Thank you for taking an interest in this! My mother was also an illegitimate child. Although it was very hard for her, she was still lucky to have relatives who raised her with love.
I was born to a Japanese mother in Tokyo 1958. I lived with her until age 5. I was adopted by American parents and came to the U.S. My mother never prepared me. The day I was turned over to my new parents I was brought to an office building and told to wait until she walked away down the hall. I never saw her again. My adoptive parents told me the same thing she put me up for adoption because of the prejudice I would face. I don’t exhibit many Asian features I look Caucasian. Never had any issues living in America. People are very surprised when I tell them I’m half Japanese.
Sad to hear, I'm sure you would like to know what became of your mom. My brother was born at Tachikawa Hospital (off base) in June 1959 and our parents married in May. That's a tight window that made me think later in life that my dad might've been thinking to leave her instead of marrying her...cause why would you wait that late. I never confronted him or rather asked him about it. He was a good father while my Jpnse mom was a great mother, couldn't ask for anyone better. Anyway, sadly, lot of people who were also in same situation as you all over Asia where US troops were stationed...but best wishes!
@@purberri I am sure you looked a little bit asian. The whites just gave you a pass as a white. There's lots of people passing as white and don't even look white.😆
That tunnel run is so sad and such a shared experience for those kids. It reminds me of spirited away… how you can be in one world, and then suddenly your life is totally different and confusing.
Imagine what the Japanese war brides and their children experienced in America when they immigrated there right after the war. Imagine it wasn't all wine and roses
Everything is about the bomb unfortunately. Of course, that's my opinion, and I think Spirited Away is no different. Furthermore, I'm currently plowing through Godzilla Minus One. It's the same thing. In fact this rendition with regards to the bomb is even more in your face.. This is an excellent video, by the way. I've learned a lot from this video... things I did not know... but I'm not surprised.
My wife is a child of GI who worked for MacArthur and a Japanese mother. She is very fortunate because my father in law married my mother in law and brought both my mother in law and my wife to USA where they stayed married and succeeded in life against bigotry and other obstacles. Many of the Japanese war brides who did make it to the USA were abandoned by their GI husbands. For those children who were abandoned, life was very difficult. My wife observed some of them in late 1960s sweeping streets.
I am half Japanese, born to a Japanese mother & an American GI(Marine). My father married my mother when I was 5 months old much to the dismay of the Marine Corp. We came to the USA in 1958. It was difficult growing up as a half Japanese child, but I think it would have been more difficult in Japan.
@@jeffmorse645 ". . .are so common . . ." Yes, but that's today, while 1958 was then, and it was a whole lot different, even in California, my home state. (80Y/O white guy here)
Those whom the GIs brought home were the lucky ones. There are many more who were abandoned as they were the result of rapes, brothels and fun nights. The men just disappeared.
My Great Uncle married a Japanese lovely lady and brought her to the United States. My uncles side of the family treated her well and protected her from the bigotry then. She was the sweetest woman and treated us all well.
This was absolutely heartbreaking. I was a teacher of mixed-raced children in Okinawa. It was tough to see. As a half German and half English growing up between the two countries, we experienced a feeling of being abandoned by each county. Never German enough and never English enough. That’s the hard part.
@@SongsAboutHappiness If you are born in Sweden and always see swedes, you would be able to tell a fin, german, english out by looks alone. even if its slight difference
As the video says, Okinawa has had that problem much longer, sice US bases are still there. Anyway, Okinawans are more open than the rest of Japan so I hope those innocent children are not having a hard time. Thanks for being a teacher for those kids!
Yes 👍 One of my neighbors is a Ghanaian man. He was married to a Japanese woman. When his daughter was young and going to a Japanese elementary school, she was bullied. He went to the school and spoke to her teacher. (I wondered why his wife didn't go. She wasn't working, so she could've easily gone instead of him.) If he had a great job, he would've sent her to an international school. But the tuition was too much, so his daughter had to go to a public school. His daughter might've thrived at that school in Okinawa. I wonder how much the tuition is at that mixed race students only school.🤔
I do understand that to some degree: I'm a Filipina-American (with a little bit of Chinese and Spanish) mother of two teenaged Eurasian kids. My kids are half Filipino, half Italian with a little bit of Chinese and Spanish.
I am a 76yo pure bred English born man and I have no tolerance at all for racial discrimination, as so did my parents. I have people of many races and colours married into my extended family and ALL are equal to the white family members. Having lived in Australia for the last 56 years I now have friends of many different ethnic backgrounds and religions. All have equal standing with my Australian family. My hope is that the World learns that all people are equal regardless of their background. Thank you for bringing this video to us to help progress this hope.
@@Jsarmy87124 Hello Sarah. Maybe I did not pick the best way to describe it, but I have researched over 300 years of my ancestors and know that they were all English born, mostly farm workers or miners. Mainly people who would have found it very difficult to leave their birth area to look for a life partner. Relatives from my parents generation on have not been restricted by being confined to one small area and have had the ability to marry partners from outside their small village or town. I am not trying to be condescending in what I was trying to say, simply stating that I and my family and friends do not tolerate racial prejudice in any form.
@@michaelcauser474 They married into your family BECAUSE you are white and English born, But of course you can't or won't see that.I I've lived in other countries I've seen it all. They WANT white in their children, that my dear is racism, you seem to think only white folks can be racist.
Tony’s house in the Bay Area would be worth more than 5 million. While many in California are homeless, he was an orphan but he is definitely a winner in his life🤣
A famous actor in Japan Kusakari Masao was also half Japanese and half American. His Japanese mother kept him but faced prejudice and was otracized. He only found his American family last year by NHK.
Lots of people, including me, cried when watching that documentary last summer. It was emotional to see him meeting his family in the US for the first time.
@@215nekoit doesn't make sense. Why does he feel emotional for the family that essentially occupied his country and possibly assaulted his mom into pregnancy?
For those who got married at that time with mix-cultures were brave. Considered what happened between two countries just few years ago. For those who was abandoned, it was a tragic because children are innocent by their birth race.
