Woman reclaims identity lost in post-war Japan
(25 Nov 2016) On a late summer afternoon, Marianne Wilson Kuroda laid a bouquet of flowers at her mother's grave in the Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery.
When she was small, her nanny brought her here every summer.
But she didn't know why, nor could she read the English inscription on the gravestone.
She was brought up in a poor neighbourhood in the ruins of post-World War II Japan, not knowing who she was and why she looked different from her Japanese neighbours and nanny, who she took for her mother when she was small.
Six decades later, the near-lifelong resident of Japan has reclaimed her original name and, with it, the American father who died in 2003 before she could find him.
Marianne Wilson Kuroda - nee Mary Ann Vaughn - was recognized as a US citizen in June by the American embassy in Tokyo after a more than decade-long battle.
It was closure on a lifetime of dislocation, of a childhood driven by forces in the US, Japan and Sweden.
Her story all started with the arrival of a 20-year-old American in the chaos of postwar Japan.
Texas-native James Vaughn was a civilian assigned to a US military base in Yokohama, Japan, in early 1946.
He met Vivienne Wilson, a 16-year-old Swedish citizen born in Japan and they wanted to get married but were blocked because she was half-Japanese.
At the time, Japanese were among the nationalities ineligible for US citizenship, and a 1947 military directive blocked most overseas personnel from marrying foreigners who could not become citizens.
Vaughn and Wilson tied the knot in a Japanese religious ceremony in May 1948, but it had no legal standing, and US military police harassed the couple, according to what Vaughn wrote. He returned to the US in August.
Wilson gave birth to their child - named Mary Ann Vaughn - on 17 April, 1949, but she died of tuberculosis the following year.
That left the 16-month-old baby in the care of her nanny, who set up house in a one-room shack in Yokohama.
The baby was brought up not knowing who she was, with her Japanese nanny refusing to tell Mary Ann her real identity.
But, she knew she looked different and was somewhat different.
It was stressful for a child - her very existence seemed to be the source of so much friction and unhappiness, she recounts as she reflects on her 67 years of life at the house where she lives with her Japanese husband east of Tokyo.
Marianne now realizes that her nanny, Fumi, who tried to hide her from foreigners, was probably afraid of losing her.
Marianne was found around 1950 by the American Joint Committee for Assisting Japanese-American Orphans, tasked with ensuring the well-being of what were known as GI babies or Occupation babies.
The committee reported to the Swedish consul in Tokyo that Fumi wanted to adopt Mary Ann because her Swedish mother had died.
It questioned whether she should be left with her nanny, given their impoverished circumstances.
They referred to her as Marianne Wilson, her mother's surname with the Swedish version of Mary Ann.
Marianne was then sent to the international school, rather than the local school, but was left under the care of her nanny on weekends.
The change was a blow to her ego due to her poor English-language skills and it took a lot to stomach all the cultural differences, she said.
As she learned English, she began to make out the name Vivienne Wilson on the gravestone she visited at Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery.
She later found that it was her mother, and that was her grave to where her nanny had brought her every year on the anniversary of her mother's death.
Only on her deathbed in 1975, her nanny told her what she had held back all these years. James Vaughn was her father, and he hadn't abandoned her, but had tried to find her.
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NAVSUP and DLA Yokosuka Sailors Clean Yokohama Cemetery
Yokohama Foreign Cemetery houses the remains of British, German, and American service members who have fought from WWI on and died serving in Japan.
HQ Sound???? Walking Tokyo ????♂️ Yokohama Motomachi Shopping Street 横浜・元町 を散策(石川町~港の見える丘公園) 【高音質】Japan日本
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0:10 JR Negishi Line Ishikawacho Station South Exit JR 根岸線 石川町駅 南口
2:52 Yokohama Motomachi Shopping Street 横浜元町ショッピングストリート
10:07 Yokohama Foreign General Cemetery 横浜外国人墓地
13:21 Yamate-hon-dori Street 山手本通り
14:44 Minato-no-mieru Oka Park 港の見える丘公園
16:56 Yokohama Bay Bridge 横浜ベイブリッジ
18:08 Yokohama Marine Tower 横浜マリンタワー
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Walking from Yokohama Motomachi Shopping Street to Minatonomieru Oka Park.
I recommend that you put on Headphones or Earphones for your 3D sound experience. (Binaural recording)
(Location:Yokohama City, Kanagawa, JAPAN)
横浜・元町から港の見える丘公園までを散策してきました。
高音質のバイノーラル録音をしているので、ヘッドホンまたはイヤホンでの視聴をオススメします。
DJI Osmo Pocketは4K撮影ができるカメラですが、この動画は1080pのフルハイビジョンで撮影しています。
(撮影地:神奈川県 横浜市 中区)
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Seabees Complete Cultural Resources Project
Self-help Seabees completed a project for the Public Works Department Yokosuka Cultural Resources Division at the Yokohama Foreign Cemetery, Yokohama, Japan July 22.
YOKOHAMA PARKS IN YAMATE 4K English sub Vers. française Shot with Fujifilm X-T2, Tokyo Japan
Yamate is an area in south of Yokohama that has strong link with France and other occidental countries. You can access easily as It is right next to China Town.
From Shibuya, take Tokyu Toyoko Line toward Motomachi Chukagai and get off at the terminus.
From Tokyo, take JR Tokaido Line (Ueno Tokyo Line) and change at Yokohama. Then take Minato Mirai Line toward Motomachi Chukagai.
Yokohama Occidental (Official site)
Yamate Italian Garden (Official site)
Minatono Mieru Oka Park
Ehrismann Residence
Berrick Hall
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A View from Earth