Picture Brides - Katriel Sahlstrom

Picture Brides highlights the difficulties of the life of Riyo- a Japanese picture bride working on a sugar cane plantation in Hawaii.

After Riyo’s parents died a shameful death from tuberculosis, Riyo is sent to Hawaii to find a new life away from Japan. She receives pictures and beautiful poems from her future husband on the island. This custom, known as shansin kekkon, was common for Japanese in the mid-1800’s. It was not a new convention-in fact, it was based on an age-old tradition of arranged marriage. When the bride was far away, pictures were often exchanged before the initial meeting. “Marriage in Japanese society was not an individual matter but rather a family concern…This traditional practice lent itself readily to the needs of Japanese migrants in America.” (Takaki 47)

The look up presentation from January 10 explained the Gentlemen’s Act, the reason why picture brides were common immigrants into Japan. In an effort to control immigration, Japan agreed to disallow emigration while the US would not restrict immigration. However, Americans wanted Japanese to have their own wives because it gave them a stable family life-and provided cheap labor. Thus, Japanese men were allowed to send for their wives or send for a picture bride.

The main female characters from Eat a Bowl of Tea and Picture brides differ in their social situations, yet still face universal difficulties from immigration and arranged marriage. Mei Oi from Eat a Bowl of Tea come from a rural village to New York, and falls in love with her husband in the beginning. In contrast, Riyo goes from a city in Japan to a farm, and gradually grows to love her husband after the initial shock of his age. However, both women experience a desire to move back to Asia, homesickness, and sadness in the first part of their residence in America. Eventually, they work through marriage difficulties and grow attached to America, their new homeland.