I was born to a Japanese mother in Tokyo 1958. I lived with her until age 5. I was adopted by American parents and came to the U.S. My mother never prepared me. The day I was turned over to my new parents I was brought to an office building and told to wait until she walked away down the hall. I never saw her again. My adoptive parents told me the same thing she put me up for adoption because of the prejudice I would face. I don’t exhibit many Asian features I look Caucasian. Never had any issues living in America. People are very surprised when I tell them I’m half Japanese.

That "mama" was amazing, daughter of the Mitsubishi fortune. She sure put it to good use, bless her. What one person can do to change so many lives.

That tunnel run is so sad and such a shared experience for those kids. It reminds me of spirited away… how you can be in one world, and then suddenly your life is totally different and confusing.

My wife is a child of GI who worked for MacArthur and a Japanese mother. She is very fortunate because my father in law married my mother in law and brought both my mother in law and my wife to USA where they stayed married and succeeded in life against bigotry and other obstacles. Many of the Japanese war brides who did make it to the USA were abandoned by their GI husbands. For those children who were abandoned, life was very difficult. My wife observed some of them in late 1960s sweeping streets.

British, Canadians and Australians left children behind.

Those children are absolutely beautiful. Every single one of them.

Tony seems like such a good dude. I wanna give him a hug

Yes, many of them, during Korean War, Vietnam War too.

What a wonderful school at the end! The students look happy and confident.

It’s happen in every conflict

This was absolutely heartbreaking. I was a teacher of mixed-raced children in Okinawa. It was tough to see. As a half German and half English growing up between the two countries, we experienced a feeling of being abandoned by each county. Never German enough and never English enough. That’s the hard part.

What's messed up about this, for those who would've liked to have lived in the U.S. who weren't adopted, is the Amerasian Homecoming Act excluded kids who were born in Japan and the Philippines. WHY?! Doesn't make any sense.

Roberto Duran the Famous boxer was the child of a former U.S. Marine stationed in Panama.

American GI's left abandoned women & children all over the world. There are probably cases, wherever a US military base is.

My father was in the army and stationed in Japan during the occupation (1946 to about 1950). He was in his late teens and was a little on the wild side. Ive always wondered if he fathered any children while there. Is there somewhere where i could look into this?

For those who got married at that time with mix-cultures were brave. Considered what happened between two countries just few years ago. For those who was abandoned, it was a tragic because children are innocent by their birth race.

9:25 Wow! Granny definitely had a type! She gave up one kid for adoption (or more), married an American man, and never tried to find out about the child she abandoned. I guess she never told her new family that she had another child! Quite impressive!

Good story about a loving Mama.

Man imagine getting dropped off at the abandonment tunnel

GIs are still abandoning mothers and kids today. I live near Yokota and this happens often.

Racisme is unfortunaly everywhere in the world also in Japan. The world is not a perfect place. We are all humans with red blood

Beautiful people

I used to work with Paul Iiyama in the 90s when he worked for a large Japanese food distributor.

Is there one of these videos on the mixed children of French soldiers and Vietnamese women?

Great report!

And UK soldiers are doing this in Kenya

Great report. Thank you

All the allied troops left babies behind during WW2. Americans, British, French, and Soviets.

My great grandfather and great grandmother also met during the war but in Italy. My great grandfather was a British soldier stationed there and then he met a young Italian woman. My great auntie was born in Italy during the war then when all the soldiers were returning home, my great grandmother illegally immigrated with them. My Nana was born in England and grew up very English. My great grandmother never taught her daughters Italian despite the fact she could barely speak English, I think it was because she didn’t want people to perceive her daughters as foreigners. Unlike the Japanese children, my Nana and great auntie didn’t face problems due to race as both countries were European and my great grandfather never abandoned them so I think they were quite lucky. From my understanding, many Italians didn’t support the Italian government during the war, so I think the prejudice wouldn’t have been so bad hopefully. It’s crazy to think about how manny similar stories there probably are from across the globe. So many children abandoned by their military fathers. I live in New Zealand now and during the war there was American soldiers stationed here and many of them had relationships with kiwi women then abandoned them also. I hope all those children were able to find loving homes and grow up happy.

wonderful video. Thank you so much.

what about the french soldiers kids in north africa and SE asia.

Nice to see a happy school of Amerasian children in Okinawa. 75% of US armed forces are stationed there, so mixed relationships between soldiers & local women, then as now, are not uncommon. 😺

A famous actor in Japan Kusakari Masao was also half Japanese and half American. His Japanese mother kept him but faced prejudice and was otracized. He only found his American family last year by NHK.

