Researcher wants to hear from adult children of Japanese war brides
Media Release, Monday 11 July 2005
The life experiences of Japanese women who settled in Australia after marrying Australian servicemen around the period of the Second World War – the so called “Japanese war brides” – are the subject of a new research project at the University of Melbourne.
Kuniko Ishihara, who was herself raised in Japan and trained as a nurse, then came to Australia to study and met an Australian partner here, is particularly interested in hearing from the adult children of Japanese war brides. The resulting interviews and analysis will be used in her research for a Master of Women’s Health degree in the Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society at the University of Melbourne.
Ms Ishihara says between 600-800 Japanese war brides live or have lived in Australia but the experiences of these women have received little research attention. She wants to find out what life has been like for them, from both personal and social perspectives, as well as from a health perspective.
“This year marks 60 years since the end of World War 2” says Ms Ishihara, “and part of this project is to identify the health and social issues these women may expect to face as they enter older age, and the sorts of care they may need”.
“So far I have interviewed 15 amazing women, and now I want to hear from their adult children - about what it was like growing up in Australia in the post-war years with mixed race parents, and how their mothers’ Japanese culture has influenced their lives.”
The Key Centre’s Dr Maggie Kirkman, who is supervising Ms Ishihara’s research says this study is fascinating in the way Ms Ishihara’s own life in some ways replicates that of her research subjects.
“Kuniko is finding that some of these women tell very romantic stories about their lives – how when the world was at war, they fell in love with a man who was by their cultural definition an enemy, and then came to live in a society where they in turn were considered the enemy. But Kuniko says most of the women tell stories about their lives that are happy overall, although their children’s versions may be rather different. Hence the need for her to speak with them, to round out the picture we have of these women’s lives”.
Anyone wanting to share experiences or who wants to find out more is asked to contact Kuniko Ishihara (k.ishihara@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au / 8344 4333). Anonymity of research subjects will be respected, and interviews can be done via email, in a group, or over the phone.
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