Kiku's Legacy

Takahashi Emiko & George Okunoyama

Children of the American Occupation in Japan: the documentary.

Directed by Acclaimed Filmmaker/Producer:
Deborah Ann DeSnoodeborah@kikulegacy.com

Produced by 

Floyd Webbfloyd53@kikulegacy.com

After the end of World War II and occupation by the U.S. Military, Japan was faced with the problem of integrating the children born of American soldiers and Japanese women into their homogeneous society. The U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II left it not only democratized, but also westernized and forced it into a pacifist Constitution. It also left thousands of mixed-race children born to allied servicemen and Japanese women. 

In response to this societal crisis, one of Japan’s great filmmakers, このページを訳す, Tadashi Imai, a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective,  undertook the making of the social realist dramatic feature film, Kiku and Isamu (キクとイサム, Kiku to Isamu). Completed in 1959, this this award-winning film addresses the subject of children from interracial relationships.

In 2023 we examine the lives of the two child actors who are living as “hafu,” mixed-race Japanese.

Kiku to Isamu (1959), Japan
Director: Tadashi Imai
Cast: Tanie Kitabayashi,
Emiko Takahashi
George Okunoyama

Kiku to Isamu (1959) SYNOPSIS

After the Second World War and the years after the American occupation of Japan, sister Kiku (高橋エミ子 Takahasi Emiko) and brother Isamu (奥の山ジョージ, George Okunoyama) live with their grandmother in a small village in the country.  Their mother was Japanese and their father was an African American GI. Because their color and hair are different from Japanese, they have a hard time, being bullied or treated like unusual creatures, while they see themselves as Japanese. It is notable for being one of the the first films in Japan to show to address the issues  of mixed race children and interracial relationships. 

Kiku and Isamu (1959)




高橋エミ子
Takahasi Emi
as Kiku



奥の山ジョージ
George Okunoyama
as Isamu



北林谷栄,
Kitabayashi Tanie
as GrandMother






Director:
(このページを訳す)
Tadashi Imai
Kiku to Isamu
50th Anniversary Screening



高橋エミ子
Takahasi Emi
as Kiku



奥の山ジョージ
George Okunoyama
as Isamu



北林谷栄,
Kitabayashi Tanie
as GrandMother






Director:
(このページを訳す)
Tadashi Imai
Kiku to Isamu
50th Anniversary Screening



高橋エミ子
Takahasi Emi
as Kiku



奥の山ジョージ
George Okunoyama
as Isamu



北林谷栄,
Kitabayashi Tanie
as GrandMother






Director:
(このページを訳す)
Tadashi Imai
Kiku to Isamu
50th Anniversary Screening


Takehashi Emiko and George Okunoyama
Our film features the voices of living witnesses, actors 奥の山ジョージGeorge Okunoyama and 高橋エミ子Takehasi Emiko, who will guide us through their personal journeys since the making of the historic Kiku and Isamu as we examine the lives of the “hafu” left behind after the American occupation of Japan which ended in 1952.

Child actor, Takahashi Emiko, star of Kiku and Isamu, will be 76 years old in 2023.  Emiko now lives in Tokyo as a singer and a performer. She will talk about her experience of being a mixed-race child actor in the film, Kiku and Isamu. 73 year old George Okunoyama  presently lives in Osaka, Japan. He has also worked in the music business through his life.

 


Ethel L. Payne
The documentary will feature the reports of Ethel L. Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press and the first female African American woman journalist at the Chicago Defender and the White House. In 1948, she worked for the Army Special Services Club in Tokyo, and began the daring historic coverage of the treatment of African American troops and the tragic plight of mixed raced children born between these soldiers and Japanese women.

 

 

 このページを訳すTadashi Imai

Tadashi Imai is an award winning Japanese film director who rose to prominence through the commercial triumph of his film Green Mountains (青い山脈) which captured the spirit of the postwar era in Japan. Profoundly influenced by Italian Neorealism, he is known for crafting films that analyze social injustice and oppression as well as his semi-documentary approach involving on-location shooting such as “Kiku and Isamu”. It has been said that every ambitious actress aspired to appear in an Imai film in order secure prestigious accolades. His collaborations with screenwriter Yoko Mizuki played a significant role in his success.

 

水木 洋子, Yoko Mizuki

Playwright and screenwriter Yoko Mizuki wrote that her purpose in creating the character of Kiku in the film “Kiku and Isamu” was to challenge “shitty realism”. Known for her writings on social justice and women’s rights, Mizuki actively sought to avoid perpetuating victimized portrayals of mixed-race children during the casting process. The film, released in 1959, garnered critical acclaim for its powerful content and received numerous prestigious awards that year.

As one of the rare female screenwriters in the industry during that era, Mizuki’s name is credited in many noteworthy films from the 1950s. Her contributions included detailed, sensitive, and captivating depictions of women. She later earned the Kinema Junpo awards for Best Screenplay for her exceptional work on films such as “These Are Harbour Lights” (1961), “The Age of Marriage” (1961), and “Sweet Sweat and the internationally acclaimed, “Kwaidan.”

Contact Us

Phone: + 1 312 725 0667
Email: talktous@kikulegacy.com
Tokyo • Chicago
MON-FRI 09:00h - 19:00h CST | -6 GMT