Kids bully each other in every country, let's be real! And the biggest victims of bullying in Japan is Jpnse on Jpnse (I'm excluding haafu who may be Jpnse). They need to do more to crack down on it, just like they need to do so in every country. Kids can be quite cruel.
Why are you only saying American? There are Many countries and peoples who have done it, sometimes much worse as well. It certainly isn't only an American "thing".
@@breezymango4113 Because the US has more than 800 military bases all over the world and involved in almost all the significant conflicts in the last few decades. Hence, by sheer numbers, american bastards numbered the most and hence the most visible.
My father was in the army and stationed in Japan during the occupation (1946 to about 1950). He was in his late teens and was a little on the wild side. Ive always wondered if he fathered any children while there. Is there somewhere where i could look into this?
I think many people want to know their roots through DNA testing. However, it is not very common in Japan, and since thery are grew up in Japan, I don't know if there is anyone who can understand English after the analysis. I would like to look into it too for my mother.
@@まるまる-l4m6d , The world is more globalized now. There is the possibility some of them are no longer in Japan so DNA testing is an option. Try Ancestry for the test. You may find cousins elsewhere in the world.
Many soldiers were famous for assaulting women as well. Of course these men won’t ever tell you if they assaulted women overseas. Curious if you can find relatives in Asia, and they can tell you their story about your father
It's not just Americans that did this, Canadian military did this as well in Japan.... nearly every country military does take for instance what wars in the middle east do to each other.
I'm Japanese-Brazilian and Miki Sawada's story is pretty well-known among the Japanese community. Especially because she left Japan in the early 1960s with a number of her orphans to naively found an self-sustaining utopia in the Amazon jungle. With disastrous results I must add. Still one remarkable woman who did good with her fortune.
I do remember reading about such a community, but I do not believe it involved Miki Sawada, and in a quick online search I don’t find anything (you would think it would be on her Wikipedia page, for example).
Even today courts in Japan almost always grant custody to the mother, in the event of divorce. Usually the mother is a Japanese citizen. Another obstacle is Japanese prefer lighter skinned people so sadly children who are a mix of African and Japanese face even more discrimination than white and Japanese.
My great grandfather and great grandmother also met during the war but in Italy. My great grandfather was a British soldier stationed there and then he met a young Italian woman. My great auntie was born in Italy during the war then when all the soldiers were returning home, my great grandmother illegally immigrated with them. My Nana was born in England and grew up very English. My great grandmother never taught her daughters Italian despite the fact she could barely speak English, I think it was because she didn’t want people to perceive her daughters as foreigners. Unlike the Japanese children, my Nana and great auntie didn’t face problems due to race as both countries were European and my great grandfather never abandoned them so I think they were quite lucky. From my understanding, many Italians didn’t support the Italian government during the war, so I think the prejudice wouldn’t have been so bad hopefully. It’s crazy to think about how manny similar stories there probably are from across the globe. So many children abandoned by their military fathers. I live in New Zealand now and during the war there was American soldiers stationed here and many of them had relationships with kiwi women then abandoned them also. I hope all those children were able to find loving homes and grow up happy.
What's messed up about this, for those who would've liked to have lived in the U.S. who weren't adopted, is the Amerasian Homecoming Act excluded kids who were born in Japan and the Philippines. WHY?! Doesn't make any sense.
@@f430ferrari5 Wrong: The law prioritized U.S. immigration to children fathered by U.S. citizens including from Korea, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
@@bobbyclemente21 what law ware you referring to. You are wrong. The Amerasian Homecoming Act HR 3171 of 1988 which the OP mentioned only applied to those born in Vietnam and that person had to be residing in Vietnam when the Act passed. Do some research.
My friend's brother in law married a Japanese woman and adopted her Japanese son living in Hawaii. He had a German name and his son was an engineer fluent in English and Japanese. He tried to get a job in Japan in the automotive industry and could.not get hired. He marched in to find his Japanese birth document and changed his name back to Japanese and got hired. True Story.
The Elizabeth Saunders home mentioned for example was almost exclusively half American kids. The American military kid population was pretty unique in size from WWII to modern day in Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Americans put up numbers like Spain did during the conquest of the Americas. Unlike the nations you mentioned, the American children were born almost exclusively out of wedlock, because most of these kids were and are born to soldiers. There werent British, Canadian, or Australian military bases in Japan, and countries with British or Australian bases just dont see the same amount of interracial orphans as with American soldiers.
I feel for the man that discovered his mother had immigrated to the US. To finally see her face and know her name, but to not be able to ever speak…so painful. I don’t share the exact circumstance, but similar in a way. My father died this year. I never got the chance to speak to him as an adult - last time was only for a few minutes, around age 11. I’ll always feel the pain.
9:25 Wow! Granny definitely had a type! She gave up one kid for adoption (or more), married an American man, and never tried to find out about the child she abandoned. I guess she never told her new family that she had another child! Quite impressive!
These things happen because they became traumatic experiences for the mothers (some times). This happened to my Great grandma, and my family found out when my great aunt was looking for her.
She faced a lot of discrimination in Japan at the time. A lot of Asian women who had kids with American GI were treated badly at the time. It's easy for you to criticise when you know nothing.
@@Afan-bm6hghe's talking about the mother after she married an American man and came to America. She should have look for her abandoned child(s) after that.
Matsunaga Masae (my mom) was born on 8 October 1922 in Nagano-ken and was later to become a wonderful mother and a great cook. Everyone in our family raves about her cooking and misses her kindness. I miss her every day. Our family has many races and cultures. I am proud that family members do not suffer from racial, religious or cultural prejudices.
1. BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE 2. On a more serious note, Mama Sanders had a big heart. Goodness bless every heart she touched. May her blessing reverberate for many generations.
