have not been possible. Please see a list of their names at our website.

Until December, i am…

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi

Loving The Loving's

Perhaps no other couple in U.S. history loved each other more publicly than Richard and Mildred Loving. Because of the Loving’s, the banning of interracial marriage in 16 states was finally overturned by the Supreme Court in 1967.

photo of Loving Day celebration by Michael Kirby

It’s unthinkable now, but up until then only whites were allowed to marry other whites in states like Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Texas. And, there was actually a law on the books called the Racial Integrity Act of 1924.

Yet in Virginia, Richard and Mildred Loving—a white man and mixed black and Native American woman—were asleep in their bedroom when local police arrested them for being interracially married. The Loving’s had actually tied the knot in Washington, D.C. where their coupling was legally recognized, but upon returning to Virginia they were criminally charged.

photo of Loving Day celebration by Michael Kirby

Although my parents were also married at the same time as the Loving’s, anti-miscegenation laws hadn’t been enacted for them. No one in America really cared that a Japanese woman (former WWII enemy) cohabited with a Negro man (African slave lineage) since both were considered undesirable minorities anyway. Instead, anti-miscegenation laws were passed to perpetuate the myth of white supremacy by keeping white bloodlines pure through forbidding the mixing of it by marriage to non-whites. Despite the Supreme Court ruling in the case of the Loving’s, South Carolina still banned mixed marriages until 1998, and Alabama…2000!

photo of Ken Tanabe on the mic at Loving Day celebration
by Mauro Clerici

This week’s featured Hip Hapa Homee, Ken Tanabe, pictured above, is the founder of Loving Day in New York City. These photos are of the Loving Day celebration he organizes. 

Q: Ken, who are your parents and how did they meet?

A: My father is from Japan and my mother is from Belgium. They met while they were in college in Washington, D.C., through mutual friends and--bada boom, bada bing--here I am! I consider myself very lucky to be alive.

photo of Loving Day celebration by Mauro Clerici

Q: What inspired you to create Loving Day?

A: When I discovered the Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, I felt like I had discovered a missing part of our Civil Rights education. Why wasn't this case taught in schools alongside Brown v. Board of Education, Dr. King and Rosa Parks? And with a name like "Loving", why wasn't this case as well known? Years later, the Loving case became the inspiration for my graduate thesis at Parsons the New School for Design in New York, and Loving Day was born. Today, Loving Day's mission is to fight racial prejudice through education and to build multicultural community.

Q: What are some of the events that your organization plans for that day—June 12?

A: We organize the Loving Day Flagship Celebration in New York City, which brings out 1,000 guests a year. We have free barbecue, free beer, amazing DJ's, and an incredibly diverse crowd--all under a big festival tent on the East River waterfront. Our goal is to show the world what Loving Day is about, and to inspire others to host a Loving Day Celebration of any size. Other organizations and individuals organize all of the other national/global Loving Day Celebrations. These include the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Celebration in Los Angeles, the annual MAVIN Foundation Loving Day Celebration in Seattle, and many more. Folks can find a complete list of celebrations and inspiration for their own celebrations at http://lovingday.org/celebrate

Q: Are there other things that your organization does besides the June 12 Loving Day celebration?

A: Yes! Loving Day is active all year. We are especially passionate about education, and we have been more active than ever with our collaborations with university groups. In the past six months or so, we have participated in the Harvard SWAYA Conference, a screening and discussion of the documentary One Big Hapa Family at Columbia, the Hapa Japan Conference at UC Berkeley, the Critical Mixed Race Studies Conference at DePaul in Chicago, a Biracial and Multiracial Student Association meeting at NYU, Clarvit Design Week at University of Maryland (College Park), and a Loving Day Celebration at Wesleyan. We also provide educational and community resources every day through LovingDay.org

Q: What are some of your future plans for this group?

A: We would like to see Loving Day become a new tradition that is shared among friends and passed down from generation to generation. We'd like to see a strong, sustainable multiethnic community that stays connected through Loving Day Celebrations. We encourage everyone to participate in Loving Day by celebrating and spreading the word!

Q: I met you at the recent Hapa Japan Conference in Berkeley. Do you have any thoughts you'd like to share?

A: The first Hapa Japan Conference felt like an historic moment. I had been in touch with many multiethnic community leaders with Japanese roots, but it couldn't compare to having everyone in the same space. To me, an entire conference that focuses on such a specific part of the multiethnic experience is an encouraging sign. I see it as evidence that the multiethnic community as a whole is growing and developing. My congratulations to the organizers for such an excellent conference. Also, thanks to enka superstar Jero for his performance!

Q: Do you foresee a time that there will not be a need for organizations that promote the multiethnic agenda?

A: Many people hope for (and work towards) a time when race will no longer be an issue. Even when that day comes, I believe there will still be a need for education--and people will feel the need for a sense of community with people who share a common experience. That's what Loving Day is about, and I hope that Loving Day will continue to grow and be shared for years to come.

Thank you, Ken; and, of course, thank you to the late Mr. and Mrs. Loving.

Hey, Hip Hapa Homeez--don’t forget to “like” our Watermelon Sushi and Hapa*Teez t-shirt Fan pages on Facebook. You can also request to join our Hip Hapa Homeez Group page where we’ve been discussing everything from Bruce Lee’s multi-ethnicity (did you know his mother was half white?) to mixed-race New Zealander’s Taika Waititi’s latest flick—Boy--about a Maori family. And, if you purchase one of our Hapa*Teez t-shirts at Cafe Press, you'll get a rear crawl credit on our Watermelon Sushi film. You might even look as good as Cassie, above. Oh, and you can tweet us, too: watermelonsushi

Until next time, Happy Loving Day! from...

Your Hip Hapa,

Yayoi