This United States Army film tells the story of a Japanese woman who marries an American serviceman and moves with him to the United States.
After World War II, many GIs stationed in Japan married Japanese women. While at first U.S. immigration laws made it difficult for the women to move to the United States with their husbands, the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act removed legal barriers. Japanese Bride in America was produced that same year by the U.S. Army Signal Corps’ Civil Affairs Division, likely to be shown to Japanese women and their families.
The film is the story of Miwako, who moves to Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband and must learn to adjust to American life. For the most part people are welcoming, but Miwako struggles to feel comfortable, especially with the English language. The film does not gloss over how hard it is to adapt to a new culture, but Miwako gradually begins to fit in, particularly after she and her husband start a business making and selling bamboo housewares.