I’m Brazilian and my father was a Japanese who immigrated to Brazil after 1960 just post war years. He told me that the Japanese children born from the Black soldiers and Japanese women were sent abroad for adoption because at that time the Japanese society would not accept them in Japan. There are many mixed children left behind In Okinawa by the American soldiers. I went there and I saw some “hafu” or half which means mixed kids in Japan. They look mixed but they’re Japanese. The governor of Okinawa is one.
Right, Denny Tamaki. I met many Brasileiro haafu when I lived in Tokyo, still friends w/ them to this day. Only a few Peruvian haafu, but there was a lot of us haafu from various countries I could meet and some are still my best friends. Wish I could've met you as well!
maybe a French language media outlet could produce something, or if you feel strongly about it yourself, you could set up a social media link to highlight it?
Thank you for sharing this ❤ It touched my heart I'm mixed my father was an American GI and mother was Japanese ❤🇯🇵 Dad was stationed in Hokkaido until 1961 when he was honorably discharged! He and I returned to the States but mother did not want to leave her homeland
Xenophobia is the issue. Some ostracize white people too because they're all about being Japanese. Some places won't allow you in unless you're Japanese. Even if you're Japanese and you dye your hair pink some will look at you sideways. Race is an American social construct, everywhere else is class, tribe, ethnicity. In my paternal country it's tribe and sad to say the ruling party has the nice gadgets, the most money and enriches their people even though we're from the same country.
I'm sure there was strong dislike and hostility towards yank-looking people in Japan at that time after Japan got obliterated by them, especially the cities that had the atomic bombs dropped on them. The native people needed to understand that those mixed Japanese children were also a victim and product of the yank hegemony and occupation.
Yea? No. It's most certainly a response mechanism from the subjects of racism. Oh! And there's that little tidbit of Americans having blown up their country, twice.
Son of black American and Japanese woman born early fifties. My mother left me with a Japanese family while she went to make a life/living in Hawaii. She did very well there I was told but I never saw her again. I was later adopted by black/japanese couple and went to live in USA. My ex,also hafu (b/J) spent a (very) short time in Oiso orphanage. Around 1967, the half black residents at the home were sent to Brazil. The authorities thought it was better for them there. There is an Ebony or Jet magazine about this forced emigration. I remember going to Brazil/Rio in early 2000’s and seeing faces similar to mine.
Don’t forget that the towns would grab the women when the ally’s came in and save their heads and rip their clothing for being with the Germans they would also be banished even with their children. The thing is some of these women were forced and it had to for necessity
Yeah my Great Grandmother said it was known not to accept coke from the GIs as they would drug it and date "assult" the Aussie girls forcing them into relationships.
The children are always the victims whether it's being abandoned by a GI, or being abducted by the Japanese spouse and denied access to their kids because the country's laws regarding joint custody change far too glacially.
@@Dangic23 if it happens so often then that’s on the women who allow for this to happen. There are such things as birth control methods out there, right? Or am I close?
Most American soldiers are from poor families and low academic achievers. Many of them are not financially independent. They are in their sexually active age. most of them have no intention or ability to take care babies.
To say Japanese society is insular is a vast understatement. Look up TH-camr "Ask Shogo" he's got some heartrending episodes about how badly he was treated in Japan as a 100% Japanese who merely spent *some* years of his childhood in the US.
@@ciara7172 What Germany did to the Soviets before this was just as dark, if not darker because they tried to completely annihilate them, though so it's hard to feel bad here
When stationed in Korea our unit sponsored an orphanage; and of the 400 kids living there not a single one was fathered by a GI, yet embedded Korean soldiers refused to aid in any tasks for the orphanage: their reason these are mixed kids.
The UK also had children's homes for the mixed race children of black US GIs from WW2. Those who were white could be passed off as local but not those with darker skins and tight curly hair. I guess everywhere in the world there are similar stories where large groups of armed men spend enough time in an area.
My grandfather brought my grandmother back to the us. I remember being told when my dad decided to marry my mom that his parents werent happy about her being half japanese at first.
Random Japanese here. There are many Japanese people who were born to American father but cannot find the father. If your cousin is in Okinawa, a comment on web article (by an Okinawa woman who is searching American father) advised her where to contact.
Mom's Taiwanese and my dad was from Massachusetts. They got married in the early '60s when my dad was in San Francisco and met my mom. She was fortunate enough to become American and be born here, but nevertheless, my father was a GI heading off to Vietnam. Who was still an odd mix at the time
Did your parents stay together, if you don't mind the question. Japanese mom and American father here, stayed together but there was two times my dad moved out for a while. They weren't really compatible from a personality standpoint, but I really appreciate my father not divorcing because his own parents did and abandoned him to be raised by his grandmother. And strangely enough...my Japanese grandparents divorced when my mom was quite young also, but her headstrong mom raised her by herself till she remarried and ended up getting divorced from hubby #2. I think both guys played around and she wasn't the type to put w/ that kind of thing!
We cannot be judged for the sins of others, nor for what our ancestors have done. Only for our own acts are we responsible, our acts, and whatever influence we may have on the affairs of the world. Having said that, I wish to God that our people had done better than this. This is pain that rips through the center of childrens' hearts and souls. I pray to whatever gods there are that I may never, ever, cause suffering like this...
Only registered in the US consulate in Japan. There were antimiscegenation laws in the US, they could not get marriage licenses, and they were practically just sex slaves.
Nice to see a happy school of Amerasian children in Okinawa. 75% of US armed forces are stationed there, so mixed relationships between soldiers & local women, then as now, are not uncommon. 😺
Konketsuji isn't used in Japan anymore, except in private conversations, and really shouldn't be used in a documentary like this except to point out it's a bad label for us mixlings, in this case, haafu (ハーフ).
Its irresponsible to bring children to society that will not accept them. If it was rape then the mother is a victim but to mingle with foreigner for fun and new experience then have a child as a result then abandon him, this is cruelty.