I'm Japanese-Brazilian and Miki Sawada's story is pretty well-known among the Japanese community. Especially because she left Japan in the early 1960s with a number of her orphans to naively found an self-sustaining utopia in the Amazon jungle. With disastrous results I must add. Still one remarkable woman who did good with her fortune.

To say Japanese society is insular is a vast understatement. Look up KZfaqr "Ask Shogo" he's got some heartrending episodes about how badly he was treated in Japan as a 100% Japanese who merely spent *some* years of his childhood in the US.

Crazy that these children born from US GI's from World War II are in their '80s now.

When stationed in Korea our unit sponsored an orphanage; and of the 400 kids living there not a single one was fathered by a GI, yet embedded Korean soldiers refused to aid in any tasks for the orphanage: their reason these are mixed kids.

It must've been hard growing up for them as children.

God bless from the Philippines 🥰💟🙏

Only registered in the US consulate in Japan. There were antimiscegenation laws in the US, they could not get marriage licenses, and they were practically just sex slaves.

Konketsuji isn't used in Japan anymore, except in private conversations, and really shouldn't be used in a documentary like this except to point out it's a bad label for us mixlings, in this case, haafu (ハーフ).

The same thing happened in Australia, England and more with mixed race children. Today, they can use Familial Genetic Search.

Same as during the Vietnam war, many Vietnamese women were pregnant by American soldiers.

I would love to find my Japanese cousin. We know his name but not sure how to find him. Our uncle was with J Force from NZ.

Soldiers and abandoning children overseas. Name a more iconic duo!

They are not orphans have both parents dead, these are abandoned children whose mothers were spurned by there families and society.

Dude I'm the middle kinda looks like Stan Lee or hefner

Ancestry is the best to test by, The most members too. 🙂

Obviously, some Japanese women did not learn anything from past mistakes. Soldiers may not be the most trustworthy people to start a relationship, particularly when stationed abroad.

JFC that Japanese guy is 60 and looks two decades younger than the American two. 🤣

I tell you what that woman called Mom I cannot pronounce the rest of it sounds like a woman of Great character

one earth

Fast forward to what's happening today. When a Japanese spouse abducts their child from the foreign spouse. I'm an American and I recently had this happen to me with my daughter. I did not abandon my child and love her very much. Her mother had taken my daughter and cut communications after empting our bank account in Japan. I was forced to leave Japan. I have not seen my daughter for 2 months. She is 9 months old now.

Same happened with German soldiers and French women bearing their children..public humiliation was quite common for those women

That’s so tragic in a way that American men servicemen Mary over there and then when the water is all or some of them go but the majority of them stay it’s not right, but who am I to say?

Its irresponsible to bring children to society that will not accept them. If it was rape then the mother is a victim but to mingle with foreigner for fun and new experience then have a child as a result then abandon him, this is cruelty.

Bareback is a sweet taboo. The military should teach their boys to wear a jimmy. Saves everyone a lot of trouble

My father is not American but Filipino , he was with USAF and he was an officer , he sure had a relationship with one during the Korean War while he was married to his first wife and possible the 2nd woman, he had a son. He didn’t marry her , so I assume he just left her. What an a** . I belong to the official second wife. I am the second to the youngest among the many sibling. We never met him but we would like to connect with him.I wish we knew them

Instead of saying 'many' why doing you give atleast ball park figures?

Mixed look either Latino or Central Asian

The country is still like that about “foreigners”👎☹️

They actually enriched the genetic pool

Please don’t use the term Konketsuji. It is very insulting. I’m surprised this usually excellent broadcaster allowed it. A Japanese speaker should have edited it.

This is the privilege of the victors. I always wanted to be like genghis khan

The start of yellow fever here in the states

How dishonorable that those Japanese women had sexual relationships and even had children with the occupier. They must’ve been disowned by their parents straight away. Why would anyone hook up with someone who took part in conquering your country and who quite possibly even took the lives of some of your own relatives??

🇺🇸👍🙂

So US soldiers had comfort women in Japan!

Black American GI's fathered children as well and married Japanese women. Accurate history matters!

Dishonorable soldiers. Look at Vietnam.

A positive story instead of most news stories always blaming the military as being a bunch of rapist and thugs. It focused on the positive outcomes that these abandoned children grew into healthy adults with the love and care of others.

western sickness

How come wherever the Us soldiers are they leave kids behind?

*Japan is STILL under "US occupation" today

Japanese women... Loot of war.

Why was this allowed? US military should have strictly prohibited such behavior.

Men 🙄

Deport

One of those was Jiro Dan aka Hideki Go Ultraman Jack! RIP

Aren't they all like 100 years old?

the racism i modern day japan is still staggering

The colonialism is EVIL 😂