Japanese Picture Brides

Marriage is the sacred bond between two people that share a love so deep they wish to be together for all eternity. This is what most people believe, they view marriage as a happy fairy tale, however this is not the truth for all. In many cultures marriage is not about love, it is about money, status, and tradition. An example of this would be the Japanese picture brides. Many Japanese women found husbands in America through just a picture of the man. This practice was popular in the early 1900’s, according to Racism And The Law, over 20,000 woman came over to marry American men. It was mostly prevalent with Japanese women but also with Korean. Each woman found a husband this way for different reasons but all shared the same fears of what was to come. The influence the bride’s backgrounds had on their American experience, problems they faced, and how they resolved them can be seen in “Come, Japanese” by Julie Otsuka.
The Japanese culture is very different from the American, especially

in the aspect of role of woman. Though the picture brides came from all over Japan, they were all taught that they were less than a man. It is their job too clean, cook, and please their husband. Women are not to have a job, they must remain silent in the presence of a man, and even cover their mouth if they laugh. The man is their superior and they must submit to their needs.
The belittlement of woman from men in the Japanese culture greatly influenced the American experience for the brides. The woman were used to feeling unimportant in their native country, because of this the woman were intrigued when they heard of the way woman were treated in America. They heard that men would hold the door for women and that they could have jobs is they wished. This change in level of respect for women allowed the brides to have somewhat of a positive outlook on coming to the states and making their overall experience better.
Most of the woman came from poor, farm working families. They would marry a man in America in hopes of living a better life where she would not have to do field work. The men would promise support and financial stability for the woman’s hand in marriage. Other woman did not want to marry but would be forced to by their parents so they could receive the betrothal money. Some would marry an American because it was their only option, for reasons such as, woman had children already in Japan so nobody there would marry them, they would leave the child and go to the states, or their husband died. All woman came for the benefit of better living and a man.
Though this system seemed beneficial, it did have a few issues. Most of the men did not have access to recent photos of themselves so they sent old pictures. According to a blog from Justin Lim, “Most often the women in Japan were duped into thinking that their future husband in America is as young as they were in the picture; however this was not the case”. Because of this most of the woman were disappoint and not attracted to their husbands. Even though they were unhappy with the appearance of their partner the woman dealt with this by accepting it so they would not shame their family.
There were many culture shocks the brides had to endure when coming to America. One being the difference in religion. Most of the woman were Buddhist so they did not eat meet, but majority of people in America are Christian and eat meet every day. Others being the appearance of the Americans which was very different from themselves. The Americans where tall and hairy, while the brides were petite and only had hair where it was “appropriate”. These are small factors, but was not the norm for the brides, and coming thousand’s miles from home to be with someone you never met all of these tiny changes seemed catastrophic.
One change that was not minor was the racism they endured.

In the beginning when only a few Japanese were coming over there was no evident signs of resentment from the Americans, but as time went on the numbers grew to about 38,303 the racism was inevitable. Akagi Shyly, a picture bride said, “children would throw eggs and tomatoes at him as he rode to work in the streetcar”, this was because her husband was Japanese. The American people did not accept the Japanese immigration so they found ways to harass them.
Despite these challenges the brides faced they made the best of their situation. The Japanese women knew to not complain and do as they should. The brides would focus on growing and caring for their family to make all the hardships worth it. They lived in better homes than they did in Japan, had the means to take care of their family, and were treated better by the men. These aspects made the woman grateful for what they had and more accepting to deal with the negative

things.
The practice of picture brides ended in 1924 due to the American ban on Japanese immigration. Though picture brides no longer exist, there are similar systems today. An example of this is a mail order bride. A man can find a woman online and have her come over from another country to be his wife in return he is responsible for all her financial needs. There are many websites in which one can mail order a bride. This is not as popular as picture brides was due to there being less harsh immigration laws but it is almost the same concept.
Marriage is not always about who you love. For many people it is about money, a way for a better life, or status. The Japanese picture brides married men they never met in hopes of an easier life compared to the one that they had back home. Though they were deceived by pictures, faced racism from Americans, and many culture shocks, these first generation Japanese-American women persevered to make a good life for themselves and their families.