For what it's worth, I just want to say that these children are worth just as much as anyone others born to any other people. Don't worry about certain. cultures, opinions or values. on who your parents are. I find the concept silly. What wasn't see, though, is the way that these kids were treated. What a terrible way. to be judged as a child through no. through no design or fault of your own. I've travelled throughout the world. and some of the best people I have met have been from America and Japan, so I can imagine any child. from both of those worlds would be pretty awesome! I hope somebody in this situation reads this comment :)
That "mama" was amazing, daughter of the Mitsubishi fortune. She sure put it to good use, bless her. What one person can do to change so many lives.
Thank you for taking an interest in this! My mother was also an illegitimate child. Although it was very hard for her, she was still lucky to have relatives who raised her with love.
@@まるまる-l4m6d This story has profoundly affected me.
May she rest in bliss in heaven for her wonderful soul towards all those children ✨🤍
I was born to a Japanese mother in Tokyo 1958. I lived with her until age 5. I was adopted by American parents and came to the U.S. My mother never prepared me. The day I was turned over to my new parents I was brought to an office building and told to wait until she walked away down the hall. I never saw her again. My adoptive parents told me the same thing she put me up for adoption because of the prejudice I would face. I don’t exhibit many Asian features I look Caucasian. Never had any issues living in America. People are very surprised when I tell them I’m half Japanese.
Sad to hear, I'm sure you would like to know what became of your mom. My brother was born at Tachikawa Hospital (off base) in June 1959 and our parents married in May. That's a tight window that made me think later in life that my dad might've been thinking to leave her instead of marrying her...cause why would you wait that late. I never confronted him or rather asked him about it. He was a good father while my Jpnse mom was a great mother, couldn't ask for anyone better.
Anyway, sadly, lot of people who were also in same situation as you all over Asia where US troops were stationed...but best wishes!
purberri: how do you feel about your story? Are you sad? Do you feel Japanese at all? Do you feel you want to learn Japanese or visite Japan?
@@ВивсівідстійYou aren’t very bright.
It could be that she thought she was doing the most loving thing she could. She probably loved you far more than you knew. So sad!
@@purberri I am sure you looked a little bit asian. The whites just gave you a pass as a white. There's lots of people passing as white and don't even look white.😆
That tunnel run is so sad and such a shared experience for those kids. It reminds me of spirited away… how you can be in one world, and then suddenly your life is totally different and confusing.
Imagine what the Japanese war brides and their children experienced in America when they immigrated there right after the war. Imagine it wasn't all wine and roses
Everything is about the bomb unfortunately. Of course, that's my opinion, and I think Spirited Away is no different. Furthermore, I'm currently plowing through Godzilla Minus One. It's the same thing. In fact this rendition with regards to the bomb is even more in your face..
This is an excellent video, by the way. I've learned a lot from this video... things I did not know... but I'm not surprised.
That's the same thought I had! I wonder if Spirited Away was also inspired by stories of children being separated from their parents.
The tunnel is extremely sad. The whole situation is sad.
cool
My wife is a child of GI who worked for MacArthur and a Japanese mother. She is very fortunate because my father in law married my mother in law and brought both my mother in law and my wife to USA where they stayed married and succeeded in life against bigotry and other obstacles. Many of the Japanese war brides who did make it to the USA were abandoned by their GI husbands.
For those children who were abandoned, life was very difficult. My wife observed some of them in late 1960s sweeping streets.
waito piggu go home
My late wife Yoshiko and I were married in Tokyo in 1958.
We spent 50 wonderful years
Together and had 2 sons.
Uncle Howard?!?!?!!
'58 IS NOT WW2
This has nothing to do with you then
I’m glad for you, so you were in US army?
@@jeffharris7777 Jeff? Is that you my son? Hey buddy your mom is in Osaka now and I'm in San Francisco. Come visit me.
I am half Japanese, born to a Japanese mother & an American GI(Marine). My father married my mother when I was 5 months old much to the dismay of the Marine Corp. We came to the USA in 1958. It was difficult growing up as a half Japanese child, but I think it would have been more difficult in Japan.
Depends on where you grew up. In California it was less of an issue because mixed race kids are so common.
@@jeffmorse645 ". . .are so common . . ." Yes, but that's today, while 1958 was then, and it was a whole lot different, even in California, my home state. (80Y/O white guy here)
@rickhayhoe You’re so right!! Different times
@rickhayhoe I grew up in So Cal, half (or tri) breed, in the 60s/70s and folks weren’t very nice.
Tony seems like such a good dude. I wanna give him a hug
Me too I’m really sad for hik
Yes, many of them, during Korean War, Vietnam War too.
Every war since the beginning of time.
Yes east Asia and westerners such as American occupation.
@@ManChan-w5p compared to the japanese imperialist who just rape the local women wherever they went right?
Those whom the GIs brought home were the lucky ones. There are many more who were abandoned as they were the result of rapes, brothels and fun nights. The men just disappeared.
German and English women also married to the US soldiers during the WWII.
My Great Uncle married a Japanese lovely lady and brought her to the United States. My uncles side of the family treated her well and protected her from the bigotry then. She was the sweetest woman and treated us all well.
Man imagine getting dropped off at the abandonment tunnel
I cried after hearing that especially after seeing the photo at 4:18 . They were so little.
Based on my personality, I would have never forgiven those who had made me! 🤷♂️
Yea that’s fuct up.
Very traumatic experience
While you were very weak
Josephine Baker adopted kids from Elizabeth Saunders Home and she also donated a lot.
What a wonderful lady and I love her.
This was absolutely heartbreaking. I was a teacher of mixed-raced children in Okinawa. It was tough to see. As a half German and half English growing up between the two countries, we experienced a feeling of being abandoned by each county. Never German enough and never English enough. That’s the hard part.
@@SongsAboutHappiness Absolutely.
@@SongsAboutHappiness yes easily! -grew up in Japan
@@SongsAboutHappiness If you are born in Sweden and always see swedes, you would be able to tell a fin, german, english out by looks alone. even if its slight difference
As the video says, Okinawa has had that problem much longer, sice US bases are still there. Anyway, Okinawans are more open than the rest of Japan so I hope those innocent children are not having a hard time. Thanks for being a teacher for those kids!
