Heritage Handed Down

My Grandmother is a Japanese war bride

Between 1952 and 1965, over 600 Japanese war brides crossed once enemy lines to make a home in Australia. Anti-Japanese sentiment was still palpable then, and they had little choice but to hide their Japanese-ness, and assimilate into Australian society. But today, WWII is in the distant past, and ‘Japan-as-enemy’ is an idea that feels alien. How do the grandchildren of Japanese war brides tell this history, one that began with war, fear, and hate?

TO LISTEN