UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Cold War love : producing American liberalism in interracial marriages between American soldiers and Japanese women Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1z7699pn Author Tsuchiya, Tomoko Publication Date 2011 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Cold War Love: Producing American Liberalism in Interracial Marriages between American Soldiers and Japanese Women A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies by Tomoko Tsuchiya Committee in charge: Professor Yen Le Espiritu, Chair Professor Ross Frank Professor Takashi Fujitani Professor Denise Ferreira da Silva Professor Lisa Yoneyama 2011 Copyright Tomoko Tsuchiya, 2011 All Rights Reserved The dissertation of Tomoko Tsuchiya is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Chair University of California, San Diego 2011 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page……………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………...iv List of Figures……………………………………………………………..v Acknowledgements……………………………………………..……..…vi Vita………………………………………………….………………….....ix Abstract of the Dissertation ……...……………………………………….x Introduction………………………………................................................ 1 Part I Love and Violence: Production of the Postwar U.S.-Japan Alliance…….36 Chapter One Dangerous Intimacy: Sexualized Japanese Women during the U.S. Occupation of Japan……...37 Chapter Two Intimacy of Love: Loveable American Soldiers in Cold War Politics.…...68 Part II The U.S. Cold War Empire: Producing Cultural Pluralism and Multiracial Family………………....….89 Chapter Three Alien Intimacies: Impossible Marriages between American Soldiers and Japanese Women……………………………………………….……...…..90 Chapter Four Producing Culturally Pluralist Nation: Teaching Japanese Brides American Domesticity……………………..…128 Chapter Five Producing Multiracial Family: Mothering “Mixed Blood” Children and Pursuing the American Dream...162 Epilogue…………………………………………………..……………….188 Bibliography……………………………………………………................193 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Baby-san………………………………………………………….…....61 Figure 4.1 U.S. Military’s Bride School Project………….………………...….…133 Figure 4.2 Graduation Ceremony…………………………………………………136 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the many people who made my academic journey at the University of California, San Diego possible and helped me complete this dissertation. First, I would like to thank the people who encouraged me to pursue a US doctorate in Ethnic Studies. Professor Noriko Shimada was my mentor and she taught me not only knowledge about American Studies but also the scholar’s attitude to engaging in academic works. I sincerely admire her not only as a scholar but also as a person. I am glad to be able to devote this dissertation to her. I also appreciate Professor Kazuto Oshio who supported my research and gave me profound insight into academic study. My gratitude also goes to Professor Yujin Yaguchi who supported my research in the United States and gave me a lot of useful advice. I appreciate the Fulbright program which supported my study in the U.S. graduate school. Not only did they provide financial support but they also attenuated my anxiety about overall life in the United States and graduate study through their helpful orientations before commencing my studies. I also thank Professor John Dower who took the time to write me a recommendation letter as a prospective Fulbrighter. I thank my professors who supported me to write this dissertation at the University of California, San Diego. I cannot make this dissertation possible without Professor Yen Le Espiritu’s heartful support. I cannot express enough gratitude to her. I learned from her what the grounded and reliable academic works should be, specifically as an Ethnic Studies scholar. She also understood my isolated life abroad and supported me by taking time to listen to me, and inviting me her house. I also thank my dissertation committee members, Professor Ross Frank, Takashi Fujitani, Denise vi Ferreira da Silva, Lisa Yoneyama and all of whom also gave me deep insights into engaging in critical studies on the field of American history, immigration, and cultural studies. Needless to say, I acknowledge my fellows, Angie Morril, Cathleen Kozen, Long Bui and Ma Vang. Their uncountable supports just make me cry. I owe my gratitude to them sharing our valuable and memorable time--writing together, sharing our academic anxiety together and drinking together to get away from the academic stress. Ma Vang was also my