@@viikmaqicno all white people look the same.
What a wonderful school at the end! The students look happy and confident.
Yes 👍 One of my neighbors is a Ghanaian man. He was married to a Japanese woman. When his daughter was young and going to a Japanese elementary school, she was bullied. He went to the school and spoke to her teacher. (I wondered why his wife didn't go. She wasn't working, so she could've easily gone instead of him.) If he had a great job, he would've sent her to an international school. But the tuition was too much, so his daughter had to go to a public school. His daughter might've thrived at that school in Okinawa. I wonder how much the tuition is at that mixed race students only school.🤔
@@M-Is-For-Margaret I hope it’s free
@@M-Is-For-Margaret It's now funded by the JPN gov't. Not sure if there is a charge nowadays, besides normal school fees.
Those children are absolutely beautiful. Every single one of them.
@@oliverkat Get your own mind out of that gutter lmfao, OP didn't make it look weird, you did Oliverkat.
@@nzrock1 🤡
I do understand that to some degree: I'm a Filipina-American (with a little bit of Chinese and Spanish) mother of two teenaged Eurasian kids. My kids are half Filipino, half Italian with a little bit of Chinese and Spanish.
God bless abandoned children everywhere.
The coldest heart belongs to a man who abandoned a pregnant woman with his child.
Tons all over Asia. The Amerasian Homecoming Act excluded kids who were born in Japan and Philippines which makes NO sense.
You’re right 😢
Love and compassion changes lives and through their lives the world is changed.
I am a 76yo pure bred English born man and I have no tolerance at all for racial discrimination, as so did my parents. I have people of many races and colours married into my extended family and ALL are equal to the white family members. Having lived in Australia for the last 56 years I now have friends of many different ethnic backgrounds and religions. All have equal standing with my Australian family. My hope is that the World learns that all people are equal regardless of their background.
Thank you for bringing this video to us to help progress this hope.
I see a future with no racism.
@@jeffharris7777 no with uk riot against immigrants the world became more and more like Hitler was in power
@@Jsarmy87124 Hello Sarah. Maybe I did not pick the best way to describe it, but I have researched over 300 years of my ancestors and know that they were all English born, mostly farm workers or miners. Mainly people who would have found it very difficult to leave their birth area to look for a life partner. Relatives from my parents generation on have not been restricted by being confined to one small area and have had the ability to marry partners from outside their small village or town. I am not trying to be condescending in what I was trying to say, simply stating that I and my family and friends do not tolerate racial prejudice in any form.
@@michaelcauser474 They married into your family BECAUSE you are white and English born, But of course you can't or won't see that.I I've lived in other countries I've seen it all. They WANT white in their children, that my dear is racism, you seem to think only white folks can be racist.
They married into your family because you are caucasian and British born.
Tony’s house in the Bay Area would be worth more than 5 million. While many in California are homeless, he was an orphan but he is definitely a winner in his life🤣
It is very sad how the innocent children had to endure the pain. Stop the insane war.
A famous actor in Japan Kusakari Masao was also half Japanese and half American. His Japanese mother kept him but faced prejudice and was otracized. He only found his American family last year by NHK.
Lots of people, including me, cried when watching that documentary last summer. It was emotional to see him meeting his family in the US for the first time.
@@215nekoit doesn't make sense. Why does he feel emotional for the family that essentially occupied his country and possibly assaulted his mom into pregnancy?
Japan was an Axis power that started WWII they weren't victims
@@samuraijosh1595 How about actually watching the documentary and understanding what happened in this specific family?
@@Mr.Byrnes are you sure it's not you?
For those who got married at that time with mix-cultures were brave. Considered what happened between two countries just few years ago.
For those who was abandoned, it was a tragic because children are innocent by their birth race.
Most arent married, most are considered rape by westerners standard
Roberto Duran the Famous boxer was the child of a former U.S. Marine stationed in Panama.
Yeah but he has a tribe unlike these bastards
I did not know that, Thanks for the info.
Hands of stone one of my favorite boxers I believe his dad Margarito Duran was Mexican American
Never knew that, wow, his looks is very Latino. Any idea as to his father's ethnic background?
People are so strange and toxic in their ignorance. Those who mistreated these children would be horrified to find themselves in a similar situation.
japanese don't fall for that dei bullsht
@@user-fx5sw1cn7j its the real world bub mistreating people for being born is evil blame the parents
@@travishylton6976 actually, it's a maximum form of deterrence for other future would-be parents
Kids bully each other in every country, let's be real! And the biggest victims of bullying in Japan is Jpnse on Jpnse (I'm excluding haafu who may be Jpnse). They need to do more to crack down on it, just like they need to do so in every country. Kids can be quite cruel.
American GI's left abandoned women & children all over the world.
There are probably cases, wherever a US military base is.
Wherever any military base is.
Why are you only saying American? There are Many countries and peoples who have done it, sometimes much worse as well. It certainly isn't only an American "thing".
@@breezymango4113 Because the US has more than 800 military bases all over the world and involved in almost all the significant conflicts in the last few decades. Hence, by sheer numbers, american bastards numbered the most and hence the most visible.
@@breezymango4113because the video is about American GIs that’s why they’re mentioning Americans
@@breezymango4113 That's right. It's a Caucasian thing.
My father was in the army and stationed in Japan during the occupation (1946 to about 1950). He was in his late teens and was a little on the wild side. Ive always wondered if he fathered any children while there. Is there somewhere where i could look into this?
Do your DNA on ancestry. They may be looking for you.
I think many people want to know their roots through DNA testing. However, it is not very common in Japan, and since thery are grew up in Japan, I don't know if there is anyone who can understand English after the analysis. I would like to look into it too for my mother.
@@まるまる-l4m6d , The world is more globalized now. There is the possibility some of them are no longer in Japan so DNA testing is an option. Try Ancestry for the test. You may find cousins elsewhere in the world.
Many soldiers were famous for assaulting women as well. Of course these men won’t ever tell you if they assaulted women overseas. Curious if you can find relatives in Asia, and they can tell you their story about your father
if you can't go in person, contact a tourist consierge person, send photos, pay the employee well, you are hiring a private investigator.
