(Japanese) If I had been in Japan at the time, I wouldn’t have been able to live with an American. Since I’ve come here, all my husband’s relatives have been good to me. That makes me feel like I really am glad I came to America. Now, in Japan, everyone’s living with foreigners and things...how do you say it…the progress of internationalization is intense in Japan, right? But back then, it was still a little scary. So, I didn’t know whether or not I should be happy without reservations.
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
Interviewee Bio
Jean Hamako Schneider (former name: Amano) was born in 1925 in Yokohama. In 1933, she went with her father, who was to run a business in Latin America, to Panama where she stayed for two years. Her father remained in Panama after her, but came back to Japan in 1942 on a prisoner of war exchange ship. While working at a radio station after the war, Hamako met Harry Schneider, who was stationed in Japan with the U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS). In 1948, the two married in Japan, and, in 1950, Hamako left for America as a war bride. After that, she gave birth to a daughter and quickly acquired American citizenship. Currently, she lives in Encinitas, California. (September 2014)
