Interviews

1. Father retouching photos of picture brides

2. Getting married

3. Possibility of being adopted by aunt

4. Day Pearl Harbor was bombed

5. Working in the pineapple fields

6. Tree planting

Ariyoshi,Jean Hayashi

Former First Lady of Hawai'i

Father retouching photos of picture brides

My father’s business did quite well because his business was right in front of the train station here in Hawaii. And the immigrants—the Filipino and the Japanese immigrants—used to come from Leeward Oahu to his shop to take pictures for picture brides. And so, my father was very good at...in those days they used to retouch and took out all the wrinkles from the negatives. And I think a lot of picture brides that came down the plank were quite disillusioned when they saw their future husbands, because, you know, my father did a lot of that retouching.

brides photography picture brides wives

Date: December 15, 2003

Location: Hawai`i, US

Interviewer: Lisa Itagaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum.

Interviewee Bio

Jean (Hayashi) Ariyoshi, who holds a B.A. in speech and a B.S. in math from the University of Hawai`i, met her future husband George Ariyoshi while earning her teaching credential and serving as a speech instructor. She also hosted a weekly television talent show. They married in 1955, a year after his election as a Democrat to the Hawai`i Territorial House.

Heavily involved in charitable and community causes during her husband’s tenure as Hawai’i’s governor between 1974 and 1986, she established the First Lady’s Volunteer Awards to honor Hawaii’s outstanding volunteers annually. After the end of her duties as first lady, she became a domestic and international philanthropic figure. (December 2003)