God bless the Elizabeth Saunders home. We need to love people with no discrimination based on origin, language or skin colour.
Shame on these American men who presently abandon their children in Okinawa. If the military doesn’t have rules to enforce child support, it should.
It's not just Americans that did this, Canadian military did this as well in Japan.... nearly every country military does take for instance what wars in the middle east do to each other.
No just Okinawa, all over Asia...and anywhere there are US bases, but in europe mothes can sue for child support. In Asia? N and O!
Yup, worse for these kids to grow up without their dads than in a society with some prejudice. I was thinking the exact same thing
I'm Japanese-Brazilian and Miki Sawada's story is pretty well-known among the Japanese community. Especially because she left Japan in the early 1960s with a number of her orphans to naively found an self-sustaining utopia in the Amazon jungle. With disastrous results I must add. Still one remarkable woman who did good with her fortune.
Are you sure you got the right person? I haven't found any Amazon community related to her.
I do remember reading about such a community, but I do not believe it involved Miki Sawada, and in a quick online search I don’t find anything (you would think it would be on her Wikipedia page, for example).
The Mama was truly the epitomy of how we should live our lives. Amen and blessings to her -- how many lives she changed forever...
I'm so thankful Tony found some answers! How lovely his new family embraces him.
Even today courts in Japan almost always grant custody to the mother, in the event of divorce. Usually the mother is a Japanese citizen. Another obstacle is Japanese prefer lighter skinned people so sadly children who are a mix of African and Japanese face even more discrimination than white and Japanese.
My great grandfather and great grandmother also met during the war but in Italy. My great grandfather was a British soldier stationed there and then he met a young Italian woman. My great auntie was born in Italy during the war then when all the soldiers were returning home, my great grandmother illegally immigrated with them. My Nana was born in England and grew up very English. My great grandmother never taught her daughters Italian despite the fact she could barely speak English, I think it was because she didn’t want people to perceive her daughters as foreigners. Unlike the Japanese children, my Nana and great auntie didn’t face problems due to race as both countries were European and my great grandfather never abandoned them so I think they were quite lucky. From my understanding, many Italians didn’t support the Italian government during the war, so I think the prejudice wouldn’t have been so bad hopefully.
It’s crazy to think about how manny similar stories there probably are from across the globe. So many children abandoned by their military fathers. I live in New Zealand now and during the war there was American soldiers stationed here and many of them had relationships with kiwi women then abandoned them also. I hope all those children were able to find loving homes and grow up happy.
What's messed up about this, for those who would've liked to have lived in the U.S. who weren't adopted, is the Amerasian Homecoming Act excluded kids who were born in Japan and the Philippines. WHY?! Doesn't make any sense.
It was more than those two countries. Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand also excluded and Korea.
Well it’s been done to blks in other countries.
@@f430ferrari5all Asian country! Want a coincidence 🙄
@@f430ferrari5 Wrong: The law prioritized U.S. immigration to children fathered by U.S. citizens including from Korea, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
@@bobbyclemente21 what law ware you referring to.
You are wrong. The Amerasian Homecoming Act HR 3171 of 1988 which the OP mentioned only applied to those born in Vietnam and that person had to be residing in Vietnam when the Act passed.
Do some research.
My friend's brother in law married a Japanese woman and adopted her Japanese son living in Hawaii. He had a German name and his son was an engineer fluent in English and Japanese. He tried to get a job in Japan in the automotive industry and could.not get hired. He marched in to find his Japanese birth document and changed his name back to Japanese and got hired. True Story.
Yup. Completely believable. I am unsurprised, although why he would want to live here after that experience is beyond me.
I think this happens now all over the world by many countries and I see it all the time here in Japan too
Hearing the story about the child care director finding a dead Black baby made me gasp. Bless her heart for wanting to save some of these kids
Me too. That was horrifying
It’s happen in every conflict
Ratrely on the African and Middle East conflicts. I wonder why?
@@MrOscarLong Because nobody is that desperate.
This report makes me choked up 😭
😢 still crying … so emotional but really admire the strength of the children and the people who supported them
Good story about a loving Mama.
The same thing happened during the Korean and Vietnam War. Heartbreaking. 😢
I wonder if same thing happened in Iraq and Afghanistan
Tons in Philippines also, near Subic Bay and Clark AFB.
British, Canadians and Australians left children behind.
every time soldiers are in the country of the enemy they leave children behind. This happened in most wars over millenia on all continents.
@@silviaquesada2499 it don't have to be enemy lands...
So did Germans… it was part of their policy
African American GI’s left children in England, the Netherlands and Germany after ww2
The Elizabeth Saunders home mentioned for example was almost exclusively half American kids. The American military kid population was pretty unique in size from WWII to modern day in Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Americans put up numbers like Spain did during the conquest of the Americas. Unlike the nations you mentioned, the American children were born almost exclusively out of wedlock, because most of these kids were and are born to soldiers. There werent British, Canadian, or Australian military bases in Japan, and countries with British or Australian bases just dont see the same amount of interracial orphans as with American soldiers.
God bless these humans go have had to deal with that abandonment.
I feel for the man that discovered his mother had immigrated to the US. To finally see her face and know her name, but to not be able to ever speak…so painful.
I don’t share the exact circumstance, but similar in a way. My father died this year. I never got the chance to speak to him as an adult - last time was only for a few minutes, around age 11.
I’ll always feel the pain.
That Tony is a hunk, what a stunning man. This is a great story and recovered history.
9:25 Wow! Granny definitely had a type! She gave up one kid for adoption (or more), married an American man, and never tried to find out about the child she abandoned. I guess she never told her new family that she had another child! Quite impressive!
These things happen because they became traumatic experiences for the mothers (some times). This happened to my Great grandma, and my family found out when my great aunt was looking for her.
She faced a lot of discrimination in Japan at the time. A lot of Asian women who had kids with American GI were treated badly at the time. It's easy for you to criticise when you know nothing.