roommate for four years during which we shared both our academic and private lives. I could not have lived with anybody else except her for all these years. I also appreciate her boyfriend, Kit Myers who has also provided support and company. Outside of my cohort members, I appreciate Ayako Sahara who always stood by me as a writing partner and discussed our academic future. As a non-native English writer, it was very helpful that Julietta Y. Hua, Thuy Vo Dang, Traci Brynne Voyles, and Maria. T. Cesena spent time to read my papers and suggest sentence organization. I would like to appreciate my interviewees who spent not only their time and energy, but told me their valuable personal stories. Kazuko Stout Umezu, the president of the Nikkei International Marriage Society, invited me to her organization’s conventions. Through the organization, I established more friendships with its members and know their stories. Tsuchino Forrester who took over the work of the Society’s organization renamed the International Marriage Friendship Association also had me stay at her house and told me valuable stories. Without their brave and sincere decision to share the stories, this work would not have been possible. vii I engaged in the research project sponsored by Japanese Overseas Migration Museum owned by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). I thank Professor Noriko Shimada who gave me the opportunity to join it which made my research much more comprehensive and thorough. As a project member, it was valuable to work with Professor Shigeyoshi Yasutomi and Ikumi Yanagisawa. Professor Yasutomi initially introduced me the Nikkei International Marriage Society and kindly shared information about the Society and its members. Finally, I would like to thank my family who supported me to study in the United States in various ways. I know that they had mixed feeling about my going away abroad and were worried about me all the time. They sent me boxes filled with stuff from my home country and letters that always made my heart very warm. Without their support, I would never have been able to complete my Ph.D. viii VITA 2011 Doctor of Philosophy Department of Ethnic Studies University of California, San Diego 2007 Master of Arts Department of Ethnic Studies University of California, San Diego 2005 Master of Arts Department of Literature, American Studies Japan Women’s University 2003 Bachelor of Arts Department of Literature, American Studies Japan Women’s University PUBLICATIONS "Hawai he Watatta Gunjin Hanayome [War Brides in Hawaii]: Jyosei Jishin ga Kataru Kekkon Seikatsu [Marriage Lives Narrated by Women]." In Nihon no Jyosei Iminshi no Hakkutsu: Syashin Hanayome to Senso Hanayome no Tadotta Michi [Excavaton of Japanese Women's Immigration History: Historical Path of Picture Brides and War Brides,] edited by Noriko Shimada. Tokyo: Akashi Shoten, 2009. “Kaihou Sareta Tekikoku no Jyoseitachi: Chinmoku ga Kataru Keiken [‘Liberated Enemy Women’: Experiences Told by Silence],” JICA Research Annuals 2 (2008): 37- 51. “Japanese Women’s Marriages to American GIs under the U.S. Occupation of Japan: Their Silenced Voices and Experiences,” Veritas 51 (2007): 57-70. “Hawai he Watatta Senso Hanayome: Nichibei no Sengo Seiji no Hazama de Keisei Sareta Imeji to Keiken [Japanese War Brides in Hawaii: Images and Actual Experiences in the Context of Postwar American and Japanese Politics],” Imin Kenkyu Nenpo 12 (2006): 24-32. GRANTS AND AWARDS April, 2009 Invited by TJF Dissertation Workshop hosted by UC Santa Cruz Oct. 2008 Matsushita Kokusai Foundation fellowship May, 2008 Joseph Naiman Graduate Fellowship, Japanese Studies, UCSD May, 2008 Mary Dashen Scholarship of the International Center, UCSD April, 2008 Institute for International, Comparative, and Area Studies (IICAS) Travel Grant, UCSD Sep. 2005 Fellowship of Japanese Ministry of Education for Graduate Study in the United States Nov. 2004 Fulbright Fellowship for Graduate Study in the United States ix ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Cold War Love: Producing American Liberalism in Interracial Marriages between American Soldiers and Japanese Women by Tomoko Tsuchiya Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnic Studies University of California, San Diego, 2011 Professor Yen Le Espiritu, Chair This project analyzes how “Japanese war brides” who married American GIs as a result of the U.S. occupation of Japan became visible in the political context whereby the United States and Japan established an allied relationship. The marriages between American soldiers and Japanese