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Voices of Japanese “War Brides” in Postwar Kansas
October 8, 2022 @ 3:45 pm - 4:45 pm
DR. AYAKO MIZUMURA
Japanese women fled the devastation of a war-torn Japan after World War II to find challenges in a strange, new world. After marrying US military men and moving to the United States, these young women often faced challenges and hardship while others found opportunity and success.
How did they adjust to a Western world and a military culture? How did they maintain connection to their homes and families back in Japan? This talk will share the voices of Japanese women who triumphed amidst great struggle to find community, connection, and cultural identity in the place they viewed as the last destination of their lives— the Kansas prairie.
Presented by Dr. Ayako Mizumura. Ayako is the academic director of the University of Kansas’s Center for East Asian Studies, a role she’s held since 2013.
Dr. Mizumura’s lecture is sponsored by the Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau. The Bureau engages audiences with in-person and online humanities-based presentations designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement. Visit humanitieskansas.org to learn more.