@@Afan-bm6hghe's talking about the mother after she married an American man and came to America. She should have look for her abandoned child(s) after that.
It's easy to judge someone w/out knowing all the circumstances, huh? 🙄
@@douglei4413 How do you know she didn't???
I used to work with Paul Iiyama in the 90s when he worked for a large Japanese food distributor.
@@TTKDMS yes. JFC. I worked for a food company that sold to JFC. I met with Paul regularly.
Matsunaga Masae (my mom) was born on 8 October 1922 in Nagano-ken and was later to become a wonderful mother and a great cook. Everyone in our family raves about her cooking and misses her kindness. I miss her every day. Our family has many races and cultures. I am proud that family members do not suffer from racial, religious or cultural prejudices.
I feel your pain, lost my wonderful Japanese mom whom I lost two years ago. I grieve for her almost every day. Best wishes!
1. BOMBASTIC SIDE EYE
2. On a more serious note, Mama Sanders had a big heart. Goodness bless every heart she touched. May her blessing reverberate for many generations.
I’m Brazilian and my father was a Japanese who immigrated to Brazil after 1960 just post war years. He told me that the Japanese children born from the Black soldiers and Japanese women were sent abroad for adoption because at that time the Japanese society would not accept them in Japan. There are many mixed children left behind In Okinawa by the American soldiers. I went there and I saw some “hafu” or half which means mixed kids in Japan. They look mixed but they’re Japanese. The governor of Okinawa is one.
Right, Denny Tamaki. I met many Brasileiro haafu when I lived in Tokyo, still friends w/ them to this day. Only a few Peruvian haafu, but there was a lot of us haafu from various countries I could meet and some are still my best friends. Wish I could've met you as well!
what about the french soldiers kids in north africa and SE asia.
They coveved that already. How come you didn't see them?
maybe a French language media outlet could produce something, or if you feel strongly about it yourself, you could set up a social media link to highlight it?
Thank you for sharing this ❤
It touched my heart
I'm mixed my father was an American GI and mother was Japanese ❤🇯🇵
Dad was stationed in Hokkaido until 1961 when he was honorably discharged!
He and I returned to the States but mother did not want to leave her homeland
Crazy how this still happens
Racisme is unfortunaly everywhere in the world also in Japan. The world is not a perfect place. We are all humans with red blood
Racism is the worst in china, Japan and Korea.
Xenophobia is the issue. Some ostracize white people too because they're all about being Japanese. Some places won't allow you in unless you're Japanese. Even if you're Japanese and you dye your hair pink some will look at you sideways. Race is an American social construct, everywhere else is class, tribe, ethnicity. In my paternal country it's tribe and sad to say the ruling party has the nice gadgets, the most money and enriches their people even though we're from the same country.
I'm sure there was strong dislike and hostility towards yank-looking people in Japan at that time after Japan got obliterated by them, especially the cities that had the atomic bombs dropped on them. The native people needed to understand that those mixed Japanese children were also a victim and product of the yank hegemony and occupation.
Yea? No. It's most certainly a response mechanism from the subjects of racism. Oh! And there's that little tidbit of Americans having blown up their country, twice.
@@Anthony-dy5cq idk why Americans forget that 😭. Generational trauma from the event
Son of black American and Japanese woman born early fifties. My mother left me with a Japanese family while she went to make a life/living in Hawaii. She did very well there I was told but I never saw her again. I was later adopted by black/japanese couple and went to live in USA. My ex,also hafu (b/J) spent a (very) short time in Oiso orphanage. Around 1967, the half black residents at the home were sent to Brazil. The authorities thought it was better for them there. There is an Ebony or Jet magazine about this forced emigration. I remember going to Brazil/Rio in early 2000’s and seeing faces similar to mine.
They need to make a movie about that lady who started the school and home for thr orphans.
Same happened with German soldiers and French women bearing their children..public humiliation was quite common for those women
Italians, Greek, eastern bloc and Jews.
Not the same thing
There all white/ European stock
These mixed race bastards are not
Don’t forget that the towns would grab the women when the ally’s came in and save their heads and rip their clothing for being with the Germans they would also be banished even with their children.
The thing is some of these women were forced and it had to for necessity
Is there one of these videos on the mixed children of French soldiers and Vietnamese women?
Good point!
Yes, they did one 4 months ago. How come you didn't see it then?
I met one family like this, in Saigon. Thought it was fascinating, and indeed, they looked unique.
The same thing happened with my father in Australia, his father was a US soldier and left my grandmother.
Yeah my Great Grandmother said it was known not to accept coke from the GIs as they would drug it and date "assult" the Aussie girls forcing them into relationships.
GIs are still abandoning mothers and kids today.
I live near Yokota and this happens often.
Then why do the women still get with them if this is seen all around already?!??? There are condoms and birth control methods NOW too!!!
The children are always the victims whether it's being abandoned by a GI, or being abducted by the Japanese spouse and denied access to their kids because the country's laws regarding joint custody change far too glacially.
@@Dangic23 if it happens so often then that’s on the women who allow for this to happen. There are such things as birth control methods out there, right? Or am I close?
@@ellebrook3413 Japan signed The Hague Agreement, but not living up to it. They need more "gaiatsu" (outside pressure) or won't ever change.
Most American soldiers are from poor families and low academic achievers. Many of them are not financially independent. They are in their sexually active age. most of them have no intention or ability to take care babies.
To say Japanese society is insular is a vast understatement. Look up TH-camr "Ask Shogo" he's got some heartrending episodes about how badly he was treated in Japan as a 100% Japanese who merely spent *some* years of his childhood in the US.
I watched that video too. Unfortunately bulling is very common in Japan, and the authorities don't seem to care much about it.
Yes, this is a side of Japan that all of the slobbering weabo anime nerds on their TH-cam channels meticulously downplay. Or ignore.
All the allied troops left babies behind during WW2. Americans, British, French, and Soviets.
