Duringthe1885to1924immigrationperiodofplantationlaborersfromJapantoHawaii,morethan200,000Japanese,mostlysinglemen,madethelongjourneybyshiptotheHawaiianIslands.AsitbecameapparentthattheywouldneverreturntoJapan,manyofthemensentforbridestojointhemintheiradoptedhome.Morethan20,000ofthesepicturebridesimmigratedfromJapanandOkinawatoHawaiitomarryhusbandswhomtheyknewonlythroughphotographsexchangedbetweenthemortheirfamilies.
BasedonBarbaraKawakami'sfirst-handinterviewswithsixteenofthesewomen,PictureBrideStoriesisapoignantcollectionthatrecountsthediversecircumstancesthatledthemtomarrystrangers,theirvoyagestoHawaii,thesurprisesandtrialsthattheyencountereduponarriving,andthelivestheyleduponsettlinginastrangenewland.Manyfoundhardship,yetperseveredandenduredthedifficultconditionsofthesugarcaneandpineappleplantationsforthesakeoftheirchildren.Astheyacclimatedtoaforeignplaceandforgednewrelationships,theyovercamechallengesandeventuallyprosperedinabetterlife.Thestoriesoftheisseiwomenexemplifytheimportanceoffriendshipsandfamilialnetworksincopingwithpovertyandeconomicsecurity.Althoughtheseremarkablewomenaregone,theirlegacylivesonintheirchildren,grandchildren,andsucceedinggenerations.
Inadditiontotheoralhistories--theresultoffortyyearsofinterviews--theauthorprovidessubstantialbackgroundonmarriagecustomsandlaborpracticesontheplantations.