Match Making Of Nakoudo

The novel narrates the lives and struggles of the picture brides of the early 20th century whose lives surround the concept of Omiai. The word constitutes of two words mi meaning to see or look and ai meaning to meet. So, the word literally translates to looking and meeting. Omiai is a matchmaking tradition in Japan wherein the marriage partners are chosen often through an intermediary known as Nakoudo. The Nakoudo can be a parent, relatives, friends or even a matchmaking company. The parties exchange pictures (photographs) and information such as education, wealth, etc. The tradition dates back to 16th century Japan and the Japanese samurai clans practiced it initially. Later it spread to rest of the parts of Japan and the picture brides conformed …show more content…
Even the girls from Hokkaidou region were avoided because their descendents were exposed to the radiations of the two atomic bomb attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The was an increased importance of education and job during the Meiji period, resulting in men to immigrate to the U.S. Japanese men went there in hope of a better life but not everyone could realize their dream. Many Japanese workers desired to start a family in the foreign land when they couldnt return to their country. There were limited number of female and the American women had no desire to marry Japanese. So, the men were left with the option of marrying women from Japan. Omiai for these women was a little different as they could only see the prospective partners photograph rather than actually getting to meet them and chose to marry on the basis of limited information provided by the men. Picture bride marriages differed with the conventional ones in only one way that the groom would not be there during the wedding. In order to fulfill the legal requirements of the marriage, the name had to be entered into the Koseki Touhon, which was the family …show more content…
Kame, a picture bride recalled, It was said that in Hawaii you can earn money everybody used to return home after making money. Japanese heard a lot of stories of the opportunities in the U.S and believed that going there meant money and fortune. Unless you were received as a bride, you couldnt come, such were the thoughts that drove the Japanese women to the foreign land. Some wanted to aid their family by sending home money; others didnt want to go against their parents and married out of obligation to their family. "I had but remote ties with him yet because of the talks between our close parents and my parents' approval and encouragement, I decided upon our picture-bride marriage." There were even some who became picture brides to escape from their duties. Mrs. K, a picture bride embodied such mindset, America is a free place, everybody living well. It had freedom, so if you like talk, you can talk, if you like work, you can work. The brides travelled in boats for days with a picture in their hand before they could finally unite with the groom. On the boat the first thing we did, before deciding who we liked and didnt like, before telling each other which one of the islands we were from, and why we were leaving, before even bothering to learn each others names- we compare photographs of our husbands. The picture played a very important part in their lives and their fate changed ever since they possessed that