Shame upon all their houses
What the Soviets did in Germany is very dark
Why can't men, the evil part of humanity, control themselves like we do, otherwise we are literally left holding the baby . Shame on these animals.!!
@@ciara7172 yes because germany was so pure
@@ciara7172 What Germany did to the Soviets before this was just as dark, if not darker because they tried to completely annihilate them, though so it's hard to feel bad here
The United States Military should add this Slogan to their Brand: “Have Sperm Will Travel”.
They are not orphans have both parents dead, these are abandoned children whose mothers were spurned by there families and society.
Great report. Thank you
Reminds me of the story of Junichiro Hill. The son of Cotton Hill and Michiko.
Same as during the Vietnam war, many Vietnamese women were pregnant by American soldiers.
Great report!
wonderful video. Thank you so much.
And UK soldiers are doing this in Kenya
.. Meeting local women?
Exactly. Those poor woman and children are kicked out of their village.
@@MsJonessss nope
@@natak.2287quit lyinh
@@natak.2287 ?
When stationed in Korea our unit sponsored an orphanage; and of the 400 kids living there not a single one was fathered by a GI, yet embedded Korean soldiers refused to aid in any tasks for the orphanage: their reason these are mixed kids.
Koreans are more racist then Japanese
Blood puritism exist.
It’s sadly an Asian belief
Heartbreaking
American watching from the State of Rhode Island in the U.S.-wow great/interesting story guys-never knew of it before-always great content guys-Peace.
Japanese aren't black. They are very white!
The same thing happened in Australia, England and more with mixed race children. Today, they can use Familial Genetic Search.
The UK also had children's homes for the mixed race children of black US GIs from WW2. Those who were white could be passed off as local but not those with darker skins and tight curly hair. I guess everywhere in the world there are similar stories where large groups of armed men spend enough time in an area.
My grandfather brought my grandmother back to the us. I remember being told when my dad decided to marry my mom that his parents werent happy about her being half japanese at first.
When I heard the parents would tell them to run through the tunnel and leave before they reached the other end I cried 😢
I am lost for words.
I would love to find my Japanese cousin. We know his name but not sure how to find him. Our uncle was with J Force from NZ.
Random Japanese here. There are many Japanese people who were born to American father but cannot find the father. If your cousin is in Okinawa, a comment on web article (by an Okinawa woman who is searching American father) advised her where to contact.
Do a DNA test that might link you to a relative.. 23andme
@@eyeswideopen7777DNA kits are not popular in Japan so likely wont get any targets
It happened in France and England as well with married soldiers during WW II. The offspring were abandoned and remained with the mother.
8:46 Tony wonders about his family tree while I wonder what he can bench.
My dad was adopted from the Saunders Home in 1951.
Mom's Taiwanese and my dad was from Massachusetts. They got married in the early '60s when my dad was in San Francisco and met my mom. She was fortunate enough to become American and be born here, but nevertheless, my father was a GI heading off to Vietnam. Who was still an odd mix at the time
Did your parents stay together, if you don't mind the question. Japanese mom and American father here, stayed together but there was two times my dad moved out for a while. They weren't really compatible from a personality standpoint, but I really appreciate my father not divorcing because his own parents did and abandoned him to be raised by his grandmother. And strangely enough...my Japanese grandparents divorced when my mom was quite young also, but her headstrong mom raised her by herself till she remarried and ended up getting divorced from hubby #2. I think both guys played around and she wasn't the type to put w/ that kind of thing!
Same thing happened in Vietnam with the Vietnam war, my mom is a child of such.
Please make a movie about this please 🙏
It must've been hard growing up for them as children.
We cannot be judged for the sins of others, nor for what our ancestors have done. Only for our own acts are we responsible, our acts, and whatever influence we may have on the affairs of the world. Having said that, I wish to God that our people had done better than this. This is pain that rips through the center of childrens' hearts and souls. I pray to whatever gods there are that I may never, ever, cause suffering like this...
Beautiful people
No.
@@KosherFinance Why?
@@refosco1993 not pure
@@KosherFinance wow you seem like a wonderful person…. You are talking to a gay person fyi, I hope you don’t catch it!
They are the product of lust not love 😢
I live here. Japan isn't changing as fast as this news report makes out.
The aftermath of war… 😞
Reminds me of that one story arc on King of the Hill
Only registered in the US consulate in Japan. There were antimiscegenation laws in the US, they could not get marriage licenses, and they were practically just sex slaves.
Crazy that these children born from US GI's from World War II are in their '80s now.
Tres bien .
Nice to see a happy school of Amerasian children in Okinawa. 75% of US armed forces are stationed there, so mixed relationships between soldiers & local women, then as now, are not uncommon. 😺
Is there movie about this woman?
Now do a video of all the abandoned children French soldiers left around the world.
Interesting and compelling.
Konketsuji isn't used in Japan anymore, except in private conversations, and really shouldn't be used in a documentary like this except to point out it's a bad label for us mixlings, in this case, haafu (ハーフ).
Mixlings isn't much better in English. Still derogatory
@@crissy2420 LOL. Comes from German, MISCHLING, which a German haafu called herself. It's MUCH better than konketsuji.
haafus aren't real japanese anyways. barack obama isn't a white man either
Its irresponsible to bring children to society that will not accept them. If it was rape then the mother is a victim but to mingle with foreigner for fun and new experience then have a child as a result then abandon him, this is cruelty.
I’m really sad that Tony never met her mom
Soldiers and abandoning children overseas. Name a more iconic duo!
Well the females are to be blamed too. As they can't keep their legs closed.
For what it's worth, I just want to say that these children are worth just as much as anyone others born to any other people. Don't worry about certain. cultures, opinions or values. on who your parents are. I find the concept silly. What wasn't see, though, is the way that these kids were treated. What a terrible way. to be judged as a child through no. through no design or fault of your own. I've travelled throughout the world. and some of the best people I have met have been from America and Japan, so I can imagine any child. from both of those worlds would be pretty awesome! I hope somebody in this situation reads this comment :)